(urth) The Nebraskan and the Nereid
Gerry Quinn
gerryq at indigo.ie
Mon Apr 18 03:56:04 PDT 2011
From: "Jerry Friedman" <jerry_friedman at yahoo.com>
>> From: Gerry Quinn <gerryq at indigo.ie>
>> She gave her name as Thoe, who is the Nereis of waves or voyage. (I
>> can't
>>find any significance in 'Papamarkos', which seems to be an ordinary Greek
>>name.)
>>
>> Also, why would she sign her own initial beside the corpse of the girl,
>> unless
>>she had indeed killed her?
>>
>> So I still prefer the 'psyche' theory.
>
> How about the other familiar Greek word beginning with a psi: pseudes,
> "false",
> and "pseudein", to lie. (Thanks to the AHD
> <http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/pseudo->.) Has the
> maid
> been false to her people or her god? Has the Nebraskan been false to her?
> Maybe.
I don't think so. Nor do I think she was false to the Nebraskan. Certainly
I see no reason to inscribe a symbol of falsity beside her corpse.
> But I think its main meaning is Poseidon's trident.
That could make some sense; it does look like one. But still, the letter pi
is given to Poseidon earlier (perhaps even to contradict this
interpretation?) - does he really need another?
I think a key element in interpretation (unless we assume a far more central
and murderous role for the Nereid, which I don't think there's any
justification for) is that the symbol pertains to the maid, not Thoe. I
don't see how the symbology associated with Poseidon or his trident fits
Whereas psi (for psyche) seems appropriate enough to mark a tragic death.
- Gerry Quinn
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