(urth) Phanes

[Nick Lee]

>
> *From David Stockhoff* dstockhoff at verizon.net
> <urth%40lists.urth.net?Subject=Re%3A%20%28urth%29%20do%20the%20Hierogrammates%20%2Acare%2A%20about%20the%20megatherians%3F&In-Reply-To=%3C4DDE358C.4000607%40verizon.net%3E>
> >* Severian is a known bisexual. *How do we "know" this?


Severian is bisexual in the sense that he has two sexes -- his own, male;
and Thecla's, female. That is the literaal meaning of "bisexual." Sorry for
the confusion. I could have used "androgynous," but that is similarly
polysemantic. I thought the meaning would be clear to anyone who had read
New Sun.

*From James Wynn* crushtv at gmail.com
> <urth%40lists.urth.net?Subject=Re%3A%20%28urth%29%20do%20the%20Hierogrammates%20%2Acare%2A%20about%20the%20megatherians%3F&In-Reply-To=%3C4DDDF4F7.1090208%40gmail.com%3E>
>
> Boy, Nick, did you ever come to the right counter.
> Phanes is not a bad key. What is your source on him? Because the only
> picture I've found of him is slightly reminiscent of the Zervan (which I
> have argued is invoked in the character Silk). Only one head, though.
> Nor can I find where Ericapaeus could be translated Spring Wind. Nor
> where he is associated with Thetis (and this would not be surprising in
> a wide variety of monomyth models).
> How do you mean that Pas can be *derived* from both Erikapaios and Phanes?
> I am also curious where you detected Dionysus in 'Peace'. Do you say
> Phanes is present in 'Peace' and 'Pandora' only through Dionysus? Or
> more directly?
>
> Zervan is the Persian version of Khronos, father to Phanes. Zervan has some
of the properties of Phanes, however. These are all very old gods, and are
all probably from the same source or are at least products of heavy
syncretism. Of course, Wolfe is almost as obsessed with Persia as he is with
Greece, so there may be some Zervan references I haven't noticed. I just
attributed it to Aion/Khronos before.

Erikapaios is translated as "Spring Wind" by some, according to scholar
Yehuda Liebes who cites Robert Eisler. Liebes offers a different
translation, however, which I will get to in a minute.

The letters p-a-s are in both Erikapaios and Phanes. Paios becomes Pas with
ease. Also, Phanes is known as Pan (being a monad, encompassing everything),
which some consider to be the origin of Pas's name.

As for Metis, etc., here is some more information on Phanes:
http://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Phanes.html

Dionysus appears in Peace as Alden Dennis Weer. I do not mean this
literally. Dennis derives from Dionysus, and Weer himself is "resurrected"
from a tree. The symbolism here is obvious. Dionysus' Roman form, Bacchus,
is also mentioned by name. (Though you didn't ask, in The Sorcerer's House,
Baxter derives from Bacchus.) Then you have the egg. Also, the symbol of the
male and female entwined (the "androgyne") is mentioned in both Peace and
Pandora. In Peace, there is also the yellow flower. Phanes is known as the
"all-shining flower." I think there's more to that myself, but that's a
different essay.

As for Phane's heads, that's a bit more complicated. Descriptions range from
two to five. It really depends on how you count them. I seem to recall a
source that gave him three heads, but I might have confused him with his
father, Khronos, who if I'm not mistaken appears in another story. As
four-headed, Phanes would be Quadrifrons; two-headed, as Janus. He has the
heads of a youth, a bull, a ram, and a lion. He is also entwined with a
serpent (which is sometimes called the fifth head). In the picture you're
looking at, the heads are scattered about his body. Chalk the confusion up
to the fact he's invisible.

Patera Horn's explanation of the Wine God's/Outsider's history makes perfect
sense if you interpret it as a retelling of Orphic mythology. Phanes created
the gods, including Zeus. Zeus swallowed Phanes to achieve the power to
create (the joining of  the male and female principles is the key to
creation -- Severian as am "androgyne" possesses this, hence his powers).
Phanes is then reborn as the son of Zeus: Dionysus.

Pas/Typhon "swallows" Phanes/the Outsider. He attempts to create his own
world with himself as the supreme deity. Severian (Phanes reborn) destroys
the world and remakes it. Severian mates with Apheta (again joining the male
and female) and brings the New Sun. Silk, enlightened by Phanes, destroys
the Long Sun Whorl and remakes it and brings the people to Blue and Green.
Also, Pas swallows Phanes again when Silk joins with him in Mainframe.

Orphism is the result of syncretism with other religions including Judaism.
"Erikapaios" is actually a butchered Hebrew term for God, used more often in
Kabbalah, and means "long suffering." Again, this is according to Yehuda
Liebes, the book: Studies in Jewish Myth and Messianism. As an aside,
another epithet of YHWH is "God of the winds." Wolfe could have picked up
the term "Spring Wind" in a book on mysticism.

Now this is all condensed from my thesis, but I'm still working out all the
kinks. My understanding of the world of Briah is this: Christ is never born.
Christianity does not become the world religion. Instead, a cult devoted to
Phanes/Dionysus fulfills much the same function. Instead of a single Christ,
different figures, perhaps only Severian in different guises, is his means
of rebirth. Silk is enlightened by him. To Wolfe, Phanes is the same god as
God, just by a different name. Pas, by attempting to become God, does so but
only by losing those traits which were evil and gaining those which were
good.

Or something like that.

--Nick
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