(urth) This week in Google Alerts

[Nick Lee]

>
> >Nick Lee: Dionysus/Phanes is in every book Wolfe has written.
>
>
> Now, THAT'S a statement!


And probably an incorrect one. I should have said "almost," though even
that is a hard sell. The Sun Books, Peace, and The Sorcerer's House are
easy to prove. Free Live Free is not as certain: "Liber" was an epithet of
Dionysus. I can make a strong case for Pandora and perhaps There Are Doors.
Latro is too easy. Project Ares has a kind of bacchanalia at least. The
others could be difficult.

Thats interesting.  I dont think I have ever heard that theory
> proposed before.  Do you know of any textual evidence that would
> support such a conclusion?  It would seem to explain Inires
> construction of the Botanic Gardens and his preservation of plant life
> from Urths history.


Vertumnus was an Etruscan deity that became almost Protogonic. His
most popular myth was that of his seduction of the nymph Pomona. She
was highly sought after, including by Silvanus. Vertumnus assumed the
guise of an old woman to enter Pomona's orchard. At various occasions,
he appeared as a man bearing apples, a reaper, and a fisherman.

I think it's something of a coincidence to have a "Green Man" who
appears in a book with shape changers and characters in masks.

Consider this: Severian glimpses Tzadkiel's true form, but we never
see Inire's. When Severian must choose different paths in the
Corridors of Time, he sees one with Tzadkiel and one with the green
man. Ash says that the white path, Tzadkiel's?, would lead to him
while the green path would lead to the green man's future. Severian
chooses a third path.

Also look at chapter XXXVI of Citadel. In Inire's letter to Severian,
he mentions Agia saving Severian. He says he has ways of "extracting
information." He never mentions the green man, who was present at that
encounter.

There's s part in UotNS where Severian mentions that he embraced Inire
before boarding the ship that took him to Tzadkiel's ship. I don't
think we have a record of this scene. In Citadel, the green man and
Severian have been holding onto each other before the one departs and
Severian boards a ship. Is it the same hierodule ship that he takes
later?

Just some thoughts.
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