(urth) Marcus Aurelius (re)visited

[Lee Berman]

>there are two ways the emperor could have influenced Wolfe's conception of  
>Severian: first, by offering an opposing example of an almost good and 
>thoughtful man, raised as such and groomed to be emperor; second, by 
>similarity, as a dutiful, if not entirely good, man in a bad world who 
>becomes emperor by "accident.".....I 
>do not see Severian as a recreation of Marcus, rather as the result of 
>an experiment in first-person narration inspired by the memoirs of the 
>Roman emperors in general and of Marcus in particular as a unique 
>combination of character, chance of birth, and philosophy.
 
Interesting comparisons and insights.
 
>The universe, then, is God, of whom the popular gods are manifestations; 
>while legends and myths are allegorical. The soul of man is thus an 
>emanation from the godhead, into whom it will eventually be re-absorbed.
 
This is as good a summation as any of the way I see Wolfe presenting Man, 
God and the Sun Series universe.