(urth) Tzadkiel's form

[Marc Aramini]

Speaking of Hercules ....

Romulus and Remus (Frog and Fish) are in one story fathered by Mars and in
another by Heracles, by the way, which might tie in to Nessus - in every
version a servant is tasked with killing them and places them in a basket
to let them go downstream instead, though.  Mars' birth was to Juno alone -
Flora attained a magic flower to impregnate her.  I can't believe there was
argument on the list about Spring Wind being Mars, whose ceremonies are
primarily in March.  Making it a red flower is Wolfe's innovation, I think,
that links the story to fire (and perhaps the sun) in the tale of Frog and
Fish.

The problem is that there are two origin stories for the monster Typhon,
too.  In one he is born of Mother Earth and Tartaros, in the other ... he
springs from Hera (who is Juno) alone, without a father, just as Mars did
from her.  Perhaps there is a conflation in the story between Mars and
Typhon, which would be unfortunate.

The fish association with the lake island people is very strong - they have
the god Oannes and fish is continually mentioned as the motivation for the
strife between the shore people and the floating island folk of Pia.  When
Severian is captured by the shore people, he cannonballs and into the water
to activate the incendiary bullets on the boat and then swims upward like a
frog (which is what Mowgli's name is supposed to mean). [Pia is his age,
has dark hair and a slender waist, and in love is like a "sister" to Dorcas]

The battle between Baldanders and the Severian is actually referred to in
the embedded tales in at least three places as well as the dream in which
the little stick figures are submerged after their weapons break.  In the
Story of Frog and Fish, when Frog is challenged as a true man, the large
Shere Khan smilodon character (the butcher?) starts to challenge the
he-wolf who adopts Frog, and he is much bigger and stronger (he is burned
by the fire Frog identifies as the Red Flower when he steals Frog from his
real family)

In Eschatology and Genesis when Nod engages the autarch, there are two
demons present who indicate that the seed must be destroyed - and while
Ossipago et al are three in number, one of them is different than the
others - a robotic servant. Even the tale of the Student and His Son, with
its naval battle, echoes the battle between Severian and Baldanders (though
it is the least related, with the naviscaput matching the description of
the thing coming down the river giving instructions at the end of Citadel
of the Autarch.

It is very very unfortunate that Typhon and Mars are possibly both born of
Hera/Juno without a father, but then again ... Typhon does say "No, I was
not born as I am, or born at all, as you meant it."

On Wed, Sep 17, 2014 at 6:24 AM, Lee <severiansola at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Given Hethor's mastery of mirrors and monsters, I don't find it a
>
> stretch that he is associated with the fallen angels/demons who reside on
>
> Urth. My guess is that, in parallel to the Biblical story, all of the
> monsters fallen
>
> to Urth originated as mutineers from Tzadkiel's  Ship. By name alone, this
> would
>
> include Typhon.
>
>
> >Jeffrey Wilson: This would explain Typhon's rapid apprehension of the
> time displaced
> >Conciliator, but other Hellenic names do *not* relate to Ship-sailors,
> >Nessus for one.
>
>
> I find Wolfe's usage of the name "Nessus" to be multi-layered brilliance.
> First it is a
>
> plausible derivation of the name "Buenos Aires", the geographical and
> literary (Borges)
>
> model for the city of Nessus.
>
>
> Next,  Buenos Aires mean "good air" or "fresh breezes" but "Nessus"
> invokes the concept
>
> of poison. A not-so-subtle commentary on the effects of long history,
> overpopulation and
>
> technology.
>
>
> Finally, Nessus invokes the Greek story of Heracles, whom I find to be a
> surprisingly apt
>
> model for Severian. Like Heracles, Severian is born of mysterious ancestry
> who finds
>
> himself endowed with divine power but spends his life being pushed into
> dangers and
>
> arduous tasks because of godly politics from above which manipulate him
> without he
>
> being able to clearly understand why. And, of course, ultimately both
> Heracles and
>
> Severian are elevated to godhood themselves. In a sense, Nessus can
> represent the
>
> poisoned cloak that both Heracles and Severian had to shed before their
> ultimate
>
> elevation.
>
>
> (Chicago is a long-time, densely populated, multi-cultural city full of
> all the positives and
>
> negatives that any large city provides. I often wonder how much living in
> the proximity
>
> affected Wolfe and his writing)
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