From: mary whalen <marewhalen@yahoo.com>
Subject: (urth) Re:  Fifth Head of Cerberus, Beuzec
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 17:59:46 


This is Sean Whalen (prion).

I'd like to thank mantis and Borski for their welcome and quick and
informative replies.  I'm going to have to think about how to find
more evidence for some of their/my theories.

By the way, like so much else discussed on this list, prion has more
than one meaning, if you want to look for it.

First, about the original Jeannine in the photo.  Aunt Jeannine tells
No. 5 that she will show him a picture of his true mother, and gives
him the photo of the woman and child.  If this is his mother, it must
be his biological one, since a clone, like anyone else, has no other
kind.  If it is No. 5's biological mother, then she must be the
biological mother of the original Gene Wolfe, and thus would not be
married to her son, as is shown in your timeline, and is part of the
source of the confusion I discussed in my original post.

Also, I've learned a little more about the Pleiades.  In ancient
mythology, the dimmest of the stars there was named Merope, but today
it is called Asterope or Sterope (it switched it's name with a
different one).  Merope means eloquent (with op meaning voice),
Sterope means lightning or stubborn face (with op meaning face), and
Asterope means star eye (with op meaning eye).  In myths, Merope is
separate from Sterope, but Sterope is sometimes known as Asterope. 
The other sisters are Maia, Elektra, Taygete, Kelaino, and Alkyone.

Because of this, I think that the (physical, but not symbolic) reason
Dr. Marsch couldn't see the Shadow Children constellation is that it
is a dim group of stars, and he just couldn't make it out under less
than optimum viewing conditions.  I still believe Borski's symbolic
explanation of a fake Marsch (VRT) finding a fake Aunt Jeannine later.
 However, since the stars are the eyes of the Shadow Children, I think
this could relate to the name Asterope (Star Eye).  So I think
Jeannine's mythological connections also have to do with Asterope
replacing Merope in the modern world, like Jeannine replaced Eugenia
(as I call the original human).

Hmm.  Since Merope means eloquent, with the op portion meaning voice,
does this have anything to do with Sweetmouth?

There are also two different stories on how the seven daughters of
Pleione were put in the sky.  One is that Zeus turned them into a
flock of seven pigeons/doves in the sky so they could escape from
Orion, who later became a constellation himself, still chasing them. 
The second is that they wept to death when their half-sisters the
Hyades died, and Zeus made them into stars to be near the Hyades
constellation.  Also (!) there are two different words the name
Pleiades could come from:  peleia (dove) or pleo (I sail). 
Significance?

Concerning Beuzec as the slug... I've just remembered that every one
of Hethor's creatures (try saying that five times fast!) had a dual
nature.  The notules looked like bats when flying, paper scraps when
feeding.  The salamander looked like a small black figue when curled,
a large bright reptile when unfurled.  The worm was a slow crawler,
then a burning leaper.  Beuzec could be the other appearance of the
slug, or even just a human infected by slug larva, who's going to be
eaten by it as it grows.

Is Beuzec a saint's name?  If it's not, that may be the clincher.

prion
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