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From: Internet Megantic <support@megantic.net> Subject: (urth) unsuscribe- Digest urth.v017.n005 Date: Sun, 19 Jul 1998 17:32:19 At 21:10 18-07-98 -0700, you wrote: > >-------------- BEGIN urth.v017.n005 -------------- > > 001 - "William H. Ansley" <wans - Re: (urth) Sev's Dad; Aztecs in Space > 002 - "Robert Borski" <rborski@ - Sanderson's Abandonment > 003 - "Alice Turner" <al@interp - Re: Digest urth.v017.n004 > 004 - Derek Bell <dbell@maths.t - Re: (urth) Sev's Dad; Aztecs in Space > 005 - raster@highfiber.com (Cha - Re: Claudius > >URTH Digest -- for discussion of Gene Wolfe's New Sun and other works > > >--------------- MESSAGE urth.v017.n005.1 --------------- > >From: "William H. Ansley" <wansley@warwick.net> >Subject: Re: (urth) Sev's Dad; Aztecs in Space >Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1998 23:50:38 -0400 >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >In-Reply-To: <199807180216.TAA14355@lists1.best.com> > >>One of the more puzzling names in THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS to be sourced >>is the Country of Friends. It's cited by the abos as the possible homeport >>of the star-faring Homo sapiens pangalacticus, who've traveled to Saint >>Anne in the distant past, and mentioned in the same breath as Atlantis and >>Gondwanaland. >> >>I'm now speculating it relates to the Aztecs. >> >>This is because Texas--where Gene Wolfe grew up--is derived from the Indian >>word "texia," meaning "friends." And since Texas was once part of Mexico, >>it's possible the Country of Friends generally refers to Aztecan >>civilization. > >I like this too. > >I have a nagging idea that the phrase "the Country of Friends" occurs >elsewhere in Wolfe and I have seen it recently in my rereading. If I find >the reference, I will certainly post. > >William Ansley > > > > >--------------- MESSAGE urth.v017.n005.2 --------------- > >From: "Robert Borski" <rborski@coredcs.com> >Subject: Sanderson's Abandonment >Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1998 23:26:00 -0500 >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >Earlier, in regards to my Continuing Westward post, Sean Whalen (aka prion) >wrote: > >"This seems to fit, but how does it fit in that he originally thought >that she stabbed Sanderson? He didn't just decide to leave him, he >thought that he was dead." > >This may relate to some aspect of a Kipling short story (The Phantom >Rickshaw?), but I'm not sure--it's been 30+ years since I read SOLDIERS >THREE and the other collections. Or it may be simple irony. Paris, the >Great Seducer, undone by his own lust (whereas the Paris of legend stakes a >claim to the most beautiful woman in the world and precipitates a war). > >Of course, all of the Homeric correspondences are rather loosely clumped >together--hence the notion of Greek Odysseus and Trojan Paris as >shipmates--so the search for parallels my be intriniscally flawed to begin >with, at least if we expect 100% fidelity with the Illiad/Odyssey. > >Also, what I forgot to mention in my Cherry Jubilee piece is that KGB agent >Vera Oussenko, who, as you mention, is arrested, represents truth, which >she is seeking, even though she gets it wrong (Vera = veritas), only in the >inverted value system of CJ she's "punished"--not being allowed to >disembark, she's spared the hell of Mars. > >Robert Borski > > > > > >--------------- MESSAGE urth.v017.n005.3 --------------- > >From: "Alice Turner" <al@interport.net> >Subject: Re: Digest urth.v017.n004 >Date: Sat, 18 Jul 1998 03:16:27 -0400 >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > >>Don't know if this has been brought up before, but if Owen/Ouen is >>considered to be the Welsh/Celtic equivalent of Eugene, doesn't that mean >>Sev's father might also be called Gene? > > >From the Oxford book of English Christian names: > >OWEN: a common Welsh name; in Middle English romances often spelled Owain, >Owayne, Ywain. It has been supposed to be derived from Latin Eugenius...see >Ewan. (Ouen) > >EWEN: this name, now confined to Scotland, was once common in England...It >is probably the same as Irish and Gaelic Eoghan 'a youth,' which is frequent >in Celtic legend and history. Eoghan is usually derived from Primitive >Celtic Eugenius 'well-born,' from which is derived Old Welsh Euguein which >later became Middle Welsh Ewein, Ywein, whence modern Welsh Owain, Owen. > >Bravo, scolex. Thank you. > >-alga- > > > >--------------- MESSAGE urth.v017.n005.4 --------------- > >From: Derek Bell <dbell@maths.tcd.ie> >Subject: Re: (urth) Sev's Dad; Aztecs in Space >Date: Sat, 18 Jul 1998 19:22:08 +0100 >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >In-Reply-To: Your message of "Fri, 17 Jul 1998 23:50:38 EDT." > <199807180352.UAA19972@lists1.best.com> > >In message <199807180352.UAA19972@lists1.best.com>, "William H. Ansley" writes: >>I have a nagging idea that the phrase "the Country of Friends" occurs >>elsewhere in Wolfe and I have seen it recently in my rereading. If I find >>the reference, I will certainly post. > > I think it's in the short story _Feather Tigers_, IIRC. It >occurs in the dialog between the main protagonist and the sky(space?) >yacht. > > Derek > > >--------------- MESSAGE urth.v017.n005.5 --------------- > >From: raster@highfiber.com (Charles Dye) >Subject: Re: Claudius >Date: Sat, 18 Jul 1998 12:36:57 -0600 (MDT) >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > >CRCulver@aol.com writes: > >>Alex: >>< Has there been any discussion on the list (sorry, I'm new and haven't had >>time to exhaustively browse the archives) of similarities between Severian and >>Claudius, both the historical emperor and the charming narrator of the two >>Robert Graves novels?> > >>The point that comes to mind first is that both Claudius and Severian plan to >>write a manuscript they believe no one will read and get rid of it in a lead >>coffer. > >The dead giveaway, for me anyhow, was the scene where Severian produces one >of 'his' aes in the era of Typhon: > > He examined it, bit it, and gave it back to me. "Gold all right. > Looks a trifle like you, 'cept he seems to have got himself cut up. > Don't suppose you noticed." > > "No," I said. "I never thought of it." > > Hadelin nodded and pushed back his chair. "A man doesn't shave himself > sidewise. See you in the morning, sieur, madame." > >Compare with a scene from "Claudius the God" chapter 6 : > > It pleased my vanity to have my head on the coins.... Portraits on > coins, however, are always disappointing because they are executed in > profile, and it comes as a shock, when one sees it in a portrait, that > one really looks like that to people standing beside one. For one's > full face, because of the familiarity that mirrors give it, a certain > toleration and even affection is felt; but I must say that when I first > saw the model that the mint-masters were striking for me I grew angry > and asked whether it was intended to be a caricature. > >Robert Graves once did a translation of "The Lives of the Twelve Caesars" >in which each Emperor's chapter was illustrated with the appropriate aureus. > >raster@highfiber.com > > > >--------------- END urth.v017.n005 --------------- > > >*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/ > > /Serges Internet Megantic http://www.megantic.net/ *More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/