From: "James Wynn" 
Subject: (urth) FW: Elucidations of the Long Sun:Hyacinth 
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 2002 09:31:57 -0500

The following is my response to A. Bin Talal who contacted me off-list but
has offered of his own accord for my response to be posted on-list.
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Thanks so much for your comments.

You say:
In Thelxepeia's Mirrors you assert that Hyacinth is male chem, your
arguments for Hyacinth being a chem are very compelling, but do not explain
how she became Viron's top prostitute.

Response
Well, the story is somewhat vague on exactly how that occurred. It probably
began while she was sold by her (I'll refer to Hyacinth in the feminine)
father to be a housemaid. She was attractive and she began to make money for
sexual favors. From there, she began to take on the necessary modifications
to make even more money.

You say:
The other arguments about overpowering the pilot could be taken as clues she
is not human but a chem, a chem female should be stronger then a human

Response
True, and I consider her over-powering the pilot to be evidence that she is
chem - not male. Actually, Marble DOES over-power Musk. This brings up a
point that I should segregate those arguments that Hyacinth is a MALE chem
from those that show she is MERELY chem.

You say:
The arguments for her being a male are alas unsound, you seem to use
circular logic, she is a male because of  'thematic requirement'(which you
assert there aren't any), the story about Apollo's lover and the church, but
she represent that theme because she is a male!! in short you assume she is
male, then conclude she is male, your conclusion is correct but you can't
generalize it (I took a course on formal logic, never thinking I will be
using it.

Response
I don't consider my arguments circular. I consider the story of Hyacinthus
is to be a thematic *allowance* that she "could" reasonably be male but not
a requirement. If one accepts that Hyacinth is chem, then the concept of
homosexuality might just as reasonably be satisfied by Silk's stated
doppelganger relationship with Sgt. Sand (in Blood's house in Calde of the
Long Sun). On the other hand, that would still not be homosexuality since
chems are sexually divergent like bios. Still, Wolfe *could* have used Silks
"mentoring" relationship with Horn on the airship to incorporate that aspect
of the Apollo-Hyacinthus relationship - Wolfe does a lot of character
syncretism in the sub textual themes of the Long Sun (I haven't yet
published my essay on Silk and Auk playing duo roles as Hephaestus and as
Aristaeus, or how Mint, Marble, and Rose merge into the Myrtle-nymphs, but I
will after I finish reading Robert Graves' "White Goddess.")

My point is that while it "fits" for Hyacinth to be male, she doesn't NEED
to be as IMO Incus NEEDS to be female because of the roll she plays
regarding Quetzal (the demon-Dionysus) and the roll she plays in the
Aristaeus story (not that Incus particularly needs to be a female, but in
the sense that only a female could play those roles).

The most straight-forward clues that Hyacinth is male (there are weaker
ones) are the following:
1. Hyacinth's statement:
"You know what I look like without all this [make-up and clothes]?...Like a
boy, only with tits down to my waist."
2. In the Silks conversation with Horn on the airship, discussing why he
tried to kill himself, Silk talks about Marble's lie about being Moly and
the general plight of the chem population *due to the lack* of female chems.
Silk further points out, "Some male chems were artisans and farm laborers,
from what I know of them, and a few were servants - butlers and so forth."
3. In the same conversation, Horn also says that Hyacinth behaves physically
weak and in a female-identifiable manner, because she wants Silk to be
attracted to her. Just as the fierce lynx, Lion (a female with a male
name-note that this is specifically pointed out) pretends to be kittenish
with Mucor.

Again, thank you so much for your interest, your arguments really made me
think..




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