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Át has been said before that the noblest effort of the poet is to be doomed to posterior appreciation. Indeed, many artists end up having their most sublime creations' perusal by the consuming public accompany a relieving experience. To the Mantra of those who cry "Mock," we can only stand for those most Epicine principles of the Human Dimensional Imagination beckoning us from the Great Unknown. It does appear to the eye of a Scholar-Critic to be a most serious work, but the Artist continually undercuts this impression with an obscure and misplaced sense of mirth. As is amplified thematically in the very Oeuvre being retraduced here, M I N W A can be only in the Imagination, that treacherous Abyss in which all things are possible. Yes, obvious it may seem to many Futurists that it is only a hop, skip, and jump into other Worlds which in reality we cannot possibly ever visit ourselves personally. Only too obvious, for the Vastness of the Spaces between the Worlds these Creatures and Beings inhabit prohibits it, not even mentioning the quite probably Infinite Voidlike Vacuum-state that surrounds the Stars and Galaxyes, and all of ourselves as well, come to think of it. How deep is the Void between the Now and 1628 B.C., Historically, Temporally, Culturally? How can the Artist get that out of this Poetry? Or perhaps the question should be, When? The case before us postulates a Temporal Telescope, a Psychoscopic Pastiche of episodes occurring in the Mediterranean around the fifteenth, sixteenth, or seventeenth Centuryes B.C. The poetry is quite simply awfulsome. The Englishe Poet who contrived this nexus of consternation hath quite liberally peppered his work with tedious and tendentious Greekicisms. For the contemporary reader the dilemma exists in the Temporal realm just as concretely. Thus, the question really becomes: Who has the time to look up all these references? They're by no means locatable in any One, Single redaction. And So, through the Vehicle of this unspeakable intrusion, the sincere Editor offers his humble and believable service to spare the reader this trouble.
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Notes to Minwa | |
| 0. | A few words on structure are needed to accompany the opening Canto of Minwa. A transparent mock Epic, the poem thrusts at the reader no less than five Invocations of the Muses. The first is the General Invocation to Nux - Nox, Night - the Daughter of CaoV, Chaos. Not content to Thrash a Dead Workhorse, the poet subsequently births four more Invocations to the Daughters of Night. One might suppose that the number of Invocations to the Muse could go on almost indefinitely, in which case we are indeed fortunate to have the only extant fragments of the poem. On the general Theme, in a marginal note handwritten by the Poet the manuscript reveals a strikingly lucid paraphrase of Part I:
"It's very obvious why literary academicians prefer to deal with dead authors, or why they will not take an author seriously until he is dead. It is to avoid the personality of the author, as it may come into conflict with the Ego of the Scholar-Critic."MSS. Booleian 00:00-00:01, ’WxbwgohrrunceuV, tAB1, earliest of the Papyrii Manuscripts found at Akrotiri in 1946.) |
| 1. Despoina | Despoina, "The Mistress" or female Despot (hence Despoina), high priestess of the Ophitic cult who, entranced, handled and lifted up the snakes with both hands. The Inscription is Linear B lifted from a clay tablet found by the author at the Palace ruins of Pylos in the Peloponnese. It is a plea for divine intervention to save the City from destruction in the dark days after the Volcanic Eruption. The Linear B phrase is "in the Service of the Mistress," apparently a common slogan adopted as a Signification of Association among the Mining, Bronze-Casting, Seafaring, Scribe, and other Guilds. |
| 2. ’Ecidna | Echidna, the Adder or Viper, a variety of poisonous Snake indigenous throughout the Mediterranean region, used in the Ophite cults as they still are today in Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and the Two Virginias. Echidna was the daughter of Callirrhoe, one of the Oceanids, the daughters of Oceanus and ThquV, Tethys, the Nurse or Mother. |
| 3. Sfhx | Sphex, the Wasp, as the remainder of the bilingual compound -waisted, would indicate, this would roughly translate as "Wasp-Waisted", also a figure of speech (metaphor). The look is still considered fashionable in some baywatcher circles. |
| 4. ’IakcoV | Iacchos, also Bacchus, the mystic name of Dionysis in the pre-Greek civilizations. The root word is from ’Iacw, din, noise, revelry, but ultimately from the ejaculative interjection, ’Ia ("Hya" or "Hiea"). |
| 5. Lussa | Lyssa, the Goddess of Raging Madness, always of Marital variety, frenzied, especially that induced by Bacchic alcoholic jealousy. |
| 6. Sfigx, Fix(Aeol.), Fik’ | Sphinx, the She-Monster, the daughter of Cimaira Chimaira and her brother OrqroV Orthros, (Hesiod, Theogonia 326) or of ’Ecidna Echidna (see note 2 above) and Tufwn Typhon, who posed the riddle to the Thebans and murdered all who failed to guess it. Oedipus solved the riddle and she killed herself. In art she is represented with a woman's head on the body of a lioness. Although the story originated in Egypt, the image of the Sphinx became widespread. Herodotus 4:79 says they were also connected with the mystic worship of Bacchus. |
| 7. Kaludwn | Kalydon, or Calydon - Caledonia, etc. A Town in Western Crete (Iliad, 2, 637-644) (Odyssey, 14, 175-180), not to be confused with the 20th Century appellation "Kamares", named after a cave in modern Eastern Crete. Kaludwn may have had an early spelling Caluy (related to Calypso), that is, the Nation of the CalubhV, Chalybes, in Pontus, who were famous for their Steel. |
| 7.1 KaloumenoV | Kaloumenos, literally "is called" in the phrase from Revelation 12:9 is by the Poet strikingly compared with the combination of kaloV, kalos ("beautiful"), and mhnoV, menos (the "Moon"), and rhymed in successon with "calumny" (lies, falsehoods), kalumma, kalymma (a "veil"), and kalamoV, kalamos ("straw"). The last quartet identifies the Biblical passage directly as the personage of lies and falsehoods himself, ‘o ’ofiV (the Serpent or Snake), ’arcaioV archaios (old, "archaic"), ‘o kaloumenoV, (who "is called"), diaboloV, diabolos (the "devil" or diabolical one), and (kai) ’o satanaV (the "Satan") ‘o planwn thn ’oikoumenhn ‘olhn ‘o ... kathgoroV (who "misleads the whole habitable world "). The final word reiterates the concept of the "accuser" (kathgoroV). The last word is related to our word "categorize" (to put into an ordered system). The ancient Satan was probably a roving Special Prosecutor from the King's court, a kind of evil District Attorney with a mobile Starr chamber who built cases against the common people by soliciting false accusations from anyone who could be bribed or intimidated. Over time, "Satan" came to be the Devil we know today.
Vocabulary Calumnia, calumny - Latin calumnia, a false and malicious statement designed to injure the reputation of someone or something, slander, defamation
"in what is called kaloumenoV" - I.e., "in what is called 'is called,'" a somewhat nonsensical assertion, must be taken in context of its borrowing from Revelation IX: 9. The "ancient serpent" who "is called" the Devil ( diaboloV ), is also called the "accuser of our brethren who accuses them before our God" ( katagoroV two ’adelfwn ‘hmwon, ‘o kathgorwn ’autwn ’enwpion tou qeou‘hmwn ). The symmetry of two concepts kaloumenoV and katagoroV ("is called" and "accuser") is drawn presumably to demonstrate that "calling someone" a name, such as the Devil, and "accusing someone" are inextricably linked. It is the satan, the evil roaming district attorney and false accuser of innocent people, who calls others names and who is himself called "the Devil." Satan plays the same role in the Book of Job. |
| 8. Spinqer | Spinther, Literally, a Spark of divine energy transmitted from the Other, analagous to the Pneuma of the Gnostics. |
| 9. ’Apofrash | Extrapolated Nominative form of "Apophratic" literally as the rest of the line explains, "not to be mentioned"or "Unmentionable" similar to the Untouchables in the Caste system that evolved in India after the invasion of the Aryans. Crude marginal depiction of hard-baked fired clay tablet with a rope hole for hanging around the neck of a slave. The Linear B gloss is possibly a failed attempt at "do - mo - ro", Greek Dmoh, Slave (instead of the poet's bogus do - e - ro). |
| 10. ‘Udatosudnh ‘Alosudnh | Hydatosydne, "Water Born," and Halosydne, "Sea Born," general names of Nymphs of the Sea. Callimachus defines as names of NhreideV, Nereids (Daughters of Nereus and Doris), but they are not in Hesiod's list in the Theogony. The former has carried foreward to modern Eusage (‘Ud- = Hyd- root of "hydroelectric", "hydropower", "hydroplane" etc. Whereas the latter (‘Al- = Hal-) has not. |
| 11. ’AuliadeV | Auliades, Nymphs of the Forest or Cattle Fold. |
| 12. Zaqian | Zathian, "sacred" from ZaqeoV, an epithet applied to Crete. Note the Poet's blasphemous play on words by yoking the concept of the "sacred" with the mundane "cattle folds" (as in Holy Cows). |
| 13. ’AulwniaV | Aulonias, Nymphs of the Glen. |
| 14. ThlefahV | Telephaes, like Telephassa (wife of Agenor, mother of Cadmus) means "Far Shining." ThlefahV as a word appears only once and so must be done nicely, except in the name Thlefaessa. |
| 15. KoureteV | Curetes, of the Mystic cults of Crete, the holders of the Antidotes, and oldest inhabitants of Pleurwna Pleuron in ’Aitolia Aetolia, according to the Iliad, Chapter 9 (529, 549), were a tribe connected with the peculiar rites at Delos, comparable with the Roman Salii in the Salion Rites. Consensus has it that these men, dedicated to service in the temples of Cybele, underwent ritual castration, the sacrifice of their "manhood" to the Great Mother, and were the practical ancestors of today's Roman Catholic priests. In Phrygia, they were called KourubaV, KourubanteV, Corybants. Linguistically comprable is Hebrew Corban - a gift or votive offering for the god, also the name given to the Treasury of the Temple at Jerusalem. The ancient historian Strabo associates the KourubanteV with:
"Here Zan lies dead, whom they call Zeus."Zan/Zeus lies dead but soon returns to life as ZagreoV, Zagreus, the First Bacchus. |
| 16. Pallax PallaV | Pallax, Pallas, literally "a (Spear)-Brandisher" also connoting a "Virgin Warrior" (ParqenoV, a Virgin), that is, youth in military service, which could be either male or female. The line subsequently clarifies the aspect as Spear Brandisher. |
| 17. Macai | Macai - haired: Note the editorial disapproval. The author indulges far too much in forming Poundean bilingual word combinations. Macai (Machai, "Crested") literally refers to the Mohawk hair style of the Cretan warriors. It also appears as the crested helmet of later Greek and Roman warriors, with a ridge like a Crest from the top of the helmet down the back. Herodotus (Chapter 4) describes Libyan tribes descended from people of Aegean origin, and tradition holds that the Libyan city of Cyrene (Cyrenaica) was founded in about 1600 B.C. by refugees from the Volcanic Island of Thera, in the heart of the Aegean Sea. Herodotus (IV: 167ff.) names the tribes of the descendants of the Therans and Cretans at Cyrene and Platea:
(* Michael Brett and Elizabeth Fentress, The Berbers, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1997) |
| 18. Kuqereia | Kytheria, one of the epithets and the surname of Aphrodite. The name of the Island, one of the Cyclades now called Cerigo, at the Southern most point of Laconia, was Kuqhra, also the name of the City. Like another island name derived from the Thera root form, Antikytheria, is about halfway between Kythera and Crete. |
| 19. TelcineV | Telchines, literally "Enchanters," the first inhabitants of Crete, famed for their skill in forging Iron and Bronze. Like the Duergar, in the northern mines, they were reputed to be ill-tempered, mischevious enchanters or genii. The name is thought to derive from Qelgw, to Enchant (equivalent to the Roman Mulciber or Vulcanus, and the Hebrew Tubalcain). |
| 20. Duergar | Duergar, not a Greek word, is believed by the critical consensus to be a tribe of miners and metalworkers, possibly Scythian (north of the ancient Aegean in what is today Bulgaria - and a similar suffix-formation stratum in the tribal names Duergar and Bulgar). |
| 21. ’Eileiquia | ’Eilythuia, later ’’Eleuqra Eleuthra, the Goddess who aided women in Chilbirth, the Nursemaid, daughter of Zeus and Hera. According to the Odyssey, Chapter 14:188, there was a Temple dedicated to Eilythuia at Amnisos in Crete. |
| 22. ’AmnisoV | ’Amnisos, the port City in North Crete, about 10 miles East of Knossos. The Crude representation of a clay tablet fragment in the margin reads "a - mi - ni - so," corresponding to the Cretan City ’AmnisoV. The Editor suspects that this particular snatch of Linear B came from the Michael Ventris and John Cadwik Tablets. ’EINATIH, believed by some to be the alternate name to Amnisos, probably means no more than "the Ninth" (Deme, Polis,). The Poet once wrote a remembrance of his visit to AmnisoV, but his Critics claim his memory is faulty if not totally amnesiac. |
| 23. Kubele Kubebe | Cybele, the "Great Mother" Goddess of Asia Minor, first worshipped at Pessinus, who corresponds to ‘Rea, Rhea of the Greeks, daughter of Uranus and Gaia, wife of Kronos, and Mother of Zeus. It is also the name of a Phrygian Mountain. Her worshippers were called Galloi, Galloi, after the river Gallos in Phrygia, and possibly related to the Gauls (of French fame). According to the story line, she is being recalled to attend a festival of Aphrodite. This image could mask the true picture of Minoan power in the Eastern Mediterranean. As the Maritime Empire (i.e., Sailors) gained ascendency through acquisition of wealth, the Goddess Aphrodite is attempting to demonstrate the subservience of the Mother Goddess to the Love Goddess (i.e., Love as the practice of "sacred prostitution in the Temple"). |
| 24. Khr | Kere, Car, also Ceres, Greek word for both Heart and Death or Doom. Truly an awefull deity, her usual epithets were:
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| 2Å. ’AidoV | Hades, from an obsolete ’AiV (Iliad 7:330), the nether world, inhabited by its king Hades, the kidnapper of Persephone the daughter of Demeter. The Greek Hades is the immediate precedent of the Christian Hell, as represented principally in Dante's Inferno, which laid the foundation of a persistent belief that continues to this day. In the times of the Greeks, however, Hades probably was an actual place, in or near some Volcanic area, which contained living human inhabitants whose lives became the basis for the Christians' tortured souls in Hell. A prime example of the factual basis of people inhabiting Volcanic regions is the Sibyl, or Oracle, at Delphi, who sat upon a tripod suspended above a Volcanic pit that exhaled poisonous fumes, which the Oracle breathed in order to stimulate a religious trance.
Inasmuch as Sections III and IV of Minoa, in the context of the Mock Epic form, represent the "descent into Hades," it would seem prudent to journey back to the earlier Mental Traveler. This title, of course, is a direct theft of William Blake's poem of the same name. However our present Poet's journey is of an entirely different order. Although of the form of the descent into Hell, Mental Traveler presents a series of disjointed, backwards metaphors through which the Poet apparently wished the thematic content could be modernized. It was, of course, a dismal failure, which greatly cries out for the very real necessity of these Editorial notes to make any sense out of it. Therefore, the humble Editor offers the following observations. As the poem opens, the entrance to Hell is represented by the entrance to a labyrinth (see note 52 below). The emblematic bird "raven," or crow (Greek korwnh, Latin corvus, and represented in the night sky as the constellation Corvus, the Crow) is also related to the word "crone," Greek kronh, an old woman who typically dressed head to foot in black. (A more recent use of this character can be found in Nikos Katzanzakis' Zorba the Greek.) This "labyrinth/ of the sleeping and the dead" is the place "wherein breed monsters, / your factual demons." Immediately, the Poet presents a disjoined metaphor, for obviously "demons" are not "factual" except within the hearts, souls, and imaginations of each individual. Nevertheless, the Poet would have us believe that they exist (since they are "factual"), and, by making them "your" demons, would directly attempt to pull (you) the reader into this world. The poem appears to be divided into two parts, one inhabited by demons predominantly of the female type and the other by the male type. The first "demon" to be presented is the medusa (Greek medousa "a ruler," from medwn "to rule.") The Medusa (capital M) is one of the three Gorgons ( GorgoV, "grim, fierce, terrible") described in Hesiod Theogony: 276, who were daughters of Phorcys ( ForkuV, "a sow," Latin porcus, "a hog," our Modern English "pork") and Ceto ( Khtw, "a sea monster," but more probably khtoV, the whale (Latin Cete, our "cetacean"), and the constellation "Cetus" the whale, lying above the equator and containing the variable star Mira). This ancient story of the union of two cultures, one based on hog farming and the other on whaling, at least by the reckoning of its "offspring" (see below) must have been a violent and ugly age. All of the children of Phorcys and Ceto are monstrous. The three Gorgons were by all accounts at one time all beautiful:
( ‘EsperideV ), the three goddeses who lived on an island of the Ocean in the far-west, near the pillars of Atlas (strait of Gibraltar) and dwelt in the orchard that Gaia gave to Hera. They guarded the gateway to the garden, which contained the fabled golden apples. The name ‘Esperia, Hesperia, was applied by Greek authors to both Italy and Spain, but their geographic locality was more probably the the Balearic Islands (Mallorca, ancient Majorca, Ibiza, ancient Iviza, and Menorca, ancient Minorca), the Canary Islands, or the Madeira Islands. The Hesperides are described in other stories as daughters of Night ( Nux, see note 0 above ), and still others of Atlas and Hesperis, the daughter of Hesperus. They were named:
Back to the Medusa. It is deliberately cast as ungendered ("it"). It stands in "blank opacity," an apparent reference its power of turning men into stone. When the living think about the Medusa, conceptually, it "swells the mental casement." It grows larger within the mind of the reader, engenders fear and dread, abstracted from any reality except itself. The lines that follow are somewhat cryptic: it "envisions her capacity / fills the plentitude of print." Once fear is engendered in the mind of the reader, it grows geometrically. "Her" regenders and personifies the "it" (fear, dread) as a female demon. Both in the ancient world and today in our modern reality, "print" usually refers to the printed press, of newspapers, magazines, papyrii, and books. Thus, fear is abstracted out to the world of print. Once readers fall into the trap of creating fear abstracted from some dreadful image in their mind, they project it on everything they behold. "Print" is also found on stone (another connexion with the Medusa), for instance on public inscriptions, grave stones, or graffiti. Fear is projected everywhere. In Greek iconography, the goddess Athena was often illustrated carrying a shield that displayed the head of Medusa. Examples of the mental adjustment - of those who have looked upon the Medusa and project it on everything they behold in the world - can be found in the ramblings of conspiracy theorists and right-wing fanatics who habitually call into C-SPAN call-in the morning. In the next lines, the Medusa is described as female and compared with a "fashion model." The ironical "if looks could kill" bears a double entendre:
The image of the Medusa is like a photograph ("frame"), both in secret ("in camera") and rendered "in a camera," and which is artfully and carefully created ("pose"). In addition, the image created is of "a fashion model's frame," i.e., literally of "her body." Finally, "we dare not pose / this creature's name" - the very name "Medusa" becomes unspeakable, an abstraction of fear, disembodied, but forever lurking in imagination as an anonymous image. In addition, she is like an anonymous "fashion model," who are seldom identified by name in the magazines in which they appear. Only the very select few, known as "Supermodels," whose image is instantly recognizable, rise to fame, and even these few are often known only by a single name, or pseudonym, such as "Jade" or "Abby" or "Zelda," guaranteeing their anonymity and protection from attacks by stalkers and obsessed fans. In ancient Greece, famous personages were also often identified only by a single name ("Athena," "Artemis," "Persephone," "Helen," and so on), and were elevated to gods, goddesses, or demi-gods, as appropriate in the culture.like a fashion model's frame The theme of projection of fear onto the world at large is continued in the subsequent lines: The word "tantalizing" alludes to the story of Tantalus ( TantaloV, king of Phrygia, ancestor of the Pelopidae), who chopped up his son Pelops and put the pieces into a soup that he fed to the Olympian gods in a banquet. When his hideous crime was discovered by Demeter, he was punished with his kingdom's ruination. He was committed to eternal torment in Hades in the company of Ixion, Sisyphus, Tityus, and the Danaids, among others. Tantalus hangs, consumed by thirst and hunger, just out of reach of a fruit tree, in a lake which sometimes reaches up to his chin. When he attempts to drink, the water subsides into a black mud at his feet. In "Mental Traveler" these images thread back to the previous quartets. The "mind" ("mental casement") behind the image of the Medusa is "poised" (c.f. the "pose" of the fashion model metaphor) in "studied malignancy" or carefully thought-out evil. It "confronts its shape in other eyes," ("shape" reflecting back to "frame" and the body of the model) projecting its own evil outward on the world. Its vehicle is the eyes, just as men look on the image of the Medusa and are turned into stone.A mind of tantalizing poise The following line "tissues of metonymies" presents another in the series of backward metaphors. A metonymy ( Greek metonumia ), in rhetoric, is a figure of speech in which the name of one object or concept is used to stand for another to which it is related, or of which it is a part (often referred to as "the part standing for the whole"). The preceding lines present images of fear and temptation to look upon evil. These become "tissues" - a double entendre, signifying both "screens, veils" as well as "kleenex," or tissue-thin paper - through which the viewer of the evil in the workaday world sees. They are backwardly referential, to "metonymies," because the images of evil are as "parts" to the whole of a greater evil. We try to protect ourselves from seeing the evil by setting up metaphorical screens in our minds and imaginations, belief systems in which evil is relegated to mythology or to singular images, unrelated to us. However, these images are metonymies of the evil inherent in all mankind. They cannot be shunned or hidden away, because no matter what we do, they rear up their ugly heads again. The final quartet describing the mental "Medusa" in our heads continues the use of backward metaphors: Here, the snakes of the Medusa's head are described as responding "like metaphors" - another seeming impossibility. A "metaphor" - meaning a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to object or concept that it does not literally denote, to suggest comparison with another object or concept - cannot be said to "respond" to anything. In fact, this abstraction is an instance of a mixed metaphor - in which two or more metaphors combined are incongruous or illogical. However, throughout this passage all must clearly be taken as "in the mind" and "imagination" where metaphors may bloom like flowers (or writhe like snakes on Medusa's head) under their own power. Moreover, these metaphors take on a life of their own, guiding and influencing the minds and spirits of humanity by their inherent power. The use of the word "engrams" draws in yet another incongrous concept - the now obsolete psychological term signifying a "trace" or a structural change in the brain or nervous system effected by an experience, and once considered to be the physical basis of memory. In the imagination, such a thing as an "engram" (psychological unit of memory) blows up into an image of terror. A mental image thus blooms like flowers and "writhes like whores," becomes twisted as a consequence of our dwelling on it. These mental concepts exist "moaning and groaning alone" and clearly leave the persons infected with them in a similar condition, living within their own, self-induced mental hells.Indignant snakes respond like metaphors As the journey into the underworld continues, the scene changes. The next image presented is of "Cerberos" ( KerberoV, the dog that guards the gate to the underworld (Hesiod, Theogony 311), whose name meant "darkness," the fifty-headed son of Typhaon and Echidna (see Note 2 above), brother of Orthrys, and later represented with three heads. (See also Odyssey II: 623 and Iliad 8: 368.) The Poet's poetic license, clearly hyperventilating in many of these poems, blows into a completely different direction in the description of Cerberos. |
| 25. Daktuloi | Dactyls, literally "Fingerers" or in modern English, "Gropers." Their name appears to have some relation to the role they played in a ritual to Zeus of some kind, who according to legend was born in a cave on Mount Ida on Crete. In primitive cave religion but also in civil functions, the Dactyls may have been the "Measurers" of things. To this day, Greek sailors measure the distance from the sun to the horizon by finger. In the Argonautica, the names of the Dactyls are given as:
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| 26. Antron | Antron, the name of a specific Cave in Crete which subsequently became a staging platform for Cults of Mystery Cave Rituals. In later Greek, antron comes to mean a cave in general. |
| 27. Idaoi | "Of Ida", that is, Mount Ida, on Crete. The word literally means "a Wood" or Forested area, and also signified the Wooded Hill or Mountain. The Cave in which Zeus was born is on Mount Ida. |
| 28. Mormw | Mormo, one of the so-called Nurse's Bogies, was a Demon that Nurses and Midwives used to scare the daylights out of children, and hopefully teach them to be deathly afraid of the demonic forces loose outside their little roof-space in their world. The others were:
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| 29. SikinniV | Sicinnis, a Nymph of Cybele, and inventor of the frenzied dance, the "Dance of Satyrs" of the teletai, Bacchanal festivals in honor of Cybele. Originally, it was a Cretan Satyr Dance in honor of Sabazios. |
| 30. SabazdioV SabazioV | Sabazios, i.e. Sabaz-dios, a God of Phrygia and Caria (in Asia Minor) also an epithet of Dionysis. The SaboV (Saboi) were dedicdated to the service of Sabazios in Bacchanals. It was a Phrygian word according to Byzantinus Stephanus. Saboi! was the cry of the Saboi at the feast of Sabazios. It also served as a word for "madman". To this day, modern Greeks call a madman zaboV. There are two verb forms of the same root word:
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| 31. KudoimoV | Kydoimos, literally "din of battle, uproar, hubbub." She was personified along with ’EriV Erin, and ’Enuw Enyo, as one of the Daughters of Night. The word is from KudoV, Kudos, glory, reknown in war. This line is the second Invocation of the Muse, another Daughter of Night. To this day academicians refer to the bestowing of honoraria as "kudos." |
| 32. Kudwnian | Cydoian, Cydonia, a City in Crete. Kudwnaia was the Achaean name for winter figs, and Kudwnea is the word for the Quince Tree. KudwnioV was metaphorically applied from the notion of a ripe fig's "swelling" to mean more generally "swollen", and round and plump, especially of a woman's breasts. |
| 33. IkhloV | Ikelos, one of the numerous Fulon Oneirwn (literally "Tribe of Dreams"),
"Sons of Somnus (Latin, Sleep) known in Greek as ‘Upnon, Hypnon, and MorpheuV, Morpheus (literally, the Shaper, Fashioner), the one most expert in counterfeiting forms and in imitating the walk, the countenance, and mode of speaking, even the clothes and attitudes most characteristic of each. But he only imitates men, leaving it to another to personate birds, beasts, and serpents. Him they call Icelos; and Phantasos is a third, who turns himself into rocks, waters, woods, and other things without life." Thomas Bullfinch, Myths of Greece and Rome, New York: Viking Penguin, 1979, p. 100. |
| 34. Iacw Iach | Iacho, Iacchus, Bacchus, literally means to Cry "Ia." The cry could be a battle shout. Equally well it could serve as an all-purpose whoop in drunken Revelries and Sporting events at which alcohol was served. Surprisingly, it also served as the wailing cry of the vanquished (’ulaw, ’ulaktew, ululation, literally to bark or bay, as of Cainines at the Moon). The word origin appears to be an Onomatopoetic Ejaculation. Greek Grammarians, based on quantative metrics, have noted that in Homer Iach probably shows the Digamma ( V ) or Vau ( f ) sound, represented in Homer by the Rough Breathing mark ( ' ). One form of this word, f-iach, leads to the conclusion that other variations on the cry occured. It would properly be rendered "Via," "Fia," or substituting the Greek Rough Breathing, "Hia" (hee-yah) or "Hya" (hyah). Another is ‘Iuzw, -h, ‘Iuxw, -h, (H)Iuzo, (H)Iuxo, etc. All pertain to shouting or yelling. |
| 35. Dinh | Dyne or Dynamo, Whirlpool, whirling eddy, vortex, whirlwind, rotation. In the context of the Dionysian revelry, this image calls up the drunken whirling dances that bring their practicioners into a State of Ecstasy, not to mention the fact that the world (or room) would appear to be spinning after so many drinks. Dinh is also the word used by Empedocles for the Rotating Heaven which was supposed to maintain the Earth in its position. |
| 36. Sandux | Sandyx, a bright Red colour, also called ‘Armenion (Harmonion), which is the name of the Plant from which the Dye of this colour is extracted. In Lydia, SandukeV were thin, transparent flesh-coloured women's garments, which were dyed in this colour. |
| 37. Romb | Rhombos, Spinning, from ‘rembw, to turn round and round. Also, to roam, rove, roll about, and metaphorically, to be unsteady, act at random. Akin to:
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| 3Å. QrehnwdhV | Threnody, from qrhnoV + ’wdhV, (verb form qrhnomai), a funeral song, dirge, or lament ( Iliad 24:721, Herodotus, Histories 2:79, 85 ) but also a complaint or sad strain, and in plural form, wailings or lamentations. The qrhnoV or dirge was a choral song of lamentation accompanied by the music of the flute. Pinder in his Dirges dwells on the immortality of the soul and offers consolation to the mourner by describing "the progress of the soul through the future. After death, all receive their just reward and the spirits of the just are purified until they are free from all taint of evil" (129 + 130 (95). In the fragment of a dirge below, the subjects are Linus, Hymenaeus, Ialemus, and Orpheus sons of Apollo by one or another of the Muses:
From Pindar, Dirges (139: 1-9)
’Enti men crusalakatou tekewn LatouV ’aoidai ( There are lays of paeans, coming in due season, which belong to the children of Leto of the golden distaff. There are other lays which from amid the crowns of florishing ivy, long for the dithyramb of Dionysus. But in another song did three goddesses lull to rest the bodies of their sons. The first of these sang a dirge over the clear-voiced Linus. And the second lamented with her latest strains Hymenaeus, who was seized by Fate when first he lay with another in wedlock. While the third sorrowed over Ialemus, when his strength was stayed by the onset of a devouring malady. But the son of Oeagrus, Orpheus of the golden sword. . . ) The Odes of Pindar Including the Principal Fragments In the context of our present Poet's gift to the world, the excessively overlong title, Threnody Written after the American Anitquarian Society's Readex Microprint Series Numbers 42401, 42399, and 42400, refers to a large body of early American documents, pamphlets, tractates, and humdrum poetry, which is contained in a very large set of microfiches, and can easily be found in many well-endowed libraries. Hence, the author's somewhat amusing dedication of the poem to Harvard, which has never, at least insofar as this Editor's research has been able to ascertain, ever been Number One in football. The Threnody dwells on the execution of one Levi Ames in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 21, 1773, for stealing eggs and chalk, as well as on the charge of burglary of the house of one Mr. Bicker. The Poet once remarked at how remarkable it was to think that these kinds of executions were commonplace even as little as two and one-half years before the American Revolution. At the time of the Ames trial, perhaps a dozen or so documents were written (all are available in the Microprint set) by misguided souls who raised a public hew and cry against the harshness of this punishment. Most are prose, and a few are metrical, such as the one alluded to written by one Elthanan Winchester. The subtitles of each of the three sections allude to both the actual title and the Microprint index number of the tractate referred to, and they are:
Vocabulary pentametric rounds - Iambic pentameter, the metrical form of Elthanan Winchester's poem on Levi Ames, in metrical scansion: È ´ È ´ È ´ È ´ È ´ Diety - apparently misspelled by intention as the Poet follows the convention of early American spellings which had not as yet been standardized (that stricture awaited the invention of the Dictionary). the wheel - see note 70 below for the indirect metaphorical reference to Ixion. quailed - apparently some type of archaism as this verb is normally intransitive. The Poet transitivizes it into an active verb. The meaning is "to lose heart or courage in the face of difficulty or danger, to shrink with fear. (Synonyms: recoil, flinch, blench, cower)" quill strokes - Writing implements (ink pens) of this time were often simply a bird's feather (quill) with its pointed end cut off. Ink would then be drawn up into the hollow tube, and then writing was accomplished in the normal way by applying the tip of the quill to paper. engraved the sweat with ashes - A reference to the ritual of "last rites" performed before the prisoner was executed. The priest would moisten his finger and dip it in ashes and then draw a cross on the prisoner's forehead. clanging cimbalon - or Cymbalom, a complex zither of Hungarian origin. The Poet's deliberate misspelling indicates another archaism that would represent the rather anarchic ways of spelling that were practiced before the dictionary was invented. This instrument is the equivalent of the "hung cymbalom," our "cymbal" in Modern English. scratches on a cave wall - see MINOA, III: "Though we obey the powers we can no longer read/ The scratched grooves lettering our cavern walls/ The ancient magic runes incanting holy dread" and V: "‘HfaistoV wrought him out of hieroglyphic marks/ In the cave of Zeus forged in the blizzard of anvil sparks." tumbrel - Another archaism, 1) One of the carts used in the French Revolution to convey victims to the guillotine; 2) a type of dumpcart, especially used for carrying dung; 3) (Obsolete) A two-wheeled covered cart for carrying tools, ammunition, etc. to the artillery in wartime, also spelled tumbril. A primitive woodcut in the pamphlet numbered 42400 illustrates this cart carrying Ames to his execution, his eyes unnaturally large I suppose to show his great fear and dread, chained to the cart with an iron neck bracelet. Cape Cod - in Massachusetts, about 30 miles east of Boston. cubicle - The small room in the library which contained a microfiche reader. canticle - A song, poem, or hymn, especially in praise; also, one of the non-metrical humns or chants chiefly from the Bible, used in Church services. (Latin, canticulum = canticum and cantus, - equivalent to English "chant" - a song, participle from canere to sing. |
| 38. Kissoushdian | Literally, "craving strange food," the longing of a pregnant woman or a false appetite. From kissa, kitta, a chattering, greedy bird, possibly the Jay bird. |
| 39. Eis kolpouV Pandwra | Literally, "having breasts like Pandora" (well-endowed). The Figure is redundant, as the author no doubt knew, of course, because the name Pandora by itself means "All-Gifted." |
| 40. Kestou | Kestou, "Embroidered" or stitched, as applied to Aphrodite's Girdle. |
| 41. Spondh | Sponde, a Drink Offering, the Wine poured out to the Gods before drinking. |
| 42. Fobetwr Fobhtron | Phobetor, a Scarecrow, Bugbear, Night Terror. Also in plural, TisifonthV ta Fobhtra, Tragic Masks of the Furies. Related to Fobew, to Fear, FoboV, Fear. |
| 43. ZagreuV | Zagreus, name of the first Bacchus. according to Callimachus and Nonnus. According to some Grammarians the word was related to the verb zwgrew, to take, take captive, save alive instead of killing, also to restore Life, revive; and to others ‘agreuw, to Hunt, take by hunting, catch, take, and ‘agrwsteV, a Hunter.
Zagreus was the son of Zeus and Persephone before she was kidnapped by Hades and taken to the underworld. Zeus ordered the Cretan Curetes or the Corybantes (see note 15 above) to guard the cradle of Zagreus in the Idaean Cave, where they leaped about him enganging in swordplay. The Titans, who hated Zeus, covered themselves with gypsum and turned themselves white until they were unrecognizable. They waited until the Curetes slept, then lured Zagreus away by offering him toys: a bull-roarer, golden apples, a mirror, a knuckle bone, and a tuft of wool. Zagreus defended himself when they set on him intending murder, and transformed himself in an attempt to escape them. He became Zeus in a goat-skin coat, Cronus making rain, a lion, a horse, a horned serpent, a tiger, and a bull. Finally, the Titans seized him by the horns and feet and tore him apart with their teeth and devoured his raw flesh. Athena intervened in this ghoulish feast and rescured Zagreus's heart and enclosed it in a gypsum figure, into which she breathed life so that he became immortal. His bones were collected and buried at Delphi. The same story is told of Dionysus, except that in his case the flesh was cooked and the rescuer of his heart was Rhea. (Robert Graves, The Greek Myths: I, New York: Viking Penguin, 1986, pp. 118-119.) |
| 44. Lussa | Lyssa, the Goddess of Raging Madness (see note 5 above). |
| 45. AfelioV AbelioV | Afelios, Abelios, both rendered as Archaic forms of ‘HlioV, Helios, defined in Hesychius as "Cretan words." Helios was the Sun God. |
| 46. Qusqla | Qusqla-light, another bilingual compound, Thysthla-light, referring to the type of Torches carried in the Festivals. |
| 47. Oi prosqe... | Oi prosqe fanhn entosqen ekeuqon, "Who once hid the torch within," from Herodion, On Peculiar Diction, p. 18, who is quoting a line from Hesiod, Catalogue of Women and Eoiae, which presumably refers to the Thysthlae (Torches). The Poet is presumably quoting both of them in the marginal gloss, to no particular end except perhaps to elevate the image of the Torches to Sublime and/or Metaphysical Heights. FanhV, Phanes, Light, the mystical god of the Orphics, representing the first principle of the world. Fanh, phane, a torch used in the Bacchic rites. |
| 48. FantasoV | Phantasos, a son of Somnus, who "turns himself into rocks, waters, woods, and other things without life." See note 33 above. The word is related to fantasia, fantasia, which means a making visible, displaying, or parading. |
| 4Å. Enteuqon Beniqon | Enteuthon Benithon - "Henceforth", "thenceforth", "afterward" (from Enqen, "hence"); and "the Depth" (from BenqoV), Latin Fundus. Usually applied to the sea, also descriptive of deep "lines" in the phrase Benqesi limneV. Just what Jesus wrote in the sand in John 8:6 is open to conjecture. The exact phrasing is tw daktulw egrafen eiV tn ghn (with his finger he wrote on the ground). In fact this is the only place Jesus "writes" anything, and is sometimes cited to show that thus He must have been literate (as opposed merely knowing the Hebrew Prophets through the Oral Tradition). This position is taken to appease effete Akademikos' snobbery. He actually writes twice on the ground (or earth: from gh- gaia, earth). Many religious factions, including the Roman Catholics and branches of Protestants do not accept the legitimacy of this passage in John because they believe that Jesus could never have defended the adulterous woman. She had been brought before Jesus by the Scribes and Pharisees, who thought and taught legalistically and made a living from writing. Others point out that whatever He wrote in the sand, it must have been in Aramaic since that supposedly was the language He spoke. |
| 49. Cimaira | Chimaira, a she-goat, typically of the first year, which were often used as offerings in pagan religious ceremonies. Chimaira was a fire-breathing monster with a lion's head, serpent's tail, and a goat's body, which was killed by Bellerophon according to the Iliad 6:179. In Hesiod, Theogony 319 ff., Chimaria was daughter of Typhaon and Echidna with the heads of a lion, goat, and serpent. Later, Strabo the Geographer explained the story as a Mythical account of a volcanic eruption of Mt. Cragos in Lycia. Today we continue to use the word to signify something of an illusion. Clearly, the Chimaira the Poet describes is a goat of a different color dimension. |
| 50. Uakinq | Hyacinth, in Mythology, Hyacinthos, a Laconian youth whom Apollo loved. When challenged to throw the diskos in a contest, Apollo accidentally let one get away, which killed Hyacinthos. The hyacinth flower sprang up from the blood of Hyacinthos (although some say it was actually Telamonian Ajax's blood, which merely confuses the matter). It is also fabled that the petals of the hyacinth flower display the initials of these two names (UA, AI) traced in their delicate veins. It was dark blue, dark red, or purple, depending on the ancient authority. The Greek hyacinth was apparently not the same flower as the one we designate today, but seems to have taken in several flowers, the iris, gladiola, and larkspur, which may exlpain the different colors. In still other authors it is iron colored, snow white, and sky blue. UakinqioV - Hyakinthios was the name given to the month the Athenians and everybody else called Hekatombaion - Hecatombaeon - on the islands of Rhodes and Thera. These two islands would probably point to a Minoan connexion. In addition, the Lacedaemonians held a festival, called the Uakinqia in that same month. |
| 51. udatinon... | udatinon kairwma umenessin omoion- The marginal gloss is another fancy poeticism, this time a double metaphor if you like. ‘udatinon kairwma - transparent like water, of thin gauzy fabrics, like Milesian garments. ‘umenessin omoion - resembling (or 'like') the hymen. The Poet's mind is obviously slithering around in the gutter, as is so typical of Liberal Artistes. |
| 52. LABRUS | Labrys, the double-bladed axe so famous for its prominence in Minoan imagery. In fact thousands of such axes have been dug up in many Cretan archaeological sites. Plutarch 2:302A is cited as making the equivalence labruV = pelekeuV. The grammarian says the word is of Lydian origin. PelekuV is a word found in Epic, Ionic, and Aelian and other later Greek writers to signify an axe or hatchet with two edges for felling trees. In the Iliad and Odyssey, it also signifies a battle-axe, executioner's axe, and sacrifical axe. However, none of these speculations have much to do with the labruV, which in Crete became synonomous with the palace at Knossos and hence with the royal family of Minos. The palace was also famously (or infamously) known as the site of the laburinqoV, the Labyrinth, a large building consisting of numerous halls connected by tortuous passages. The Cretan Labyrinth was where Minos kept the mythical beast, the Minotaur. Minos, the first king of Crete and builder of the Labyrinth, was the son of Europa and Zeus, who impregnated her in the form of a huge white bull. The architect of the Labyrinth was the famous Daedalus (father of Icarus). The first Labyrinth was built in Egypt according to Herodotus 2:148 and Strabo 811, and the Cretan Labyrinth borrowed its design. When Sir Arthur Evans first excavated Knossos in 1903, he uncovered many double-headed axes and found the image painted in wall frescoes. The Labyrinth itself has never been found, although it is now widely assumed that it refers to the Palace at Knossos itself. It has been widely imitated throughout the world in gardens as well as architectural plans. The basic Labyrinth had a single entrance and exit, with the main features of its execution taking many twists and turns:
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| 5Å. Interlokutoru | Interlocutory, a word which the Poet may have picked up from watching old Perry Mason reruns. The term means "pronounced during the course of an action, as of a decision; not finally decisive of a case; pertaining to an intermediate decision." It was used in earlier ('50s-'60s) divorce proceedings to refer to a period between the judge's "interlocutory decree of divorce" and the final decision granting the divorce. There was usually a waiting period involved, typically from six weeks on up to a year. In the context of the Poet's musings, the persona (not to say persona non gratia) appears to be on trial during the course of the Poem. |
| 5Ä. Suffected | A Neologism on the part of the Poet to impress upon the Reader his knowledge of Latin, and an attempt to recreate in the English language an equivalent to the Greek Middle Voice. The passage from Vergil, Aeneidos II: 210-211 is relevant:
ardentisque oculos suffecti sanguine et igniThe Greek Middle Voice, after mesh diaqesiV, meson rhma is used:
Later, in Vergil, Aeneidos II: 220-222, another phrase occurs: Ille simul manibus tendeit divellere nodos The sea snakes coil themselves around Laocoon, constricting his body and head, causing blood to spurt. Laocoon's headband is both "steeped with bloody gore," and he is "steeping it with his own blood." Thus he both acts in a way that affects himself (his blood spurting from his head is covering his head) and on something that belongs to him (his blood suffuses his headband). The Greek Middle Voice occurs in the phrase perfusus sanie vittas. Perfusus (steeped) is a Nominative Singular Perfect Passive Participle and vittas (ribbon bands) is a Feminine Accusative Plural Object of the Participle, while sanie (in bloody gore) is a Feminine Singular Ablative, forming a Greek Middle Voice. |
| 53. Zwdion | Archaized nominative form of ZwdiakoV, the Zodiac. The word literally means "of or for animals" from Zwh, a life, living, i.e., one's sustenance, way of making a living, standard of living, or property. We retain this form of the word in today's "Zoo" as a place where animals live. In ancient times it also referred to the parade of animals comprising the signs of the Zodiac (Ursa the bear, Cainus the dog, Siknus — i.e., Cygnus — the swan, etc.). |
| 54. suzux | Syzyx, united, accordant, usually of wedded pairs. The word is related to suzugoV, yoked together, paired, united, especially of marriage, and suzugia, a union of branches with the trunk of a tree or plant, and a yoke worn by animals, especially those designed to pair them in twos. The word also applies to abstrations signifying "a correlation of ideas" (Plato, Phaedrus 71), and grammatically to a "conjunction of words" and a "relation of terms." In grammar and rhetoric the term zeugma lives on in the modern term "zeugma" signifying a joining of a verb with two subjects or objects or an adjective with two nouns in which the relation is unequal and appropriate only to one of the pair, as in "to wage war and peace". The more literal sense of a "yoke" applies both to domesticated animals and to the implement slaves were forced to wear, consisting of a pair of wooden beams, with holes cut out for the wrists, and tied behind the head. There are numerous related Greek words:
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| 55. EriV Erin | See note 24 above. |
| 56. Wurai | Archaized spelling, properly Wrai, literally "Hours" in an obscene pun on the word "whores" which in ancient Greek were roughly synonymous. The Hours were the keepers of heaven's cloudgate and ministeresses of the gods, especially of Aphrodite (Iliad 5:749 8:393 and 6:5 and 12). Hence the association with "whores" who were the priestesses of Aphrodite in the ancient cults. According to Hesiod, Theogonia 902, they were daughters of Zeus and QemiV - Themis - and were three in number:
Hesiod also says that Themis bore Zeus three additional daughters, the MoiraV, Fates, with the names:
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| 57. QorinqoV | Archaized spelling of the ancient Greek polis Corinth (note the use of the 'qoph' character which was dropped from the Greek alphabet in about 800-500 B.C. The normal spelling would be KorinqoV, reportedly founded by a son of Zeus of the same name. The phrase Dios KorinqoV (c.f. Pindar, Nemean Odes VII:155) reputedly signified persons who are always repeating the same old story. According to the Scholiast, when the Megarians revolted against Corinthian rule, the Corinthian court sent ambassadors to Megara who protested that "Corinth, the city of Zeus" ( o Dios KorinqoV ) would not tolerate this affront, and continually harped on the expression. In a later battle, the Megarians made it a point not to spare Corinth and used the battle-cry "Corinth, the city of Zeus" ( ton Dios Korinqon ) to taunt them. The phrase subsequently indicated "a vain blabberer." KorinqioV, a "Corinthian" citizen, also signified "a prostitute" because Corinth was famous for its courtesans. Korinqiazomai, used as a verb, signified "to practice whoredom." KorinqiasthV (Corinthiastes) signified "a whoremonger" or pimp. The root word, Korh (Kore, name of the daughter of Demeter, also known as Persephone and Proserpine) signifies "a young girl" or a virgin. |
| 58. EFURH | (Marginal gloss) Ephyra, the old name of Corinth (Iliad 6:152) and several other cities in Elis and Thesprotia (Odyssey 1:259, 2:328). |
| 59. afamiwtai | Aphamiotai, in Crete, serfs, slaves, ascripti glebai, like the Helots in Laconia (Strabo 701), also spelled ’amfamiwtai, said to be from ’afamia = klhros. Kleros meant "a lot" i.e., something that is decided by lots. The metaphor can be thus applied to those whose "lot" in life is to be a slave. As the rest of the line amplifies, somewhat vaguely, "we join wretched ’afamiwtai in their lot." In the context of the poem, those decided by lots are aboard a ship being "deported by the despot/ To some distant island smoldering under a volcanic sun." The clay "kleros" illustrated in the margin would have been worn around the necks of the slaves and, when the lots were to be drawn, would be removed and thrown into a helmet, to be drawn out to determine those whose "lot" would be to be transported to the distant island. |
| 60. AsfaleioV | Asphaleios, literally "the Securer." The ancient name among the pre-Greeks of Poseidon. In later Greek it was applied as an epithet to the name PosidwnoV. Poseidon was the son of Cronos and Rhea and the brother of Zeus. He was the God of the Sea. The ancient name or the epithet can signify the importance of this deity to the Minoans, who built the first empire based upon military naval power and the sea trade. The Greek naval empire probably did span 2000 years, beginning roughly in 2500 B.C. and continuing with some interruptions until their supercession by the Roman empire. |
| 61. Ludia | Lydia, the former nation-state in Eastern Asia Minor, famous for its gold mines. The territory generally extended along the Eastern coast of the Aegean sea, from Elaea, Cyme, Magnesia, Smyrna (contemporary Izmir), Lebedos, Colophon, and Ephesus, including the islands of Chios, Psyra, Icaria, and Samos. It was bordered on the North by Mysia and the Temnus Mountains, on the South by Caria and the Mesogis Mountains, and on the East by Phrygia. Lydia also includes the volcanic Tmolus Mountains, near which are the famous cities Sardis and Philadelphia. Herodotus (Book 1) tells the story of their famous king Croesus (560-546 B.C.) who formed an alliance with the Spartans and Cappadocians (Syrians) against king Cyrus of Persia. Croesus lost the battle of Sardis and subsequently Lydia became a satrapy of Persia. Herodotus (1:73) says that before their conquest of Lydia, the Persians had no luxuries of any kind. The phrase Ludia liqoV described a silicious stone used to assay gold. In Greek, the phrase para to Ludion arma qeein signified "to be left in the lurch." There is also a similarity between the word for gold, crusoV (chrysos) and KroisoV (Croesus). Genesis 10:1-32 in the enumaration of nations following Noah, lists Loud Lud as one of the sons of Shem but also the Loudieim Ludim as one of the sons of Mizraim (Egypt) in the lineage of Ham (Greek spellings derived from the Septuagint). |
| 62. Frugx Frugios | Phrygia, the nation-state of the Phrygians in Eastern central Asia Minor, incorporating the cities of Laodiceia, Colossa, Antiocheia, Abbaitis, Azanitis. One of the famous kings of Phrygia was Midas, proverbial for his wealth and his "Golden Touch." Phrygian music, played on the flute, was said to have been invented by Marsyas and to be "a wilder, more stirring character than the music of the lyre." It was used in the worship of Cybele (Frugia deimata = the terrors of the Phrygian Goddess). Frux (sans the soft "g") indicated a "Phrygian." |
| 63. Qrax Qrakh | Thrace, one of the "barbarian" nations according to the ancient Greeks, who lived north-east of the Aegean and along the western shore of the Black Sea. |
| 64. Mukhnh | Mycaene, note the Poetic licence at work in the misspelling as "Mycean" (for "Mycenaean"). An ancient Pelasgian or Achaean city, later superseded by the Dorian Argos. The association with "Bronze" is an archaeological artifact. Heinrich Schleimann excavated the palace at Mycaene in 1876, discovering the famous Lion Gate, and the famed gold treasury, including the much-reproduced "death mask of Agamemnon" made of hammered gold, which as it turned out was not the mask of Agamemnon. Mycaenae seems to have reached the Zenith of its power circa 1300 B.C. which is well within the period now known as the "Bronze Age." In Homer, Mykenae was the kingdom ruled by Agamemnon. The death mask dates from the 16th Century B.C., much too early to be within the Bronze Age. |
| 65. KuproV Kuprian | Cyprus, the name of the Island in the Eastern Mediterranean, and also the epithet ( ’Afrodith KuprogenhV, Kuprogeneia ) of Aphrodite who was, according to some stories, born there. In ancient times, Cyprus was the site of a cult of worship of Aphrodite. According to the story, she was born of the "Sea foam" and found walking ashore at one of the beaches of Cyprus, naked in all her glory. Hesiod, Theogony 199, says, "First she drew near holy Cythera and, from there, afterwards she came to sea-girt Cyprus, and came forth an awful and lovely goddess ( ek d ebh aidoih kalh qeoV ), and grass grew up about her beneath her shapely feet. Gods and men call her Aphrodite, and the foam-born goddess and rich-crowned Cytherea, because she grew amid the foam, and Cytherea because she reached Cythera, and Cyprogenes because she ws born in billowy Cyprus." This story may be apocryphal, as it is based on an ancient attempt at etymology ( ’AfroV = Sea foam ). As in nearly every aside about Aphrodite, there is a salacious double-entendre at work with the use of the term ’aidoioV, regarded with awe or reverence (august, venerable of persons such as superiors or elders under divine protection, and especially of the wife or mistress of a house; and generally of women, "deserving respect") and a nearly identical word, ’aidoion, referring to the "private parts" or pudenda. For kalh, beautiful, from kaloV, see note 7.1 KaloumenoV above. On Kutheria, see note 18 above. Cyprus was the source for Copper (Latin Kyprium, German Kupfer, English Copper, all derived from the root word for the island of Cyprus). |
| 66. KassiteridhV | Cassiterides, or the "Tin Islands." KassiteroV is the ancient name for tin, a metal that was most commonly mixed with other metals to make harder metals such as bronze. It was frequently used as an ornament of armor (Iliad 11:25, 34 and 18:565, 574) or of chariots (23:503). It was melted (Iliad 18:474, Hesiod, Theogony 862) and then cast upon the bronze foundation (hence the term, ceuma kassiteroio, "tin plating"). It was also worked with the hammer, as in Iliad 20:271, where a shield of five layers is described ( ptuceV ) which the smith had forged or beaten ( hlase ). Sometimes the greaves ( knhmideV, the pieces of plate leg armor between the knee and ankle, usually consisting of front and back pieces, also called a "jamb") were made of tin (Iliad 21:592 and 18:613). However, the metal is too weak to be made into defensive armor by itself and was most probably used as a compound of other metals, such as modern pewter. The ancient Greeks believed that the Phoenicians had originally discovered tin in the "Tin Islands" (England and Ireland). The name KassiteridhV was given to Cornwall, and today in the town of Bodmin there is a Cassiter street, supposedly from the same root word. |
| 67. Uperborean Kelt | Hyperborean Celt. UperboreoV meant "beyond Boreas" in the extreme North. Hence, the Uperboreoi, the Hyperboreans, the supposed people who lived in the extreme North, distinguished for piety and happiness (Pindar, Pythian Odes 10:47, Herodotus 4:32). BoreaV was the North wind, personified as Boreas, in the Odyssey 5:296, and more particularly as the wind from the North-northeast, distinguished by its coldness. It also more generally signified lands to the "North" (Herodotus, 2:101). The Keltoi, Celts, were the inhabitants of this land. The Celtic lands generally included parts of Northern France, England, and Ireland. They were also known for their magic spells. For the subsequent line referring to "enchanters" see note 19. TelcineV above. The Celts were also well known for their practice of bloody, human sacrifice to their gods, their practice of execution and enslavement of other tribes in their rituals, as well as their plaintif, haunting vocalizations in song, personified in the Greekily named enchantress of new age music, "Enya." |
| 68. Qelktwr | Thelktor, from qelgw, to charm, enchant, or spell-bind, and more properly, "to stroke or touch with magic power." Qelktwr is a feminine version of qelkthr, an enchanter (or enchantress). The word qelkthrioV signified something charming, soothing, or enchanting, as of a mythical story or of speech that "heals." The term qelkthrion indicated a charm or spell and was used to describe the girdle of Aphrodite in the Iliad 14:215, "enqa te oi qelkthria panta tetuko." The Thelktor would also offer sacrifices to soothe the gods, as in Odyssey 8:509, "qewn qelkthrion." In ancient times these were often human sacrifices as the context of the poetic line would indicate. |
| 69. FrhneV | Phrenes, properly, the midriff (later diafragma (diaphram). The word applied to the muscles which part the heart and lungs from the lower viscera. In the context of the scene, as the Thelktor is removing the heart from the sacrifical victim, these muscles would be visible, continuing to move as the lungs breathe their last. |
| 70. ’Ixiwn | Ixion, the king of Thessaly, a son of Phlegyas, the king of the Lapiths. He agreed to mary Dia, daughter of Eioneus, and agreed to give Eioneus a rich dowry. However, he set a trap in front of his palace, with a huge charcoal fire underneath, into which the unsuspecting Eioneus fell and was burned alive. His name probably derives from ’ikneomai, like ’ikethV, for he was the first homicide and therefore the first suppliant (Pindar, Pythian Odes 2:59). Ixion also committed the crime of falling in love with Hera, who was wedded to Zeus. He became so infatuated that he attempted to seduce her in her own bridal bed in a cloud. Zeus had set a snare for Ixion, creating a false image of Hera within a cloud. Ixion was too drunk to notice the deception and made love to the false Hera in the cloud. Zeus caught hin in the act and ordered Hermes to scourge him mercilessly until he repeated the words "Benefactors deserve honor." Then Ixion fell into his own binding to the four spokes of the turning wheel (ton de tetrakanamon ’epraxe desmon Pythian Odes 2:72). Zeus sent the fiery wheel rolling ceaselessly through the sky (becoming the constellation ). The fiery wheel is found throughout European cultures at midsummer festivities. Prisoners were strapped to huge wooden wheels and then set afire and rolled down steep hills. (See also 42399: The Dying Penitent.) |
| 71. ’Ixia = tragakanqa | Ixia, the name in Greek and Latin for a plant also called the Chameleon (camailean. It is a variety of thistle that yielded an acrid resin, used as an herb. In Crete, the plant went by the name tragakanqa, tragacantha, a low shrub, the astragalus, which produced the gum tragacanth. In Greek, astragalos also means "the ball of the ankle joint." Hence, the connection between the plants and Ixion, who is bound to the fiery wheel by his wrists and ankles. |
| 72. ’Iugx | Iugx,(the g here representing an "n" sound), a bird known in English as the wryneck, Iunx torquilla, so called because of its cry. The ancient wizards and witches used to bind the bird to a wheel, which they turned around, believing that they drew men's hearts along with it and charmed them to obedience. It was much used to retrieve unfaithful lovers. This spell was called ‘elkein ’Iugga ’epi tini, to set the magic bird or wheel a-going against someone. Pindar, Pythian Odes 4:381ff. relates how "the Queen of swiftest darts, in Cyprus born, bind the dappled wryneck to the four spokes of a wheel indissoluble and brought unto men that maddening bird." The plumage of the wryneck, also called the "cuckoo's mate," is beautifully variegated with black, brown, buff, and gray, hence the epithet poikilan. The bird was used as a love charm. For this purpose it was tied by the legs and wings to the four spokes of a wheel, which was revolved continuously in one direction while the words of incantation were uttered. |
| 73. | |
| These notes are in progress and will be completed shortly. Please standby. |
| The twenty-eighth said, "I am called Rhyx Hapax. I unleash insomnia."
Testament of Solomon 18:32 |
| All writing
& images Copyright © 1998-2007 By Christopher Lane All Rights Reserved Electronic version by: zzyzlane@gte.net Last updated: 00:01 a.m. 01/31/2007 |