07-23-2014, 12:28 PM
Connor held the book, thinking about Priam and Achilles and Homer. It was something. He remembered why it struck him back in college, that the whole point of the story was that Achilles had to grow up from being a demi-god to being a man. Up until then, he had thought he was the only one who thought the gods were are all petty squabbling children. He wondered why the Greeks- or the Egyptians or the Babylonians, for that matter- would create gods that embodied human frailties, cruelties, pettiness and stupidity. There was nothing transcendent about them, nothing to aspire to. The Judeo-Christian concept at least had a God that a person could try to measure up to, someone who was perfect and just.
But if the stories of the gods were really just memories of magic users in the past, well it all made sense. So how long had the Atharim been around? Up until recently, magic was still a legend- well, he thought. Not like he'd really know. But after a lifetime of "normalcy" suddenly, beginning with Hayden, he comes into contact with at least four magic users, two- no, three if you add Alex's father- people who could read feelings and feed off them, and two ijiraq monsters. It was like something in the universe had changed. For what he guessed were millenia, the Atharim had kept things under wraps. But now something had changed.
So how long had the Atharim been around. He looked around the store. Thousands of books lined the shelves, many of them old. But where to begin? It wouldn't do any good to just start at random. He could look at mythologies but there were hundreds of tales. He needed some sort of...survery or overview that focused on various mythological themes.
He wandered around, whispering an excuse as he passed in front of the younger guy also doing some reading. Finally, he found a section on Comparative Mythology. That might do, though there were a lot of titles. he pulled out one or two and flipped through them. Mostly, they seemed to deal with just Greek and maybe one or two other traditions. They looked alright. One, though, jumped out at him. Indo-European Poetry and Myth. Interesting. It looked like it was a comparative mythology of all cultures that descended from Proto-Indo-European. That was what he was looking for. The stories of the gods would have to go back to those ancient times to be the sources of so many myths. He looked over the section on the the gods and godesses and their cognates in each daughter culture.
After a little while, though, he was frustrated. He wasn't trying to find out about the gods. He wanted to know about the Atharim and there didn't really seem to be anything usable her. What did you expect? You're not a scholar. You're just some guy. And did you expect a section called 'The Atharim'? He was irritated as he put the book back. But another jumped out at him. HOW TO KILL A DRAGON -ASPECTS OF INDO-EUROPEAN POETICS He shrugged and picked it up and read the back. "In How to Kill a Dragon Calvert Watkins follows the continuum of poetic formulae in Indo-European languages, from Old Hittite to medieval Irish. He uses the comparative method to reconstruct traditional poetic formulae of considerable complexity that stretch as far back as the original common language. Thus, Watkins reveals the antiquity and tenacity of the Indo-European poetic tradition."
Now that might be something. Reconstructing old myths back to their original sources. And then he saw something that made him bark a laugh. "In the remainder of the book, Watkins examines in detail the structure of the dragon/serpent-slaying myths, which recur in various guises throughout the Indo-European poetic tradition. He finds the "signature" formula for the myth--the divine hero who slays the serpent or overcomes adversaries--occurs in the same linguistic form in a wide range of sources and over millennia, including Old and Middle Iranian holy books, Greek epic, Celtic and Germanic sagas, down to Armenian oral folk epic of the last century.
Something was tickling at his mind. He took the book and sat down in one of the chairs and started reading. After a while, he skipped to the chapter on the hero slaying a dragon or serpent myth. It looked like the myth was found in every culture. St. George and the Dragon, Apollos and Python, Hercules and the Hydra, Indra and Vrtra, Krishna and Kāliyā, Perun and Veles, Tarhunt and Illuyanka. But he also remembered that in other mythologies too, there was a serpent or dragon antagonist. In the Bible, of course, with the Dragon Satan and the Archangel Michael. And a leviathan like creature called Rahab. But also Marduk and Tiamat from Babylon, Ra and Apep from Egypt.
It was odd. Hebrew and Babylonian were Semetic cultures not related to the Proto-Indo-Europeans. While there could have been some borrowing, why this myth? And he couldn't remember what the Egyptians were, culturally, but almost certainly they weren't related either. So, why all these myths and stories about a serpent or dragon contending with God or the gods?
He wished he could talk to someone about. He thought about calling Alex. She might know. And then he remembered that symbol on the tomb. The snake eating its tale. It was how he'd met Alex in the first place. It was a symbol of the Atharim. And Aria had that same tattoo! Did the snake in all those mythologies refer to the Atharim? It was a strange thought, but it was consistent.
He wanted more information. He put the book back and went to the man at the desk. When the man looked at him, he said, "Excuse me. I'm looking for information on..."
Now he wasn't actually sure what to ask, what area he needed information on. "Well, on myths about snakes. Um, bringing death or life, that kind of thing."
He remembered the image. "Oh, also their connection to infinity. The serpent eating its tail image."
The old man smiled. "That, young man, is called an Oroborous."
At his puzzled look, the man clarified more loudly. "The serpent that eats its own tail is called an Oroborous."
Connor wished he'd keep it down. No sense in letting others know what he was doing.
But if the stories of the gods were really just memories of magic users in the past, well it all made sense. So how long had the Atharim been around? Up until recently, magic was still a legend- well, he thought. Not like he'd really know. But after a lifetime of "normalcy" suddenly, beginning with Hayden, he comes into contact with at least four magic users, two- no, three if you add Alex's father- people who could read feelings and feed off them, and two ijiraq monsters. It was like something in the universe had changed. For what he guessed were millenia, the Atharim had kept things under wraps. But now something had changed.
So how long had the Atharim been around. He looked around the store. Thousands of books lined the shelves, many of them old. But where to begin? It wouldn't do any good to just start at random. He could look at mythologies but there were hundreds of tales. He needed some sort of...survery or overview that focused on various mythological themes.
He wandered around, whispering an excuse as he passed in front of the younger guy also doing some reading. Finally, he found a section on Comparative Mythology. That might do, though there were a lot of titles. he pulled out one or two and flipped through them. Mostly, they seemed to deal with just Greek and maybe one or two other traditions. They looked alright. One, though, jumped out at him. Indo-European Poetry and Myth. Interesting. It looked like it was a comparative mythology of all cultures that descended from Proto-Indo-European. That was what he was looking for. The stories of the gods would have to go back to those ancient times to be the sources of so many myths. He looked over the section on the the gods and godesses and their cognates in each daughter culture.
After a little while, though, he was frustrated. He wasn't trying to find out about the gods. He wanted to know about the Atharim and there didn't really seem to be anything usable her. What did you expect? You're not a scholar. You're just some guy. And did you expect a section called 'The Atharim'? He was irritated as he put the book back. But another jumped out at him. HOW TO KILL A DRAGON -ASPECTS OF INDO-EUROPEAN POETICS He shrugged and picked it up and read the back. "In How to Kill a Dragon Calvert Watkins follows the continuum of poetic formulae in Indo-European languages, from Old Hittite to medieval Irish. He uses the comparative method to reconstruct traditional poetic formulae of considerable complexity that stretch as far back as the original common language. Thus, Watkins reveals the antiquity and tenacity of the Indo-European poetic tradition."
Now that might be something. Reconstructing old myths back to their original sources. And then he saw something that made him bark a laugh. "In the remainder of the book, Watkins examines in detail the structure of the dragon/serpent-slaying myths, which recur in various guises throughout the Indo-European poetic tradition. He finds the "signature" formula for the myth--the divine hero who slays the serpent or overcomes adversaries--occurs in the same linguistic form in a wide range of sources and over millennia, including Old and Middle Iranian holy books, Greek epic, Celtic and Germanic sagas, down to Armenian oral folk epic of the last century.
Something was tickling at his mind. He took the book and sat down in one of the chairs and started reading. After a while, he skipped to the chapter on the hero slaying a dragon or serpent myth. It looked like the myth was found in every culture. St. George and the Dragon, Apollos and Python, Hercules and the Hydra, Indra and Vrtra, Krishna and Kāliyā, Perun and Veles, Tarhunt and Illuyanka. But he also remembered that in other mythologies too, there was a serpent or dragon antagonist. In the Bible, of course, with the Dragon Satan and the Archangel Michael. And a leviathan like creature called Rahab. But also Marduk and Tiamat from Babylon, Ra and Apep from Egypt.
It was odd. Hebrew and Babylonian were Semetic cultures not related to the Proto-Indo-Europeans. While there could have been some borrowing, why this myth? And he couldn't remember what the Egyptians were, culturally, but almost certainly they weren't related either. So, why all these myths and stories about a serpent or dragon contending with God or the gods?
He wished he could talk to someone about. He thought about calling Alex. She might know. And then he remembered that symbol on the tomb. The snake eating its tale. It was how he'd met Alex in the first place. It was a symbol of the Atharim. And Aria had that same tattoo! Did the snake in all those mythologies refer to the Atharim? It was a strange thought, but it was consistent.
He wanted more information. He put the book back and went to the man at the desk. When the man looked at him, he said, "Excuse me. I'm looking for information on..."
Now he wasn't actually sure what to ask, what area he needed information on. "Well, on myths about snakes. Um, bringing death or life, that kind of thing."
He remembered the image. "Oh, also their connection to infinity. The serpent eating its tail image."
The old man smiled. "That, young man, is called an Oroborous."
At his puzzled look, the man clarified more loudly. "The serpent that eats its own tail is called an Oroborous."
Connor wished he'd keep it down. No sense in letting others know what he was doing.