There has been a few strange discussions about Uleria and ZZ recently. Personally I think it is backwards reasoning to postulate that ZZ is the god of hate because he has been castrated. It is well established that "mindless hate" is an important component of the definition of ZZ. My question would be - is "castrated by his foes" a useful symbol for "mindless hate"? I don't really think so - and I'm very reluctant to engage in pseudo-Freudian motivations for the gods. Freudian interpretations of the gods, I have no trouble with.
>Unless Orlanthi can have several wives or concubines I agree with Jane:
Uleria does not really fit in. IMO >there is no place for a secret mistress
of Orlanth.
Since Orlanth is said to have mistresses/concubines (Huraya anyone?), I don't find that a compelling reason for rejecting the presence of Uleria in the Orlanthi pantheon.
>And it feels wrong to have Uleria keep to a single lover. Maybe she is a
figure found on the edges of >myth/society: not really part of society, but
a figure that occurs in myth: the lover/temptress/queen of >the Other Land
(whatever/wherever it is). Or something. She who tought Orlanth of sex?
Since Ernalda definitely taught Orlanth sex - I think the role of Uleria is just what Steve has previously wrote: Uleria is a Green Age deity who is important as a cosmogonic figure. I think her Orlanthi myths are confined to the Green Age cycle and probably never interacts with the myth-cycles of Orlanth, Ernalda, etc. She explains and embodies Love as a cosmic force - it is up to myths like Orlanth's Wooing of Ernalda to describe how that force functions in the world.
Jeff
Powered by hypermail