tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post8166138961610240645..comments2024-01-21T11:22:28.211-08:00Comments on The Ants Of God Are Queer Fish: Short Story Review # 5: Parthen (1973)Daniel Otto Jack Petersenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07278782665152906956noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-91925884986290488702015-06-17T01:29:47.656-07:002015-06-17T01:29:47.656-07:00Wow, this story is getting deeper and more layered...Wow, this story is getting deeper and more layered all the time! Talk about 'deceptively light'. Thanks for enumerating all those connections, Antonin! I think YOU should definitely write that essay for FoL 3!!Daniel Otto Jack Petersenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07278782665152906956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-2264511882519730022015-06-16T16:14:10.550-07:002015-06-16T16:14:10.550-07:00Sorry, I had misremembered the Atalanta story. Art...Sorry, I had misremembered the Atalanta story. Artemis gives Atalanta the golden apples so that her suitors can't win the race. They are in fact different entities, but that doesn't impact much when it comes to interpreting the story. Oops!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03297494544077035828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-54297719536403239862015-06-16T16:12:01.831-07:002015-06-16T16:12:01.831-07:00This is one of those Lafferty stories where I can ...This is one of those Lafferty stories where I can certainly identify something AS a clue, but get lost in the complications of figuring out what it is a clue TO.<br /><br />The Women are described at the beginning as being "Greek" in their beauty. There are certainly other "Greek" things going on in this story ...<br /><br />For example, one of the Women has three daughters who are described as being as beautiful as "three golden apples". In the legend of Atalanta (also known as Artemis, who is, surprise surprise, mentioned in "Parthen"), three golden apples are given to her would-be suitors to slow them down in a footrace. The winner of the footrace against her would win her hand in marriage. This appears to be a conscious allusion by Lafferty; the children are a distraction, a ploy meant to pull away the attention of the men, and to a greater extent, their wives, so they "lose the race". In other words, so they are blind to the alien invasion.<br /><br />In Greek literature we also have the story of the mathematician Thales, as related by Socrates, who was so intent on studying the stars (certainly a "higher plane") while walking that he falls into a well. The men in "Parthen" are so similarly distracted by the higher plane opened up to them by the Women that they fall into a likewise mundane, earthy trap; the death of their bodies.<br /><br />Also interesting to note is the fact that Artemis is the goddess of virginity (the Women have no husbands; are they virgins?) and the moon (often set against the sun, which is gradually hidden by fog in the story). She is primarily known as the goddess of the hunt, however, and I'm not sure if this bit is incorporated into "Parthen" somehow. They are definitely hunting bankrupt businesses!<br /><br />Anyways, there is a ton packed into this 8 page story, and I'm not sure what it all adds up to. I certainly won't argue with your 4.5/5 rating! Of course Lafferty was incredibly well-read and probably had thorough knowledge of Greek mythology and philosophical history, so unless I am seeing something that isn't there, these allusions are intentional. Maybe there is a Feast of Laughter essay hidden in here!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03297494544077035828noreply@blogger.com