Comments on: The Big Idea: Katharine Beutner

By: Josh Jasper

Josh Jasper — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:18:49 +0000

Mac - I'm not familiar with any Chinese or Mezo-American myths of a maiden descending to the underworld, but there are Polynesian and Native American ones. Good point. Did I mention that my mythology section takes up an entire floor to ceiling bookcase? Oh, and Cat Valente, who's been featured a previous Big Idea post has an epic poem interpreting The Descent Of Innana You can buy it in ebook format for $7.00 :-)

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:25:47 +0000

Katharine Beutner @21

The bit about her corpse hanging from a hook on the wall is pretty gross, too.

Yes, I found the choice of words to be interesting: “Inanna was turned into a corpse”

Not “she died”; not “was killed”; instead was turned into a corpse.

By: S.M. Stirling

S.M. Stirling — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:11:48 +0000

Definitely sounds like an interesting reimagining of the myth. I’ll take a look at it.

Yours,
S.M. stirling

By: SonomaLass

SonomaLass — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 06:04:49 +0000

This looks really exciting — I can’t wait to read it! I studied a lot of Greek drama in grad school, and I think I did a paper on Alcestis.

And yes, a beautiful cover!

By: Katharine Beutner

Katharine Beutner — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:58:15 +0000

Thank you all very much for the lovely comments! (And extra thanks to Mr. Scalzi, again.) This is really making my day.

@5: I didn’t know a great deal about Inanna, but yeah, her tale definitely contains elements similar to the Persephone myth and Alcestis’s story — except that Inanna is kind of acting the parts of Hades and Admetus, respectively. (The bit about her corpse hanging from a hook on the wall is pretty gross, too. Sumerian myth — kind of like Resident Evil?) Thank you for the link!

@16 & 18, you’re both totally right. I was a classics major (*high-five for DanielF right here*), so I tend to use the term reflexively to describe Greek/ Roman things.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 03:47:54 +0000

That looks great! I can’t wait to pick it up. I really appreciate your Big Idea posts.

By: Andrew Fedge

Andrew Fedge — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:19:09 +0000

Yay, I love that kind of turn-myth-a-little-on-its-head stuff. Thanks John!

By: Mac

Mac — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:43:42 +0000

@16 — And you’re still in the Indo-Euro-sphere, Josh. ;-)

By: Ouisel

Ouisel — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:39:10 +0000

Admetus does deserve a smacking at the very least. Euripides was being subversive, by the standards of his time — he took the myth and used it to portray Admetus being a whiny, selfish, self-centred jerk, who really doesn’t deserve Alkestis or her sacrifice. IIRC, prior versions represented him as reasonable and justified in his pathetic attempts to whinge his way to a longer life by expecting someone else to die in his place. He does realise, after Alkestis is dead, that he’s been a jerk, and Herakles allows him a second chance that he didn’t deserve either.

Herakles is portrayed as well-intentioned, even if he does get drunk and brag about his exploits. I seem to recall that he rescues Alkestis more because she deserves better than because Admetus deserves anything.

I’ll definitely have to read this book!

By: Josh Jasper

Josh Jasper — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:36:30 +0000

the only female figure in classical mythology who enters the underworld on purpose.

If by classical mythology, we mean Greek, OK. But what about Babylonian or Indian? Anyhow, it sounds cool to me as well.