GRGR(4) - Slothrop Orpheus

[s~Z]

Here are the parallels as outlined by Kathryn Hume in _Pynchon's
Mythography_:

(1) Slothrop is a harpist.

(2) The harp is magical. It has disappeared down a subterranean waterway
and ended up on another continent.

(3) Slothrop, like Orpheus, attains an uncanny oneness with nature and
communes with the animals. (623.03ff)

(4) Orpheus' mother dismembered him while in the throes of dionysian
intoxication. Nalline Slothrop is     described 'before her first
martini' immediately prior to a detailed description of Tyrone's
scattering.

(5) Orphism is often seen as a compromise between apollonian and
dionysian impulses. Book 4 has multiple references to the apollonian
dream and lyre as well as to Dionysus and Pan.

(6) Orpheus is mentioned directly on p. 754 and has a GR theatre named
after him.

(7) Orphic dynamics are used in p. 583's pinball fantasy.

(8) One of the Rilke quotes is from 'Sonnets to Orpheus.'

More later...