VV (20) The Xebec

[Samuel Moyer]

I should have also mentioned the line on 457 as the xebec was heading into
Valletta:

    Astarte now leaned from the xebec's bowsprit toward the
    city as if it were male and asleep and she, inanimate figurehead,
    a succubus preparing to ravish.

We had Fausto's description of night time Valletta on the bottom of 450:

    Valletta by nightlight looked totally uninhabited.

What is it about Malta that attracts V., Astarte, Mara to it?  I see a lot
of similarity in Fausto and Mehemet, or at least in the way they think of
Malta.  Anyway, I hope we can look at Mara and V. in this Epilogue soon.

Sam

----- Original Message -----
From: "Samuel Moyer" <smoyer at satx.rr.com>
To: "Pynchon-L (E-mail)" <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 14, 2001 6:04 PM
Subject: VV (20) The Xebec


> A Xebec is a three-masted Mediterranean sailing ship... see links below.
>
> http://www.boattalk.com/museum/Ships/56classic.htm
> http://naturecoast.com/hobby/amati.htm#XEBEC
>
> It was used during the 16th to the 19th centuries.  (Note that Mehemet
comes
> from 1324 though....? see 459.)
>
> The xebec described in the Epilogue is green (algae?) and has Astarte,
> goddess of sensual love, as a figurehead.  (456)
>
> Webster's has Astarte as: The Phoenician goddess of fertility and sensual
> love.
>
> Astarte is very possibly another name for Ishtar.    Ishtar is the
> Babylonian goddess of love and fertility.  In one myth, Ishtar's love for
> Tammuz causes his death.  Ishtar manages to descend into the underworld
and
> return with him to earth after a ceremony in which she has the water of
life
> poured over her.
>
> _Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia_  Jeremy Black and
Anthony
> Green suggest that the goddess Ishtar and Astarte were related.
> ".. and to that of the Syrian goddess Astarte (Biblical Ashtoreth), with
> whom she (Ishtar) was undoubtably connected.
>
> Black and Green suggest three roles of the goddess Ishtar:
> 1.  goddess of love and sexual behavior, especially with regards to
> extramarital sex.  She is not a goddess of marriage.  She is even
reproached
> by Gilgamesh (I have the Epic, but not about to read it presently) for her
> treatment of a whole series of lovers.
> 2. The Warlike Goddess who is fond of battle, violent and lusting after
> power, she stands beside her favorite kings as they fight.  (She is drawn
to
> the hero).
> 3.  The third aspect of Ishtar is as the planet Venus, the morning and
> evening star.
>
> Something to consider...
>
> Sam
>