"...The bird whose image the Greeks carved into their coins, sitting patiently at the ear of the Goddess Pallas Athene, silently sharing her immortal wisdom...Perhaps when considering the manner in which it grips its branch, with two toes in front and the reversible outer toe clutching from behind, we should allow ourselves to pause of a moment, and acknowledge that these same claws must once have drawn blood from the shoulder of Pallas." (Moore, segment from "Blood from the Shoulder of Pallas," end of Chapter 7).
Pallas Athene (or Pallas, or Pallas Athena) as the Greek goddess of war. She was smart and strong, the daughter of Zeus, and educated not only in war but in peacemaking. This is like Veidt, who creates destruction (like war) in order to create peace. This is taken from a piece by Dan Dreiberg, or Nite Owl. Dan, and subsequently Alan Moore, discusses how an owl, the Carine noctua, to be specific, who was Pallas' sidekick, could "draw blood from [her] shoulder." I believe they are saying by this that war is not an immovable force, it can be changed and stopped, as Veidt stops it.
http://library.thinkquest.org/17709/people/athena.htm
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
three concordances in and I'm already seriously impressed by the depth here
ReplyDelete