MESSENGERS 2 5 7

actually), Cordon forgot all about Eliza (not to mention us) and came back with a different wife altogether.

KATE ATKINSON Human Croquet, 1997

LotllS-eaters In Homer's Odyssey, the Lotus-eaters are a people who live only on the lotus fruit. When some of Odysseus' men taste the fruit they lose their desire to return home and 'their only wish was to linger there with the Lotuseaters, to feed on the fruit and put aside all thought of a voyage home'. • See special entry • ODYSSEUS on p. 283.

Mnemosyne Mnemosyne was the mother of the Muses and goddess of memory in Greek mythology.

But the sight of old Mr Woodford standing in the entrance archway snapped his line of thought before Mnemosyne could come to his aid.

CHESTER HIMES Headwaiter, 1937

Nepenthe Nepenthe was an Egyptian drug believed to make people forget their sorrows. In the Odyssey it is used by Helen and described as 'a drug that dispelled all grief and anger and banished remembrance of every trouble'.

'I know not Lethe nor Nepenthe,' remarked he; 'but I have learned many new secrets in the wilderness, and here is one of them

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE The Scarlet Letter, 1850

Proust Marcel Proust (1871-1922) was a French novelist, whose masterpiece, À la Recherche du Temps Perdu (1913-27), is usually translated into English

with the title Remembrance of Things Past. In exploring its theme of recovery of the lost past, the novel repeatedly describes how a sensory stimulus in the present, such as the taste of a madeleine cake dipped into tea, can act as the unconscious trigger for a flood of memories from the past, especially from childhood.

Sam stood stropping his razor, and steam rose invitingly, with a kind of Proustian richness of evocation—so many such happy days, so much assurance of position, order, calm, civilization, out of the copper jug he had brought with him.

JOHN FOWLES The French Lieutenant's Woman, 1969

Settle for the cordite. That I am certain of. My nose tells the truth. I am the Proust of filth.

JOHN LAWTON Black Out, 1995

Messengers

This theme includes messengers, both human and divine, and carriers of

mail, such as WELLS FARCO and the PONY EXPRESS, PHEIDIPPIDES and PAUL

REVERE are both associated with carrying vital messages in wartime. • See also Communication.

2 5 8 MESSENGERS

Gabriel In the Bible, Gabriel is one of the archangels closest to God and the one used by God to deliver revelations to men and women. Gabriel revealed to Zacharias that his wife Elisabeth would bear a son to be called John, who grew up to be John the Baptist (Luke i: 8-20). He also appeared to the Virgin Mary to tell her that she would bear a son to be called Jesus (Luke 1: 26-38). In Islam, Gabriel appeared to Muhammad and revealed the Koran to him.

'She has revelations. All this stuff about Darcy's Utopia is dictated to her, she claims, by a kind of shining cloud.' I laughed. I couldn't help it. 'Like Cod appearing to Moses in a burning bush, or the Archangel Gabriel to Mohammed as a shining pillar?' I asked.

FAY WELDON Darcy's Utopia, 1990

Hermes •See MERCURY.

Iris In Greek mythology, Iris was the goddess of the rainbow, who acted as a messenger of the gods.

Mercury In Roman mythology, Mercury was the messenger of the gods, identified with the Greek Hermes. He is pictured as a herald wearing winged sandals which enable him to travel swiftly. Anyone who acts as a messenger can be described as doing the work of Mercury.

The affair of the carriage was arranged by Mr Harding, who acted as Mercury between the two ladies.

ANTHONY TROLLOPE Barchester Towers, 1857

Viscount Trimingham said I was like Mercury—I run errands.

L. P. HARTLEY The Go-Between, 1953

Pacolet In the early French romance Valentine and Orson, Pacolet is a dwarf messenger whose winged horse, made of wood, carries him instantly wherever he wishes.

And pray how long, Miss Ashton,' said her mother, ironically, 'are we to wait the return of your Pacolet—your fairy messenger—since our humble couriers of flesh and blood could not be trusted in this matter?'

WALTER SCOTT The Bride of Lammermoor, 1819

Pheidippides Pheidippides (5th century BC) was an Athenian messenger who was sent from Athens to Sparta to ask for help after the Persian landing at Marathon in 490. He is said to have covered 150 miles on foot in two days. The long-distance race known as the marathon derives its name from a later story that, after the Greeks had defeated the Persians, a messenger ran the twenty-two miles from Marathon to Athens with news of the Greek victory, but fell dead on arrival.

Pony Express The Pony Express was a system of mail delivery in the US in 1860-1. Relays of horse-riders covered a total distance of 1,800 miles between St Joseph in Missouri and Sacramento in California.

Paul Revere Paul Revere (1735-1818) was an American patriot, one of the demonstrators involved in the Boston Tea Party of 1773. In 1775 he rode through the night from Boston to Lexington to warn American revolutionaries of the approach of British troops.