The Woman Who Loved the Centaur Pholus

Publication(s)

  • First publication
    • Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, 1979
  • Wolfe collection(s)
  • Other anthologies
    • Bestiary!, 1985

Wolfe's comments from the Introduction to Endangered Species

There was no comment about this story in the introduction.

Summary

Genetic engineering allows the creation of mythological beasts, in this case a real centaur.

Analysis

  • "So like they were..." is from The Battle of Lake Regillus by Thomas Babbington Macaulay, in his “Lays of Ancient Rome."
  • "O'er the green waves..." is from "Amphitrite, Wife of Neptune and Goddess of the Sea" by Darwin (ancestor of Charles Darwin).
  • "All hail, beloved birds..." is from a translation of The Cranes of Ibycus by Friedrich Schiller.
  • "Will thou yet take all, Galilean?" is from Hymn To Proserpine by Algernon Charles Swinburne.
  • "O Father Jove..." is from the Illiad.
  • "Midst others of less note..." is from Adonais - Part II by Percy Bysshe Shelley
  • Pholus was a wise centaur who was a friend of Herakles (Hercules).

Unresolved Questions

  • Was it A or was it B, or was it X or Z?
  • Was it he or was it she, or was it you or me?
  • Who dunnit?
  • Did the Star Child really start WWIII at the end of 2001?

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