"Steal peace"

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

So I'm re-reading The Queen of Attolia, and I just now picked up on a bit of wordplay that I never noticed before, even though it's literally on the cover.

I have this edition, with the quote on it, "Steal peace, Eugenides. Steal me some time."

And the name "Irene" means "peace." Ha. I (finally) see what they did there. Clever.

Btw, I also didn't realize there was a Eugenides Wiki until now. Cool!

Comments

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

"So many things are obvious in retrospect, aren't they?"

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Indeed. *shakes head at self* :)

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

The wordplay with the names Irene and Helen are great, aren't they? And typical MWT fashion that we get the hints in reverse order. Not "Irene means peace" and THEN "steal peace", but the opposite.

Now if only we knew the Magus's name!

I have that paperback cover, too. It is completely falling apart and full of notes written in the margins. Some of the reprobates here have called that the "Gen as a rapist in a boat" cover. He does look pretty diabolical, doesn't he?

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

"rapist in a boat" cover - hahah! Yeah, he's supposed to have an impassive mask going on there, not so much the diabolical leer he's giving her. Also he looks about 40, which cannot be right. :) [But the way he looks on this KoA cover (http://eugenides.wikia.com/wiki/The_King_of_Attolia_(novel)?file=King_of_attolia.PNG) - that I love!] Irene looks about as I picture her, except that she almost seems to be smiling, which also cannot be right here.

Yeah, the Magus' name, or for that matter Gen's father's name...Maybe we'll learn those in later books and they'll turn out to have meaning too. I would not be at all surprised.

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

I hope so! I have been waiting to learn the MoW's name since we met him in The Thief.

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

Fred. And Joe.

How could you have missed that?

[an-english-girl.livejournal.com]

Of course, there's the play on the meaning of Eugenides while he's pretending to be gutter scum in the first place.
Plus Agape, whose name means non-romantic love, and Erondites the Younger's abbreviation is linked to Aphrodite...

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

The Dite thing! I'd never noticed...

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Good point about "well born" Eugenides. Magus and co in The Thief think they're being so funny and ironic when they make fun of him for the godly name. :)

Agape - ah yes, she must have been a doomed romantic prospect from the start. Hee!

[an-english-girl.livejournal.com]

A couple of more tentative name connections:
Teleus ("no sense of humour") shares the first part of his name with Telamon, father of the Homeric Ajax. I quote from Sophocles:
"...poor Telamon, as if he ever smiled, even at good news..."
Ambiades is a combination of ambiguous and the Spartan traitor Alkebiades.
Anyone got any leads on Pol?

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Those sound accurate to me!

Hmm, Pol - well, this site (http://www.behindthename.com/name/pol) has it as a variation of Paul, meaning "small, humble." That could work, or at least in a sense.

And Costis is likely "constant," in the sense of loyal. Hope we find out what became of him.

[an-english-girl.livejournal.com]

"For a moment we sat quietly thinking our own thoughts about ambition. I thought about Pol, who had seemed to be quite free of it..."
Seems to fit!

just wondering

[(Anonymous)]

That was one of my favourites. Actually Helen says "steal me peace and steal me time" or something like that. And Gen goes out and first steals the Magus then Irene. That is why I always wondered what the the actual name of the Magus was. Probably Kronos, but I do not remember if it was stated anywhere in the books.

Re: just wondering

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love the idea of the Magus' name turning out to mean "time"! I hadn't thought of that. Wouldn't doubt it she'd reveal something along those lines, if we ever do learn his name.