The river knows it's time...

[booksrgood4u.livejournal.com]

Hi Sounis!!!

I have not been here in so long! I got locked out of both LJ and my backup email (what possessed my 13 yo self to set my security question to the last name of the maid of honor at my wedding is almost more of a mystery than my actual answer!) but anyway, I'm back! And bearing a discussion question, too!

I was talking with

1221bookworm

and

manderelee

about the scene where Kamet meets Irene in the garden. Of course, I thought it sweet and touching and....a set up.

Think it through with me...there's Irene, in the garden- not the queens garden, mind you - the regular garden which Costis tells Kamet that she doesn't want Gen walking in. Now, Irene doesn't seem to be a 'do as I say, not as I do' sort of person, so for the sake of argument, I'm going to guess this is not a place where she can usually be found.

Kamet, however, is very fond of those gardens and Gen knows that, so I start to question the coincidence of there meeting.

It could be that Gen put them in each other's way so that Kamet could share those words of wisdom that might help Irene to heal, but I doubt it. Irene is not so easily led, and if she wanted to hear that phrase, she could just as easily have summoned Kamet. So, I still think that it was a) a set up and b) she was in on it. Also, Irene, a very private person, sharing something so personal with someone she chanced to meet in the garden seems uncharacteristic...

We tried scrutinizing the few lines of dialogue for any hidden meaning but came up empty. What do you all think?

The alternative is that MWT has successfully turned me into a paranoid reader.

Thanks for reading, please share your thoughts!!

~books

Comments

[manderelee.livejournal.com]

I only saw one resource on it (http://www.allabouthistory.org/ancient-greeks-faq.htm):

Contrary to other pagan groups, the ancient Greeks believed that souls of the deceased were not reincarnated into another bodily form and placed back on earth, but lived on in either hell or heaven as a spirit. Their after life destination was presumably based on how well they lived their life prior to their death.

The other resources I saw seemed to attribute the idea of reincarnation to certain philosophers, like you said, and it didn't seem to be a commonly-held idea at that time.

EDIT: That was just a quick google search (like 1st page). I'm sure those who studied classics would have a more educated answer.