B.Boyd: Have people forgotten Jim Ramey's article on the
botfly? Ramey, James. “Parasitism and Pale Fire’s Camouflage: The King-Bot, the
Crown Jewels and the Man in the Brown Macintosh.” Comparative Literature
Studies, 42 (2004), 185-213.
JM: A good reminder!
While I searched for references to Phanes in various
dictionaries of symbolism and mythology, vain, hoping to find the
Pythagorean link to the mysteries of Eleusis, I came across another
side-curiosity.Among the folkloric tales of the American Indians, specically
referred to the Cree, there is a legend about a Great Beaver (The
Blackfoot Indian also mention a magical Beaver and two rival brothers, Nopatsis
and Akaiyan.) What I found interesting in the Cree's legend is that this
Great Beaver, on being attacked by "Wisagatcak, the
Trickster," cast a spell forcing a muskrat to
bite the trickster's behind and cause him to miss his target. The magical
beaver, in both legends, is a real animal, unrelated to sun and
stars.