You may accuse me of a lack of imagination, but I don't understand how Asterion's story is supposed to be conveyed by him.
Taking him at his word he shouldn't be able to write, and it would be most fitting if his story were just an internal monologue but the "footnote" about 14 meaning infinite disallows that possibility.
The "power" of a short story rests in its ability to imply interesting things that your imagination can play around with.
When you read the original story of Theseus and the Minotaur do you ask yourself the same question? Is the story less powerful because it couldn't be true as written?
The Apollodorus Bibliotecha is real compendium of Greek myths written in the 1st or 2nd century AD. The first section of the first book is the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. The House of Asterion is the same story told from the Minotaur's perspective.
The fact the the story itself includes the meta-fictional footnote implies this isn't the "original" and that the person writing this isn't the Minotaur himself. Borges like to play with this conceit in many of his stories, e.g., "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote." Don Quixote itself uses the same conceit, i.e., that what you're reading is something found and transmitted (and possibly altered).
So, to start, it might be worth putting up this story and the story of Theseus and the Minotaur side-by-side. What are some differences?
For example, why does Borges have the Athenians sending nine people into the labyrinth rather than seven? Borges wrote extensively about Dante and the Minotaur is in Dante's inferno, so it wouldn't totally surprise me if there's some connection between the nine people who get sent in and the nine circles of Hell in the Inferno.
etc. etc. etc. Peeling back these onion layers is why a lot of people enjoy reading Borges.
nsajko|9 years ago
Taking him at his word he shouldn't be able to write, and it would be most fitting if his story were just an internal monologue but the "footnote" about 14 meaning infinite disallows that possibility.
jfarmer|9 years ago
When you read the original story of Theseus and the Minotaur do you ask yourself the same question? Is the story less powerful because it couldn't be true as written?
The Apollodorus Bibliotecha is real compendium of Greek myths written in the 1st or 2nd century AD. The first section of the first book is the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. The House of Asterion is the same story told from the Minotaur's perspective.
The fact the the story itself includes the meta-fictional footnote implies this isn't the "original" and that the person writing this isn't the Minotaur himself. Borges like to play with this conceit in many of his stories, e.g., "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote." Don Quixote itself uses the same conceit, i.e., that what you're reading is something found and transmitted (and possibly altered).
So, to start, it might be worth putting up this story and the story of Theseus and the Minotaur side-by-side. What are some differences?
For example, why does Borges have the Athenians sending nine people into the labyrinth rather than seven? Borges wrote extensively about Dante and the Minotaur is in Dante's inferno, so it wouldn't totally surprise me if there's some connection between the nine people who get sent in and the nine circles of Hell in the Inferno.
etc. etc. etc. Peeling back these onion layers is why a lot of people enjoy reading Borges.