palmer (02/28/83)
Chiron is no relative of Charon. Chiron was a good and wise centaur who was also Achilles' teacher, being taught, himself, by Apollo and Diana. He was killed accidently by some hero or other, (I think Heracles,) causing that hero to either consider or commit suicide. Chiron is the centaur who now appears in the constellation Centaurus. All this was from memory, and no claims are made for either its accuracy, or veracity. David Palmer
jlw (02/28/83)
As I understand it the 'Hindmost' is a title and not a name. Puppeteers are notoriously cowardly and turn their backs on attackers. Then if really pressed they wang the hell out of their attackers with their tails. The Hindmost is the puppeteer who stands back as far as possible and is forced by the other puppeteers to be the leader. It is considered a breach of good taste among puppeteers to want the job. In addition Nessus was considered insane by puppeteer standards because he could stand to go on a spaceship without suiciding. Joseph L. Wood, III ABI Holmdel (201) 834-3759 ariel!jlw
kaufman (02/28/83)
I apologize about Chiron, and I was avoiding nitpicking about the Hindmost - yes, it is a title, but remember that the Hindmost, at the time of Ringworld Engineers, was no longer Hindmost! But that's not what I wrote to say - Beowulf Schaeffer's (I think I've misspelled that) first description of a puppeteer begins "imagine a three legged *centaur* . . ." (*'s mine). Ergo, I think we can now assume that the puppeteers chose their names on purpose, recognizing their resemblance to creatures of mythology, yes? Does anyone want to comment on why a manic/depressive would name himself (or be named) "Nessus"? - David Kaufman ...!decvax!yale-comix!kaufman