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The overtones of religion are not the only characteristics of this story that
enable it to resemble the SF genre, Long also makes reference to the Greeks
frequently through the use of his main character Chalmers. On his journey
through time with the aid of a drug he experiences in quite vivid terms the
Hellenic culture. Then in referring to a name for the Hounds he remembers the
Greeks have a name that conceals their essential foulness. And then lastly, in
his hastily scrawled writings just before he dies, he recalls with regret the
Greeks having a way of preventing the Satyrs from helping the Hounds, and
acknowledges the loss of being unable to remember much of the Greeks knowledge.
The overtones of Greek mythology in this text are almost cyclic in where they
are placed within this text, at the start, in the body and in the conclusion.
Perhaps the influence of Verne was felt here slightly by the author as Verne was
very strongly influenced by the use of the myths of Greek legends, albeit in an
often reversed myth fashion. Long’s morals within this text are often obscured
and can be easily misinterpreted at times. On first reading one would suggest
that the outcome, a rather horrific and gruesome death, would imply the author’s
disapproval of anyone trying to bend the laws of science and of anyone who dares
to experiment with drugs, albeit drugs from natural sources. On a more all
encompassing examination however, one could come to the conclusion that this
author has a penchant and a liking for horror and simply believes Science, as a
genre, has the greatest capacity for exploiting the elements of horror. On
reflection though, given the detailed and clinical description of the death
scene, a more morality based conclusion about the author’s intent can be easily
reached. There is a clear condemnation of mankind in the reference to the “deed”
as if one of the outcomes of the sin by Adam and Eve resulted in the creation of
the Hounds. Respect of religion is also an offshoot moral of this SF story by
Long, in this text the main character has a complete belief in the story of
creation. This to me is presents a somewhat contradictory aspect to the story as
when Chalmers is travelling back he acknowledges the existence of dinosaurs and
unicellular organisms, which raises the features of Darwinism within this text
as well as biblical features. This kind of binary opposition though is a common
one within many SF genres. Binary oppositions within SF texts are more clearly
illustrated when we examine the different discourses that exist with the text.
The Hounds of Tindalos is no exception in this case. There is the Religious
discourse that exists that has already been discussed and there is the
Scientific discourse with the elements of Darwinism that is in opposition to
this. There is a Supernatural discourse that exists with the presence of the
Hounds that are alien creatures from another parallel time plane, in direct
contrast to the more earth bound discourse of Nature with the happening of an
earthquake. The Nature discourse is also in opposition to the Science discourse.
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