Vesper.
Wikipedia describes the name as a greek god from mythology also known as "Hesperos".
In Greek mythology, Hesperos (Greek Ἓσπερος (The Evening Star), sometimes latinized as Hesperus) and (H)eosphoros (Morning Star) latinized as Eosphorus (see Lucifer) are sons of the dawn goddess Eos (Roman Aurora). Hesperus' father was Cephalus, a mortal, while Eosphoros' was the star god Astraios. Hesperos Roman equivalent was Vesper. (cf. "west", direction of sunset/dusk/evening star and "east", direction of morning star/dawn/sunrise). Venus shines very bright because its dense atmosphere of carbon dioxide reflects the sunlight extremely well.
She was also immortalized as James Bond's companion on assignment in Casino Royale and I love the role she plays - wearing a dark trench coat and pantsuit the first time she meets him with an austere eye. In studying feminism in film and culture, I find this character so interesting for a Bond Girl. Indeed, she still has some of the similar traits of Girls of old, good looks and strong temperament, but she is unique. Her face appeals to me in its attraction as not a mere facade, but genuine beauty. There's something about this face and about her androgyngy that truly suits her. And perhaps it is this, complimented by her intelligence that leads me to find myself enveloped in a good sense of this Vesper, and not so unlike the Roman god, shines. She is also a complex character for good and bad, which is so intriguing.
Vesper Lynd is a pun on West Berlin. Like her namesake, the Cold War-era city of Berlin, Vesper's loyalties are split down the middle. Fleming created a cocktail recipe in the novel that Bond names after Vesper.
Not to say that I would like to put on the complete "dress" of a Vesper, with split loyalties, but I find my life neatly compartmentalized at times, through my more calculative way of dividing my emotions and enjoying come what may. Devil-may-care attitude is for the frivolous, which I would not say of myself, although I have some aspects of my personality, which surprise me sometimes. There is a window, at times, which shows me things I do and do not like. Postscript: I do like good surprises.
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I read Michel de Montaigne's essay called "Of the Inconsistency of Our Actions" recently, and it reminded me of your post on Vesper. Here's the particular quote that triggered some thoughts, though the whole essay is worth reading....
ReplyDelete"Whoever will look narrowly into his own bosom, will hardly find himself twice in the same condition. I give to my soul sometimes one face and sometimes another, according to the sides I turn her to. If I speak variously of myself, it is because I consider myself variously; all the contrarieties are there to be found in one corner or another; after one fashion or another: bashful, insolent; chaste, lustful; prating, silent; laborious, delicate; ingenious, heavy; melancholic, pleasant; lying, true; knowing, ignorant; liberal, covetous, and prodigal: I find all this in myself, more or less, according as I turn myself about; and whoever will sift himself to the bottom, will find in himself, and even in his own judgment, this volubility and discordance. I have nothing to say of myself entirely, simply, and solidly without mixture and confusion... We are all lumps, and of so various and inform a contexture, that every piece plays, every moment, its own game, and there is as much difference betwixt us and ourselves as betwixt us and others: 'Esteem it a great thing always to act as one and the same man.'"
My question is this: Since inconsistency, (or split loyalties), is a vice, how do you fit the "good sense of Vesper" with your Christian worldview? What is the "good sense of Vesper," exactly?
This would be an interesting subject for you to elaborate on in a future post! I think I know what you mean.... but for sake of discussion it would be fun to hear it in your words. :-)