Article

Name: The Mermaid and Orpheus: mythological construction of the Voice

Authors: V. V. Merlin

Yad Vashem historical archives

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to describe the myth in terms of the set theory. It is argued that mathematical schematism is inherent to the myth and may be discovered through etymological and narrative analyses. Within that framework the Voice model is constructed that applies both to literary and folklore texts and overrides the orality / scripturalty controversy. The mermaids voice in Slavic folklore and the Orpheus voice in Ovid’s Metamorphoses are represented as the continuum transforming into the set of all sets, which explains the Orphic creationism and the sirens fertile power. The continuum is shown as equivalent to the diffuse set and to Derrida’s Pharmakon. The analogous mathematical model – the Cantor Dust – is examined compared to Meillassoux’s Hyperchaos and Badiou’s ontology of the multiple.

Keywords: myth, set theory, Voice, Mermaid, Orpheus

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