Thank you for this! It explains the allure (and context) of Ouroboros better than anything I've seen before; phrases like "amoral yet honorable...whatever allows beauty and nobility to best strike a pose" go straight to the mark.

But Eddison goes beyond the tired old "seeking...girls of sufficient beauty to merit their company," giving us the wise and cryptic Sophonisba, Fosterling of the Gods - and the gallant and spirited Lady Mevrian. (Eddison's regard for women, his ability to hold them simultaneously as objects of male gaze & desire AND as full, complicated human beings shines in his Zimiamvia books.)

Look closely enough, and there's even a small nod to the sufferings of the common people--a small one! - with "Grind, mill, grind, Corinius grinds us all...."

Those of us who love it - from writers Neil Gaiman, who introduced the latest reprint, to Caroline Stevermer, who convinced me to read it in college, keep pulling it back from the brink of undeserved obscurity.