Kirby dealt with such eternal themes that it is easy to see parallels with other timeless classics. For example, every book deals with dramatic architecture, both ancient and modern, so we could match the ten books of the Eternals (climaxing in the destruction of Lemuria) with the ten books of architecture that formed the template for the Roman empire:
Book 1: Town planning
Book 2: Building materials
Book 3: temples
Book 4: temples, continued
Book 5: civil buildings
Book 6: domestic buildings
Book 7: pavements and decoration
Book 8: Aqueducts
Book 9: Science
Book 10: Machines
Compare these with the first ten books of the Eternals
Book 1: The gods were planning
Book 2: the history of Earth, and the rocks crumble
Book 3: New York skyscrapers: temples of the humans
Book 4: New York skyscrapers, continued
Book 5: the true rulers of Earth
Book 6: city college and ordinary people
Book 7: we are beneath the gods' feet
Book 8: the sea
Book 9: our killing machines
Book 10: the superior machines (see previous posts on the gods and the Internet)
We can also compare the decalogue
And the first ten books of the Eternals:
Book 1: The gods
Book 2: we rejected them in the past and were destroyed
Book 3: the Deviants take the name of the gods in vain
Book 4: the devils tempt us to act when we should not act
Book 5: honour the olympians, our guides and betters
Book 6: the killing ends; a book of peaceful dialog
Book 7: have we been faithful? (in the Bible, abandoning God is often compared with adultery)
Book 8: the deviants claim what is not theirs (the right to kill; the eternals; earth)
Book 9: Karkas is not mindless; cruelty is not inevitable
Book 10: the Deviants coveted everything (the right to kill; the eternals; earth) and lost
As I discussed in the first ever blog post, Kirby did not consciously intend these parallels. But he dealt with such big, eternal principles that other all-encompassing lists would inevitably cover the same ground, and in roughly the same order.
Book 1: Town planning
Book 2: Building materials
Book 3: temples
Book 4: temples, continued
Book 5: civil buildings
Book 6: domestic buildings
Book 7: pavements and decoration
Book 8: Aqueducts
Book 9: Science
Book 10: Machines
Compare these with the first ten books of the Eternals
Book 1: The gods were planning
Book 2: the history of Earth, and the rocks crumble
Book 3: New York skyscrapers: temples of the humans
Book 4: New York skyscrapers, continued
Book 5: the true rulers of Earth
Book 6: city college and ordinary people
Book 7: we are beneath the gods' feet
Book 8: the sea
Book 9: our killing machines
Book 10: the superior machines (see previous posts on the gods and the Internet)
We can also compare the decalogue
- I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me
- Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image
- Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain
- Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy
- Honour thy father and thy mother
- Thou shalt not kill
- Thou shalt not commit adultery
- Thou shalt not steal
- Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour
- Thou shalt not covet
And the first ten books of the Eternals:
Book 1: The gods
Book 2: we rejected them in the past and were destroyed
Book 3: the Deviants take the name of the gods in vain
Book 4: the devils tempt us to act when we should not act
Book 5: honour the olympians, our guides and betters
Book 6: the killing ends; a book of peaceful dialog
Book 7: have we been faithful? (in the Bible, abandoning God is often compared with adultery)
Book 8: the deviants claim what is not theirs (the right to kill; the eternals; earth)
Book 9: Karkas is not mindless; cruelty is not inevitable
Book 10: the Deviants coveted everything (the right to kill; the eternals; earth) and lost
As I discussed in the first ever blog post, Kirby did not consciously intend these parallels. But he dealt with such big, eternal principles that other all-encompassing lists would inevitably cover the same ground, and in roughly the same order.
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