There Will Be Another Sunrise: @OBBookTours - What is a Symbolon? by Delia Colvin

What is a Symbolon?

by Delia Colvin

If you haven’t read Book One of my trilogy, The Sibylline Oracle, you are probably wondering what the heck is a Symbolon. Even Word’s spellcheck has no idea.

In Plato’s Symposium, Aristophanes, a comic playwright of Ancient Athens, presents the story of soul mates or as Aristophanes referred to them, “symbolons”.

Symbolons were created by the foul-tempered Zeus, who split these odd two-headed, eight-limbed characters in half, and condemned them to spend the rest of their lives searching for their other half to complete them. Did I mention that Aristophanes was a comic playwright?

The definition of the term symbolon is a bit ambiguous but it has come to mean two halves of a whole, neither one being complete until they are reunited.

In The Sibylline Trilogy, the story goes that Apollo gave the gift of divination (messages and visions from the gods) to the first Oracle, Myrdd. Apollo liked the effect, but realized that these immortals would need mates that could survive with them. So he blew into the heavens and fifty stars fell to earth. He blew again and the stars split in half creating 100 oracles, each with their perfect mate.

Throughout Book One, The Sibylline Oracle, there is a reference to a triangular tattoo on Alex’s hand. Each oracle bears a mark that helps them know their Symbolon.

Although, Alex and Valeria do have a very special connection beyond the obvious, in Book Two, their mark becomes particularly significant.

As I’ve said before, The Symbolon was my favorite book to write. However, I’m now in the rewrite stage of Book Three, The Last Oracle and I’m having a lot of fun with it as well. It should be released in June.

All three books are about the eternal love of Alex and Valeria and what they are willing to do so that the other can survive.

I hope you enjoy it!