The front hard cover is grey with block black print SHIP OF THESEUS and the author V. M. STRAKA. A black and white drawing of a ship is surrounded by a whirlpool of white and yellow.

Theseus refers back to Greek mythology where the hero is sent on a search and faced with challenges as he seeks to establish his identity. Literary allusion, referring to an existing work, its characters, themes, etc. is a tool used to expand the level of association of a text. An allusion can enrich the reading experience, but only if the original is known. Greek mythology, its heroes and legends were once a mainstay of American education. But even as that education has evolved, the large number of students and individuals of multiple cultures means that many of the once well known allusions and associations drawn from the Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian traditions are no longer universally shared.

Thus begins a pathway, admittedly made somewhat easier by the Internet, Wikipedia and hyperlinking, but equally  fraught with the danger of a never ending pathway that has no end as one letter, word, image, thought opens another in what for each reader/researcher has numerous pathways and choices that make the experience an individual one.

(I have written that most of the information and discoveries found here are available to anyone willing to use and pursue search engines. We have done that work for you, but encourage you to delve deeper when your curiosity is whetted,)