The Call of Cthulhu

Reading Eliot's "Four Quartets" this afternoon I was delighted to discover (among many) a word I had never seen before - that experience that causes, literally, an outward gasp of breath (katharsis) relieving air out of stifled breath clinging forcefully inward (akatharsia). The word is chthonic - from the classic Greek - meaning 'dwelling in or beneath the surface of the earth' - like the Furies, or, as I thought, making the aural connection with my own reading of Lovecraft - 'Cthulhu', Priest of the Old Ones who happens also to dwell beneath the earth. The 'cthu' prefix makes sense, while the 'lhu' is perhaps the maddening, screeching eldritch noise associated with these creatures in Lovecraft's many tales.

Just a minor thought. Back to Eliot. And lunch.