It is completely different from human psychology!
"'...alliances between houses...'" (p. 448) counts as a reason for marriage among Ythrians. OK. Human beings have done that.
Ythrians are feathered, naked, winged and at home in the wind. They fly, eat only meat, including live prey, and must defend a large territory for hunting or herding.
Because children would be a burden at an early stage, Vodan and Eyath have considered remaining hriccal, avoiding each other while on heat. Most Ythrians reject contraception because:
"Children - the strong parental instinct of both mates - were what kept them together. If small wings closed around you and a small head snuggled down alongside your keelbone, you forgot the inevitable tensions and frustrations of marriage as much as if you were a human who had just happily coupled." (p. 449)
If you add all those differences together, then you wind up with something completely different from human psychology. The idea that marital partners are bonded not by sex but by shared childcare is the clincher.
2 comments:
Well, children are a strong bond between humans too, particularly in long relationships.
And humans probably evolved year-round sexuality -as- a pair-bonding mechanism, to provide care for the long dependency period of human infants.
It's a kludge, but evolution is like that.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I agree. I remember PA making similar suggestions in some of his stories.
Ad astra! Sean
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