A little back history about my alchemist. Elias Dorn was born in 1290. In 1314, at age 24, he was conscripted into Edward II’s army to fight Robert the Bruce in the Battle of Brannockburn during the First War of Scottish Independence. Dorn was wounded in his side by a spear and left for dead on the battlefield. A Scottish farmer and his wife took him in and nursed him back to health. All this takes place earlier than the book, which starts during the plague of 1348, but is briefly mentioned.
There are two parallels in Greek mythology that align with Dorn.
1.) Prometheus gave fire to humankind, for which Zeus punished him by chaining him to the face of a cliff. Each day, an eagle pecked at his side and ate his liver, which grew back, only to have the eagle peck at him the next day… and the next. Fire, in this case, signifies knowledge, and Zeus didn’t want his earthly subjects knowing too much.
2.) When Odysseus was young, he was gored in the thigh by a wild boar while hunting with his father on Mt. Parnassus. The scar later becomes a plot point when Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca disguised as a beggar. Read the book! And if you want a recommendation, read the translation by Robert Fagles.
Dorn’s battle wound when he is older also becomes a plot point. As I say in the Final Thoughts at the end of the book, “And as with Odysseus’ ten-year journey back to Ithaca, Elias had to travel the long road home in his quest for the Stone.”
Illustration description of the Battle of Brannockburn from the Scotichronicon (c. 1440), the earliest-known image of the battle. King Robert wielding an axe and Edward II fleeing toward Stirling feature prominently, conflating incidents from the two days of battle. Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, England.