Quixote, doesn't wish to go along with this. He and Ipsibidimidiata leave Rome and journey to Vandalic Carthage. It's mentioned somewhere in the book that "every flight is an origin", which led me to think this journey may be a sort of reverse recapitulation of the Aeneid. They would flee Rome, to Carthage, and then head to Troy (further cementing the Laocoön connection).

Like Dido and Aeneas, Quixote and Ipsibidimidiata go into a cave. At this point, there is a splitting of timelines or Quixote's consciousness. He is now Quixote and Hydatilla (Son of Attila). There's some interesting symbolism to go along with this. The cave's stalactites and stalactites are two conical shapes pointed toward one another, representing fields of possibilities in two opposing directions out from a single point, and yet they're both necessary for one another. Earlier in the novel it is noted that Quixote cant distinguish between "and" and "is" (In Latin,"et" and "est" are much more similar). It's a confusion that paralels Quixote and Hydatilla. Coll uses the word "hyperbolic", or some variation of it frequently throughout the text. This choice is significant since a hyperbola is the intersection of a plane across two cones pointed away from one another.

Regardless of the ultimate nature of this splitting, it is nevertheless split in two opposing directions: one direction loyal to Attila and another for Quixote's own desires. Throughout the rest of the narrative, a number of other characters, previously introduced in the play at the beginning, reenter the plot. They seem to be ghosts, angels, or specters, and maybe represent psychic drives or mythic archetypes in conflict with one another.

• Absalom - the rebellious son

• Antigone - the dutiful daughter

• Solomon - the loyal son

• Laocoon - the father

• Melantho - ??

• (And others)

From what I can tell, the reverse parallels with the Aeneid seem to stop at this cave. Latter parts of the narrative end up with Quixote in China. Quixote's flight from Attila's plans is still a flight to a spiritual origin. The Garden of Eden has been traditionally placed in the east. This is why old maps have East as the top, and why we say we "orient" ourselves when we get an understanding of where we are. Cementing this association, the text explicitly likens Quixote to a cherub, the type of angel assigned by God to guard the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve were cast out.

Symbolically, there's a connection with the snakes that I can't quite make sense of. In myth, snakes were sent to destroy Laocoön and his sons. The serpent plays a crucial part in the downfall of man in the Garden. What's the connection in Attila? They're both associated with an origin, and the narrative move towards this origin, but think there's more here I need to tease out. I feel like I only grasped a fifth of what's going on in the book, but what little I have glommed onto leads me to believe that what I don't understand after one read may be clearer after subsequent ones. It was a frustrating read at times due to the cryptic nature and obscure diction. Purple prose would be an understatement; it's more like hyperporphyric prosody.

Worth it, however, for those who like to be thrown into confusion and enjoy the effort of trying to make sense of things.