Palladis Tamia the Latin genitive of "Pallas," another name for the goddess Athena, who in Greek mythology was the goddess of wisdom and statecraft. Thus, "Palladis Tamia" becomes the "dispenser" or "treasurer" of Pallas Athena, or "wisdom". "Palladis Tamia" was the second in a series of four volumes of short pithy sayings with the generic title of "Wits Commonwealth", the first of which was "Politeuphuia: Wits Commonwealth" (1597), compiled by John Bodenham or by Nicholas Ling, the publisher. The third volume was "Wits Theater of the Little World" (1599), dedicated to Bodenham and variously credited to him, Robert Allott, or Ling, and
The Arm of the Starfish evokes the historical Macrina's scar, which her brother Gregory writes about in his "Life of Macrina". Classical names used in the book include Polyhymnia, the fictional Portuguese island of Gaea, named for a Greek goddess associated with the Earth, and Typhon, the deadliest monster in Greek mythology and the legendary "Father of Monsters." Finally, the names of Kali Cutter and Joshua Archer are significant. Kali is the name of the Hindu goddess of change, power and destruction, while the girl's surname indicates that she and her father have the power to cut (i.e., wound) others, both figuratively and literally. Joshua,