The Gods Are Athirst

Principal Persons

Évariste Gamelin. A young painter, son of a widowed mother, associated with the Pont-Neuf section and later a juror of the Revolutionary Tribunal. His artistic and political commitments shape the story’s central line.

Élodie Blaise. Daughter of the print dealer Jean Blaise. Her work, desires and memories have a perspective of their own; they are not exhausted by what Gamelin thinks he knows about her.

Jean Blaise. A dealer and publisher of prints. His business connects artistic fashion, customers, money and the private lives of the principal characters.

Widow Gamelin. Évariste’s mother. Her recollections of the old order and concern for ordinary livelihood repeatedly disturb her son’s explanations.

Julie Gamelin. Évariste’s sister. Her attachments and movements expose the difficulty of keeping family loyalties within political classifications.

Brotteaux, formerly Monsieur des Ilettes. A man of the old order who earns his living making puppets. He reads Lucretius and gives sceptical conversation a persistent presence in the novel.

Father Longuemare. A religious figure whose convictions and conduct are brought into contact with Brotteaux’s unbelief and with the demands of revolutionary society.

Fortuné Trubert. Secretary of the section’s Military Committee. His illness and his dedication to practical public work are established in the opening chapter.

Madame de Rochemaure. A woman whose social connections pass through several political and financial worlds. The notes distinguish the story’s representation of her from the historical persons she names.

Desmahis. An artist and engraver linked to Blaise’s business and to the novel’s exploration of taste, desire and changing public fashion.

Jacques Maubel. A man whose name becomes entangled in Gamelin’s private imagination and judicial action. Further details are left to the text and the outline.

Historical figures. David, Marat, Robespierre, Danton, Saint-Just and others belong to the historical world reconstructed in the novel. Identification of a real name does not authenticate an invented conversation or a character’s accusation.