"La of Opar: Four ERB Appearances?" Topic

La is a character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's series of Tarzan novels. She first appeared in the second Tarzan novel, The Return of Tarzan (1913), and reappeared in the fifth, Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar (1916), the ninth, Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1923), and the fourteenth, Tarzan the Invincible (1930).

La is the queen and high priestess of Opar, a lost city located deep in the jungles of Africa. Opar is portrayed as a surviving colony of ancient Atlantis in which incredible riches have been stockpiled down through the ages. The city's population exihibits sexual dimorphism caused by a combination of excessive inbreeding, cross-breeding with apes, and selective culling of offspring. Consequently, female Oparians are physically perfect, while male Oparians are beast-like brutes. On her first encounter with Tarzan La falls in love with him, he being so much more physically perfect and attractive than the male Oparians. But Tarzan spurns her advances, as he is already committed to Jane Porter. This endangers his own life, as the religion of Opar condones human sacrifice, and La comes close to dedicating him to her city's "Flaming God" on a number of occasions. The two encounter each other time and again, as Tarzan keeps returning to Opar to replenish his personal wealth from its hoarded treasure.
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If those are the FOUR ERB mentions in his books, then these are the texts. Two are available in the US. The last two come with warnings against use in the US.

The Return of Tarzan (Online):
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Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar (Online):
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Tarzan and the Golden Lion (Online):
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Tarzan the Invincible (Online):
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I hope these literary resources feed the fires of lots of gaming by Tarzan fans!

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I just think it was another excuse by ERB to write about 'nearly nekkid exotic princesses'….as most of the images I've seen of 'La'…are 'Frazetta-ish' and could pass for Dejah or Thuvia or Tara or….*sigh*…

Carpe' Tentacle'um!
sgt dww

How similar is ERB's Opar to the one Phillip Jose Farmer wrote about? Did farmer's still have the beastmen?

I think that Farmer's Opar is closer to the "pure human" Atlanteans of 10,000 BCE:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opar

I think that the "beastmen" come about after millennia of mixing:

"I am La, high priestess of the Temple of the Sun, in the city of Opar. We are descendants of a people who came to this savage world more than ten thousand years ago in search of gold. Their cities stretched from a great sea under the rising sun to a great sea into which the sun descends at night to cool his flaming brow. They were very rich and very powerful, but they lived only a few months of the year in their magnificent palaces here; the rest of the time they spent in their native land, far, far to the north.

"Many ships went back and forth between this new world and the old. During the rainy season there were but few of the inhabitants remained here, only those who superintended the working of the mines by the black slaves, and the merchants who had to stay to supply their wants, and the soldiers who guarded the cities and the mines.

"It was at one of these times that the great calamity occurred. When the time came for the teeming thousands to return none came. For weeks the people waited. Then they sent out a great galley to learn why no one came from the mother country, but though they sailed about for many months, they were unable to find any trace of the mighty land that had for countless ages borne their ancient civilization--it had sunk into the sea.

"From that day dated the downfall of my people. Disheartened and unhappy, they soon became a prey to the black hordes of the north and the black hordes of the south. One by one the cities were deserted or overcome. The last remnant was finally forced to take shelter within this mighty mountain fortress. Slowly we have dwindled in power, in civilization, in intellect, in numbers, until now we are no more than a small tribe of savage apes.

"In fact, the apes live with us, and have for many ages. We call them the first men--we speak their language quite as much as we do our own; only in the rituals of the temple do we make any attempt to retain our mother tongue. In time it will be forgotten, and we will speak only the language of the apes; in time we will no longer banish those of our people who mate with apes, and so in time we shall descend to the very beasts from which ages ago our progenitors may have sprung."

"But why are you more human than the others?" asked the man.

"For some reason the women have not reverted to savagery so rapidly as the men. It may be because only the lower types of men remained here at the time of the great catastrophe, while the temples were filled with the noblest daughters of the race. My strain has remained clearer than the rest because for countless ages my foremothers were high priestesses--the sacred office descends from mother to daughter. Our husbands are chosen for us from the noblest in the land. The most perfect man, mentally and physically, is selected to be the husband of the high priestess."

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"I hope these literary resources feed the fires of lots of gaming by Tarzan fans."

Actually I have been working on a game that is a combination of Tarzan the Untamed and Tarzan the Terrible.

MMMmm, La of Opar! She was always tying up Tarzan and then turning on the feminine charm. I don't know why he played so hard to get.

Because he was a married man, and proper British nobility don't cheat on their wives with random jungle strumpets, no matter how comely. And besides, Jane was a hottie too.

"Jungle strumpets"?

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Here are some more:

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You'd prefer "equatorial tarts" perhaps? :)

And I still maintain that Jane was a hottie, even if she was (slightly) less prone to wind up fully undraped.

LOL.

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Nice illustration (and description) of Opar:

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This is an interesting depiction:

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Latest discussion on figures:

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First mention of the Oparians:

"Suddenly the door behind him closed, and at the same time hands clutched him from every direction out of the darkness.
The ape-man fought with all the savage fury of self-preservation backed by the herculean strength that was his. But though he felt his blows land, and his teeth sink into soft flesh, there seemed always two new hands to take the place of those that he fought off. At last they dragged him down, and slowly, very slowly, they overcame him by the mere weight of their numbers. And then they bound him--his hands behind his back and his feet trussed up to meet them. He had heard no sound except the heavy breathing of his antagonists, and the noise of the battle. He knew not what manner of creatures had captured him, but that they were human seemed evident from the fact that they had bound him.
Presently they lifted him from the floor, and half dragging, half pushing him, they brought him out of the black chamber through another doorway into an inner courtyard of the temple. Here he saw his captors. There must have been a hundred of them--short, stocky men, with great beards that covered their faces and fell upon their hairy breasts.
The thick, matted hair upon their heads grew low over their receding brows, and hung about their shoulders and their backs. Their crooked legs were short and heavy, their arms long and muscular. About their loins they wore the skins of leopards and lions, and great necklaces of the claws of these same animals depended upon their breasts. Massive circlets of virgin gold adorned their arms and legs. For weapons they carried heavy, knotted bludgeons, and in the belts that confined their single garments each had a long, wicked-looking knife.
But the feature of them that made the most startling impression upon their prisoner was their white skins--neither in color nor feature was there a trace of the negroid about them. Yet, with their receding foreheads, wicked little close-set eyes, and yellow fangs, they were far from prepossessing in appearance."
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La was just one of those gals that looks great, but once you spend time around them, you feel like the life is being sucked out of you because they are so needy.
John was better off without her just that by that factor alone.
Add the fact that Jane Greystoke, née Porter, was all the woman he could handle and needed, why then go after La?
She would be a total waste of time!

"A total waste of time"? Hmm.

(WARNING: May not be suitable for al viewers)

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CC,
You know what I am talking about and it ain't all looks!
The woman would have any normal male climbing the walls within weeks, and I bet most of you would be stepping out on her inside 18 months, if it even took that long.
Any male here, that has been in a multi-year committed relationship, knows that looks fade, but personality is eternal.
If the woman is needy and you are not one of the few screwed up males that need that sort of woman, she is going to drive you away no matter how gorgeous she is; you just cannot live with that sort of person and play games with the guys or do anything else that does not require you to be at her side most of the rest of your existence.
La is one screwed up woman!

"La is one screwed up woman!"

LOL. No question about that! :)

Looks like Matakishi might be starting up a Tarzan project too:

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Can't wait to see how far he takes it.

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These are a couple of Opar book covers I had not seen before:

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I know one of these Tarzan cartoons also had an episode or two about Opar:

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These are apparently some of the Oparian males (according to Boris Vallejo):

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What do men usually say when the first lay eyes on La of Opar?

Oooooo-La-La.

(warren ducks/dodges/run/hides)

Caciqu Caribe quotes:
<"A total waste of time"? Hmm.

(WARNING: May not be suitable for al viewers)

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Jungle Crumpet, er, strumpet?

I'll take a 3-pack, please, with lots of butter….

This is weird stuff (fan-fiction):

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And there was also the La of the comic books, of course . . .

erbzine.com/mag17/1763.html

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