All pantheons of ancient mythologies have similar archetypes: There’s Zeus, Odin, or Enlil, the father god. Demeter, Hathor, or Chicomecoatl, goddess of the harvest. The Hogwarts teachers as they sit along their long table reflect these archetypes, from Dumbledore to Professor Sprout. Argus Filch is guardian of the gates at Hogwarts, Minerva is its font of wisdom. Dolores Umbridge might be Eris, Goddess of Discord. Slughorn is rather a Dionysus figure, obsessed with hedonism and selfishness. Dour Snape, always excluded, has many correspondences to Hades as he lurks underground. Other teachers seem better linked to other traditions: Professor Flitwick is a clever crafter figure like the dwarf and goblin crafters in Norse myth. The vulturelike Madam Pince has echoes in Thoth, the bird-headed Egyptian god of lore and wisdom. But which archetypes are missing from the “Hogwarts Pantheon”? With names like Minerva, Argus, Pomona, Silvanus, Septima, and Sybill, are they just reenacting the Roman gods, or are there other, closer correspondences?
Some archetypes are better found in the students: The goddess of love and beauty, present in every culture, corresponds best to Fleur and her Veela friends, while Harry, of course, is the culture hero. The sacrificed maiden like Persephone appears as Ginny in book two or Fleur in book four. Hermione is frequently compared to Hermes the messenger and provider of sacred gifts, while Luna’s name links her to Artemis, the shining moon goddess.
There is frequently a traitor among the pantheon, like Prometheus or Loki. Similarly, there is a traitor at Hogwarts each year, from Quirrell to Barty Crouch Jr.
Exploring all these archetypes can deepen our understanding of the characters when the Hogwarts pantheon is revealed as a chorus of quibbling gods and Harry their appointed hero.
Dumbledore, in his thronelike chair, certainly resembles Zeus, head of the Pantheon. They share the absolute rulership and also various attributes like the snowy beard and arcane wisdom. In the pantheon of Hogwarts professors, Minerva, the Athena character, is certainly a surrogate daughter as well as the source of wisdom. Pomona Sprout works as Demeter, the harvest goddess whose concoctions can save mankind. Filius Flitwick, the clever crafter, parallels Hermes. Hephaestus the misshapen smith can be seen in one-eyed, one-legged Mad-Eye Moody, who is gruff but generous to his friends. Meanwhile, Moody’s first name, Alastor, was an epithet (title) of Zeus. It meant the avenger of evil deeds, specifically, familial bloodshed. It was also an epithet of the Furies, who avenged crimes. This is an excellent name for an Auror, especially considering the events of book four. The outcast, the dour god who always seemed to lose in Olympian contests, was Hades, banished to the gloomy underground, much like Professor Snape.
Dionysus spent all his time enjoying drunken pleasures and convincing mortals to do the same. This irresponsible figure is a good match for Horace Slughorn. Helga Hufflepuff is Hestia, modest guardian of the hearth. Dolores Umbridge, stirring up animosity everywhere, parallels Eris, goddess of Discord. Gilderoy Lockhart, admittedly, is a more awkward fit as Aphrodite the love goddess, though her handsome, sacrificed paramour Adonis may be about right. Hagrid parallels well with Pan the satyr of the forest.
Argus Filch, lower in rank than the professors, is famously named for the many-eyed guardian Argus, whom Hera employed to watch Zeus’s paramour, Io. When Hermes tricked and killed him, Hera set his many eyes on the peacock’s tail. Of course, the tricksters of Hogwarts, Fred and George, spend much of their time outwitting Filch, though they stop long before murder.
Sybill Trelawney is the oracle priestess or Greek Sibyl, from which she gets her name. Of course, in the series she’s the Cassandra figure, who offers dire prophecies but is never actually believed. Sybill Trelawney’s great-great-grandmother, a more reliable seer, was even named Cassandra in homage. “Cassandra’s gift had been much diluted over ensuing generations, although Sybill inherited more than she knew,” Rowling writes.261 She adds:
‘Trelawney’ is a very old name, suggestive of Sybill’s over-reliance on her ancestry when seeking to impress. There is a beautiful old Cornish song featuring the name (‘ The Song of the Western Men’). Sybill’s first name is a homonym of ‘Sibyl’, which was a female clairvoyant in ancient times. My American editor wanted me to use ‘Sibyl’, but I preferred my version, because while it keeps the reference to the august clairvoyants of old, it is really no more than a variant on the unfashionable female name ‘Sybil’. Professor Trelawney, I felt, did not really qualify as a ‘Sibyl’.262
Correspondences
Dumbledore
Zeus, Father god
Minerva McGonagall
Athena, goddess of wisdom
Filius Flitwick
Hermes the clever crafter
Horace Slughorn
Dionysus the drunken hedonist
Severus Snape
Hades the despised underworld god
Pomona Sprout
Demeter, harvest goddess
Alecto and Amycus Carrow
The Furies, who punish traitors
Dolores Umbridge
Eris, goddess of discord
Argus Filch
Argus the guardian
Gilderoy Lockhart
Aphrodite, love goddess
Mad-Eye Moody
Hephaestus the misshapen smith
Sybill Trelawny
The Oracle
Charity Burbage
Prometheus
Hagrid
Pan the forest demigod
Firenze
Chiron the centaur
Helga Hufflepuff
Hestia, guardian of the hearth
Rolanda Hooch
Iris the rainbow messenger
Quirinus Quirrell
Minos
Amycus and Alecto are the Death Eater twins who torture students in book seven. Alecto “the implacable or unceasing anger” is one of the Erinyes, or Furies, in Greek mythology. It was their job to leave the underworld and torture mankind with cruel glee on behalf of the gods. Amycus, the son of Poseidon and Melia in Greek myth, was a boxer and King of the Bebryces. When the Argonauts landed on the coast of his dominions, he challenged the bravest of them to a boxing match. Polydeuces, who accepted the challenge, killed him. Likewise, Amycus Carrow challenges the brave Gryffindors to fights all the time. Upon the tomb of Amycus there grew a laurel, would make people fight when they encountered it. Thus he’s like a male Eris or Fury.
The twins torture Charity Burbage, the Muggle Studies professor. She strongly parallels Prometheus, the Titan who declared himself a friend of mankind and brought them fire. The new regime, in his story, the Greek gods, caught him and bound him to a rock where an eagle came and tore at his liver each day, until Hercules managed to free him. In Greek and Roman mythology, Hygieia, was the goddess of health and sanitation, daughter of Asclepius. Madame Pomfrey matches her. Quirrell, meanwhile, parallels Minos, the man who became arrogant and dared to challenge the gods. They tormented him with a monster, the Minotaur, and when the hero Theseus arrived, he destroyed both the monster and the king’s empire.
Specifically, there were two generations of Olympian gods – Zeus’s siblings and Zeus’s children. The Harry Potter series too is split between teacher heroes and student heroes, emphasizing the gifts of the younger generation. Among the children, there are many parallels with Zeus’s children. If sunny red-headed Ron is Apollo, the sun, then Luna is of course the mad, distant moon (appropriately for her name). Hermione is the messenger Hermes. Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle are the angry war god Ares and his sons and cronies Phobos and Deimos. Fleur is Aphrodite, goddess of love, who entices all with her beauty. Ginny is undoubtedly Persephone, the sacrificed maiden in Chamber of Secrets whose loss could destroy their world (bringing eternal winter or shutting down the school). Fred and George parallel many Greek hero-twins: Castor and Pollux (brothers to Helen of Troy), sons of the West Wind Calaïs and Zetes, or the Argonauts Ascalaphus and Ialmenus.
Finally, Harry, the central hero, shares much with the heroes of classical myth. His closest parallel is, however, Hercules – the half god half man with a long list of impossible labors. As with the Pantheons, much of this may be archetypal – more a lesson about skills any hero must learn than about Harry’s deliberate correspondences with Hercules. Nonetheless, his famous labors match well with Harry’s tasks and the lessons they offer, both over the seven book series and in his Deathly Hallows Horcrux hunt.
Labor One – Nemean Lion – Hercules strangles the beast and wears its skin for the rest of his labors. Harry’s first major test is battling the troll. The reward – Hermione’s friendship – is something he carries forever. The first villain in Deathly Hallows is Voldemort, trying to stop him from escaping. All these require a bit of cleverness as brute force isn’t enough to win the day. These battles test the hero’s courage, but emphasize that worse is coming.
Labor Two – Lernean Hydra – Hercules needs his nephew Iolaus to help him burn the neck of each Hydra head after he slices it off. Fighting the Hornback in Goblet of Fire, Harry swoops and dodges the reptilian creature, with outside help from his broom and Hermione’s Summoning Charm. Likewise, he sneaks through the Ministry to get to Umbridge in Deathly Hallows, Hermione and Ron aiding him. All this tests his clever resourcefulness and willingness to ask his friends for help.
Labor Three – Cerynitian Hind – Hercules must capture it alive, an unusually delicate task. Through the series, Harry learns potions and transfiguration, all very dexterous work. In the final book, the Sword of Gryffindor has a gentle doe guardian, testing his courage as he follows it then dives into the frozen lake. Care and caution are key here.
Labor Four – Erymanthian Boar – In this test, Hercules’s teacher Chiron is accidentally killed. Thus the loss of his beloved mentor is the true trial, as Hercules advances to independence and continues his tests. For Harry, this is paralleled in the loss of Sirius, Dumbledore, and other friends, many of whom perish in book seven.
Labor Five – Stables of Augeas – Famously, as Hercules shoveled, the stable filled even faster. This endless, impossible task is paralleled in Harry’s Horcrux search with its interminable camping. On the way he discovers the locket he’s found is a fake, loses the Sword of Gryffindor, and has numerous setbacks. Before this, he has homework and classes, along with many impossible tasks for someone his age like the Triwizarding Tournament and creating a Patronus. All teach patience and determination.
Labor Six – Stymphalian Birds – These were shrieking swarms of nasty creatures. This echoes the horde of keys guarding the Philosopher’s Stone and also the giant deadly snake in Godric’s Hollow. Both test dexterity.
Labor Seven – Cretan Bull – Facing the vast empire of Minos and traveling far from familiar territory added to Hercules’s trials here. For Harry, this reflects in entering the Ministry, Knockturn Alley, the Hall of Prophecies, the graveyard, and other menacing places. In Deathly Hallows, there’s more of this, from Godric’s Hollow to camping in the countryside. The true test is winning the day in places of isolation and adversity.
Labor Eight – Mares of Diomedes – Hercules rescues Queen Alcestis from death himself as a favor to her husband. Likewise, Harry battles the basilisk to rescue Ginny, and then frees Dobby. He also rescues Mrs. Cattermole from the Ministry. The heroism here is defending the weak, even while on grandiose quests to defeat evil.
Labor Nine – Belt of Hippolyte – This mission calls for tact: the queen of the Amazons surrenders the belt freely when Hercules charms her. Learning the same finesse, Harry convinces Cho to join the DA, and finally wins Cho’s then Ginny’s affection. Later on, Harry persuades Kreacher to trust him and retrieves the locket.
Labor Ten – Cattle of Geryon – Heated by the Sun, Hercules bends his bow at Helios himself, threatening to strike down a god. The gods of the wizarding world are not only evil Voldemort, but also the Ministry, as seen in Fudge and his allies. Harry indeed resists all the Ministers of Magic and their representatives, the highest authorities. Both heroes emphasize that when authority is arbitrarily cast over them, they have no need to show deference.
Labor Eleven – Apples of Hesperides – Hercules wrestles Antaeus, who gets his powers from earth, and kills him in midair. Exploiting the villain’s own power to destroy him is the penultimate test. Similarly, Harry exploits Umbridge’s greed, Wormtail’s honor, Voldemort’s superiority, and more to defeat them. In the last book, Harry uses the Horcruxes, Elder Wand, and his mother’s protection (which are all supposed to safeguard Voldemort) to defeat him.
Labor Twelve – Hound of Hades – This is the greatest test of all for Hercules, and for Harry in book seven – facing death in the deepest pit or the Forbidden Forest. Of course, in book one, this monster dog is reimagined as Fluffy, the three-headed dog, guarding the path down to Voldemort.
Merope Gaunt, Voldemort’s mother, has a striking name from Greek myth. One Merope was one of the seven Pleiades, star nymphs in the sky and a daughter of the titan Atlas. She married King Sisyphus, the man who cheated death multiple times, and was punished by the gods to eternally roll a bolder up a hill. Merope was said to have been so ashamed of her husband’s crimes that she hid her face, when the seventh star of the Pleiades vanished from the heavens. Her name means “with face turned” from meros + ops.
“Atlas by Pleione or an Oceanitide (Oceanid) had twelve daughters…Their names are as follows: Electra, Alcyone, Celaeno, Merope…Of these, they say Electra does not appear, because of the death of Dardanus and the loss of Troy. Others think that Merope appears to blush because she had a mortal as husband, though the others had gods. Driven from the band of her sisters because of this, she wears her hair long in grief, and is called a comet, or longodes because she trails out for a long distance, or xiphias because she shows the shape of a sword-point. This star, too, portends grief.”263
Merope of the Heliades was one of the five daughters of Helios and Clymene the Oceanid. The most famous member of this family was her brother Phaeton. Wanting to prove himself son of the sun titan, he drove the sun god’s chariot and scorched the earth, so the gods killed him. All his sisters grieved so long, the gods turned them into poplar trees weeping tears of amber.
Another Merope was the daughter of King Cypselus of Arcadia, who married King Cresphontes of Messenia. “Polyphontes, one of the true Heraclids, came to the throne and took to wife, against her will, Merope, the wife of the murdered man.”264 When her husband was murdered and she was forced to wed the new king, she sent away her son Aepytus and had him trained him in vengeance…but nearly slew him by mistake when Aepytus gained entry to the court by claiming to be his own murderer. At last, mother and son succeeded in punishing their enemy. (Euripides’ lost tragedy Cresphontes is based on this myth).
Another Merope was daughter (or in some versions wife) to King Oenopion of Chios, son of Princess Ariadne and Dionysus. The hunter Orion broke guest-right (in itself a sacred law) and assaulted Merope, so Oenopion stabbed out his eyes and banished him.
And Artemis slew Orion in Delos. They say that he was of gigantic stature and born of the earth; but Pherecydes says that he was a son of Poseidon and Euryale. Poseidon bestowed on him the power of striding across the sea. He first married Side, whom Hera cast into Hades because she rivalled herself in beauty. Afterwards he went to Chios and wooed Merope, daughter of Oenopion. But Oenopion made him drunk, put out his eyes as he slept, and cast him on the beach. But he went to the smithy of Hephaestus, and snatching up a lad set him on his shoulders and bade him lead him to the sunrise. Being come thither he was healed by the sun’s rays, and having recovered his sight he hastened with all speed against Oenopion. But for him Poseidon had made ready a house under the earth constructed by Hephaestus.265
A few rare versions tell this as an incest story, with Merope as Orion’s mother.
Bridging on this, the name Merope also belonged to the adoptive mother of Oedipus, who killed his birth father and wed his birth mother. Thus these connections brand every Merope as an innocent victim but the close family of some very bad men. Sisyphus tried to cheat death and live forever. Oedipus defied the gods’ natural laws by killing his father and marrying his mother, Aepytus killed his stepfather and claimed to have murdered himself, and Phaeton nearly destroyed the world when he tried to fly the sun god’s chariot. Orion assaulted his hostess, or in a few versions, his own stepmother. All four of these men defied the laws of the gods in unholy and unnatural fashion, and all were punished.
There are more names from Greek myth, including Hermione. Greek Hermione was the daughter of Helen of Troy, a lovely princess fought over as marriage bait by the sons of Agamemnon and Achilles. Thus there’s little connection here. Hermione, also used by Shakespeare to name his betrayed queen in A Winter’s Tale, became a popular English name. Thus, unlike the other Greek appellations, hers may come from the English tradition. She’s also been compared to the helpful messenger Hermes. Likewise, Hermes, Percy’s owl, is named, appropriately, for the messenger god, as this is his job. Even Galatea Merrythought, DADA professor in Voldemort’s day, is named for the mythological woman sculpted to her creator’s purpose, much as Voldemort planned to do with the Dark Arts position.266
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them presents griffons, winged horses, manticores, hippocampuses, and sphinxes, animals which are occasionally referenced in the main series. It also links merfolk with the Greek sirens. Of course, hippogriffs and centaurs play major roles in the series itself. Fantastic Beasts adds that the mythical chimera (a terrible beast that combines fire-breathing lion, goat, and snake) only was slain once “and the unlucky wizard concerned fell to his death from the winged horse,”267 a Belleraphon reference.
Xenophilius Lovegood has a name which, down to its Greek roots, means “a lover of foreign things.” Rowling adds in Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies, “A very great variety of first names are given to children by their wizard parents, some of them being what we might think of as Muggle names (e.g. James, Harry, Ronald), others giving a distinct flavour of the personality or destiny of the bearer (e.g. Xenophilius, Remus, Alecto).”268
She notes that these “destined names” are actually chosen after consulting with fortune tellers explaining, “A certain sector of magical society, however, follows the ancient wizarding practice of consulting a Naming Seer, who (usually for a hefty payment of gold) will predict the child’s future and suggest an appropriate moniker.”269 Presumably, this is why Remus Lupin is so-named before he’s even bitten.
Pomona Sprout is named for the Roman goddess of fruit and agriculture, while Minerva, of course, is the Roman goddess of wisdom. Aurora was the goddess of the dawn, who gives her name to Aurora Sinistra, professor of Astronomy. (Sinistra means left, and witchcraft is often known as the left-hand-path.) Hagrid inherits his job from Silvanus Kettleburn, whose first name is shared with a Roman forest god similar to the Greek Pan. “Like Hagrid after him, he was prone to underestimating the risks involved in caring for creatures such as Occamys, Grindylows and Fire Crabs, and once famously caused the Great Hall to catch fire after enchanting an Ashwinder to play the Worm in a play of ‘The Fountain of Fair Fortune’.”270
Septima Vector teaches Arithmancy. Of course, a vector is a mathematical element, while Septima means “seven,” a math reference combined with the most magical number. Helga Hufflepuff, already compared to modest Hestia, gains more political power as Vesta, a sacred figure whose female devotees ruled the political stage. It should not be forgotten that she was a powerful founder, not just a homebody. Albus Dumbledore’s first name means “white,” casting him as a blessed saint and good wizard. Rowling adds on the subject of colors:
Colours also played their part in the naming of Hagrid and Dumbledore, whose first names are Rubeus (red) and Albus (white) respectively. The choice was a nod to alchemy, which is so important in the first Harry Potter book, where ‘the red’ and ‘the white’ are essential mystical components of the process. The symbolism of the colours in this context has mystic meaning, representing different stages of the alchemic process (which many people associate with a spiritual transformation). Where my two characters were concerned, I named them for the alchemical colours to convey their opposing but complementary natures: red meaning passion (or emotion); white for asceticism; Hagrid being the earthy, warm and physical man, lord of the forest; Dumbledore the spiritual theoretician, brilliant, idealised and somewhat detached. Each is a necessary counterpoint to the other as Harry seeks father figures in his new world. (Rowling, “Colours”)
Quirinus Quirrell comes from Roman myth as well. Quirinus (“spear”) was an early god, most likely a Sabine god of war. When the Romans settled there, they absorbed the cult of Quirinus into their early belief system, and by the end of the first century BC Quirinus was considered to be the deified Romulus. The tarot symbol or Celtic hallow of the spear echoes the elder wand, and Quirrell harbors a great evil through his arrogance. Quirinus was also an epithet of Janus, the two-faced god. With Voldemort on his back, the reference seems more than coincidental. “Janus is a symbol of wholeness – of the desire to master all things.”271 Voldemort certainly shares this ambition though he discounts much in his search for power.
Remus Lupin gets his name from the mythic twins Romulus and Remus. The pair were abandoned as babies and raised by a she-wolf. After this, Romulus grew up to slay Remus and then founded the city of Rome. Remus has the wolf connection (likewise, “lupine” means “wolflike”), but is also a victim, one preyed upon by stronger adversaries like Fenrir Greyback. This of course mirrors the fate of Rowling’s character.
Lucius Malfoy is a name that’s Latin for light, but this parallels him well with Lucifer, the light-bearer who rebelled against the dictates of heaven and preferred to rule the dark side than serve the light. The Tales of Beedle the Bard mention “Brutus Malfoy, editor of Warlock at War, an anti-Muggle periodical,” who “perpetuated the stereotype that a Muggle-lover was about as magical as a Squib.” In 1675, Brutus wrote: “This we may state with certainty: any wizard who shows fondness for the society of Muggles is of low intelligence, with magic so feeble and pitiful that he can only feel himself superior if surrounded by Muggle pigmen.” Certainly, he is a “brutal” man, and thus this Roman name well fits his character.
Greco-Roman star names are common in Sirius’s family, though naming him for the Dog-Star seems more than coincidence: There’s also Bellatrix Lestrange, Alphard Black, Arcturus Black, Pollux Black, and Regulus Black. Constellation names include Draco Malfoy, his son Scorpius Malfoy, Andromeda Tonks, Cassiopeia Black, Cygnus Black, and Orion Black. Somewhere in the family tree is Phoebe Black – named for the Greek Titaness of the Moon or for Artemis herself.
Narcissa Malfoy’s name comes from the Greek myth of Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection. The name suggests self-centeredness. Draco means “dragon,” but it also belongs to the first lawgiver of ancient Athens, from whom the term draconian (severe) is derived. It also fits well with the Black tradition of Greek star names – Draco is a constellation in the far northern sky.
The star names of Sirius and his family are Latin-based and largely significant. Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky, and thus comes from the Ancient Greek for “glowing” or “scorcher.” Sirius is also known colloquially as the “dog star,” thanks to its prominence in its constellation Canis Major (Greater Dog). Its rising marked the “dog days” of summer for the ancient Greeks, The dog parallel is obvious, and in fact, he transforms into a black dog with a “blackened” name. Still, one should also notice the contradictory elements of his description as glowing against the blackness.
His brother Regulus takes his name from the star Alpha Leonis, the brightest star in the constellation of Leo and one of the brightest in the night sky. He too shines against the darkness as he takes his own stand against evil in the last days of his life. The lion suggests bravery and steadfastness. Regulus is Latin for ‘prince’ or ‘little king’ – presumably how he was treated by his Slytherin parents. “I hated the lot of them: my parents with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal... my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them... that’s him. He was younger than me, and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded,” Sirius complains.272
His middle name, Arcturus, from Ancient Greek, means “Guardian of the Bear.” This, the fourth brightest star in the sky, is the brightest star in the constellation of Boötes (the Plowman), next to Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the Greater and Lesser Bears. (The ancient Greeks saw the “Big Dipper” as a cart with oxen.) According to one version, Boötes was a son of Demeter and inventor of the plow. In another, he’s Icarius, tutored in winemaking by Dionysus, whose neighbors killed him when they were startled by the intoxicating effects. This last seems to fit better as Voldemort trained him with impressive skills, all of which branded him a Death Eater. Regulus appears named for his great-uncle, also named Regulus, and his paternal grandfather, Arcturus. Thus he follows the family tradition more than his brother.
Their parents were Orion and Walburga Black. The latter is named for St. Walburga of England (presumably she married into this family of star names, rather than having one herself). Walburga became an abbess, but more significantly, she is often called the first female author of both England and Germany. She may thus be a personal hero of Rowling’s.
The constellations Scorpio and Orion are tied since, in myth, the great hunter Orion boasted to his lover the goddess Artemis that he would kill every animal on earth. This was too great an act of destruction, so the earth goddess Gaia, or perhaps Artemis herself sent a scorpion to sting him to death. The pair battled and the scorpion killed him. Zeus raised both characters to the heavens, where Scorpio became a Zodiac sign. Every winter Orion hunts in the sky, but every summer he flees as the constellation of the scorpion comes. Orion, like Phaeton, served the forces of destruction as was destroyed by them – a clear theme for a Death Eater.
“There’s Phineas Nigellus…my great-great-grandfather, see?... least popular Headmaster Hogwarts ever had,” Sirius says, fore-shadowing the Headmaster’s portrait.273 Both his names are classically British, but he named his sons Sirius, Cygnus, and Arcturus, committing to the star constellation names.
Cygnus is a northern constellation, deriving its name from the Latinized Greek word for swan. Zeus disguised himself as a swan to seduce Helen of Troy’s mother, or in some tales, Orpheus or King Cygnus is the origin for the constellation. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, there are three people named Cygnus, all of whom are transformed into swans. There’s Cycnus, brother of tragic Phaeton, who couldn’t stop grieving but spent all his days diving into the river to collect Phaeton’s bones and give him a proper burial. There’s a boy from Tempe who commits suicide, but is transformed into a swan and flies away, and the invulnerable son of Neptune, who is defeated by Achilles in the Trojan War, but saved by transformation.
Pollux (Sirius’s maternal grandfather) was the hero-twin of Castor, brother to Helen of Troy. The two heroes make the constellation Gemini (Latin, “the twins”). Alphard, is the brightest star in the constellation of Hydra. It’s known as “The Solitary One” and either this or its affiliation with Hydra might define the character, Sirius’s uncle who left him “a decent bit of gold.”274 Tellingly, astronomer Tycho Brahe dubbed it Cor Hydræ, Latin for “the heart of the snake.”
In this family, there’s also Andromeda Tonks and her daughter Nymphadora. Greek nymphs were beautiful, magical maidens, known for shapeshifting between human and nature forms, like trees or rivers (thus offering a link for Tonks). They generally aided heroes rather than performing great deeds themselves. Andromeda was likewise a beautiful princess rescued by the hero Perseus, who mostly furthered the hero’s story rather than her own. This suggests that her Muggle husband Ted Tonks was a true hero. Cassiopeia Black is named for Andromeda’s mother, a vain woman whose boast of her daughter’s beauty led to her sacrifice. It’s a name much like Narcissa.
Continuing through their family, Bellatrix is Latin for “female warrior” and was called the Amazon Star. It’s the third brightest star in Orion’s belt. Certainly, the root of “bel” means war, as in belligerent. Thus it’s a fitting name for the angry character. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child introduces her supposed daughter, Delphini, named for the Oracle at Delphi. This was the Greek center of the world where people traveled to learn their dark fates. Her name relates to her title of Augurey, an oracle of darkness.
Anthony Goldstein, Ravenclaw, has a distinctly Jewish last name, and Rowling tweeted at one point that he is indeed Jewish.275 Bathsheda Babbling also has a Jewish-derived name, but she teaches Ancient Runes. Little more is known of her. Of course, these runes might also be Jewish.
“For one thing, the lack of common words for chemical concepts and processes, as well as the need for secrecy, led alchemists to borrow the terms and symbols of biblical and pagan mythology, astrology, kabbalah, and other mystic and esoteric fields; so that the even the plainest chemical recipe ended up reading like an abstruse magic incantation,” Libatius Borage, teacher of Advanced Potion-Making, is quoted as saying in the film Half-Blood Prince. Thus many ancient traditions appear in the wizards’ magic. Kabbalah is Jewish mysticism, which incorporates sphirot, or levels of enlightenment.
In the Hebrew alphabet, letters all have symbolic meanings, with links to alchemy and tarot.276 To many medieval occultists, Biblical Hebrew was considered the original tongue, or language of Adam. Thus many believed this was the same language used by God and Angels in the formation and direction of the universe.
During the Renaissance, many famed occultists and crypto-graphers experimented with rediscovering Adam’s language in pursuit of spiritual and magical power. In the early 1500s, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa wrote his Three Books of Occult Philosophy, in which he recorded three of the earliest Medieval/Renaissance examples of divine writing: Celestial, Malachim (Angelic), and Passing the River with alphabets given for encoding Divine Names upon talismans. All were related to Hebrew. An obscure alchemical text called the Voarchadumia, from the mid-1500s, created an Alphabet of Enoch, closer to Latin letters. The Angelical alphabet later recorded by Queen Elizabeth’s astrologer Dr. John Dee and his scryer Edward Kelley is related, and helped found much of Western occultism such as the Order of the Golden Dawn. Hogwarts runes may derive from these as easily as from Norse sources.
The English wizards celebrate Christmas at Hogwarts with twelve towering Christmas trees in the Great Hall, enchanted snow, and suits of armor singing carols. There’s also a grand dinner for those who stay over break:
Harry had never in all his life had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fat, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce – and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table... Harry pulled a wizard cracker with Fred and it didn’t just bang, it went off with a blast like a cannon and engulfed them all in a cloud of blue smoke, while from the inside exploded a rear admiral’s hat and several live, white mice.277
Much more direct religious references appear in book seven. Albus Dumbledore places a Bible verse on the tomb of his mother and sister: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” This suggests that he’s Christian or values the Bible’s teachings. On Harry’s parents’ graves at Godric’s Hollow he sees “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death,” a reference to 1 Corinthians 15:26. “They’re very British books, so on a very practical note Harry was going to find biblical quotations on tombstones,” Rowling explained. “[But] I think those two particular quotations he finds on the tombstones at Godric’s Hollow, they sum up – they almost epitomize the whole series.”278
The book also begins with two religiously-themed epigraphs – one pagan from The Libation Bearers by the Greek playwright Aeschylus, which calls on the gods to “bless the children.” The other is more Christian from William Penn’s More Fruits of Solitude, which speaks of death as but “crossing the world, as friends do the seas.” Both reflect the themes of the series, especially the final book.
Rowling was raised Christian in the Anglican Church and currently attends the Church of Scotland. Of course, many Christian leaders and organizations, such as the US-based Focus on the Family, had famously condemned the series. Pope Benedict XVI, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, wrote that their “subtle seductions, which act unnoticed ... deeply distort Christianity in the soul before it can grow properly.”279
However, the books had a dramatic turnaround with all the Christian symbolism and Bible quotes of the final books. Most importantly, Harry sacrifices his life to save his community, then resurrects, in a clear Jesus parallel. He also, as “Master of Death,” resurrects his loved ones in the Forbidden Forest. “To me, [the religious parallels have] always been obvious,” Rowling said. “But I never wanted to talk too openly about it because I thought it might show people who just wanted the story where we were going.”280 Certainly, she underwent six books of controversy (most of it aimed around children performing spells) before her great revelation.
From this culture, the crafts and creatures appear, but names less so (excepting Fenrir Greyback, named for Fenrir, the Norse superwolf who will swallow the world at Ragnarok). From the nine worlds of the Norse world tree we get giants, trolls, and goblins. The latter were clever crafters known for their superb handiwork. Likewise, the runes Hermione studies are likely Norse, the most popular kind today.
The word “rune” derives from the Indo-European root ru, “mystery or secret.” Today’s runes are usually Norse (a tradition which influenced ancient Britain, certainly), with alphabetic meanings as well as symbolic ones. The Norse god Odin was said to have traded his eye for this language, which was adapted into Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and other fantasy works. Today, some people use these letters for spell casting and meditation. As the Internet Book of Shadows describes modern runes:
In the most mundane sense, runes are an alphabet much as our own alphabet and others such as the Greek and Cyrillic alphabets. Each rune represents a sound and was/is used to write words with.
But that is in the most MUNDANE of senses.
Runes were used long before the concept of writing was around. Each rune is an archetype of a force. People had concepts for such things as Fire, Honour, Birth, et.al. and each of these concepts were given names to make them easier for us to comprehend.
…
Runes can be used for fortune telling. They can be drawn and placed and read much like tarot cards. The can be cast or strewn and the relationship of groupings, distance and angles and patterns formed will tell the caster what he wishes to know.
Runes are also entities in and of themselves. Much like the angels, princes, demons, sylphs, undines and watchtowers of the ceremonial magician, each rune can be invoked or evoked and the power harnessed to work one’s will to enlighten the intellect. They are a fantastic meditation tool and will always increase one’s knowledge.281
Hermione is rarely seen using them, though the book of Beedle the Bard Dumbledore leaves her is written in them, suggesting information he wishes kept secret from unenlightened eyes. (Runes weren’t actually used historically to communicate the British language, only as mystical codes and symbols.)
In Norse cosmology, there are all the classic characters of the pantheon – Heimdall, the handsome gold-toothed guardian of the rainbow bridge leading to Asgard, the home of the Gods, parallels Argus. Frigga, Odin‘s wife, is the All-Mother, protector of children and teller of the future, a bit like Trelawney. Madam Hooch might be Freya, feather-cloaked leader of the flying Valkyries. She has many amazing female protégés like Angelina and Ginny.
Still, most correspondences between professors and Norse gods are only those of obvious archetypes – father god, nature mother, and so on. In addition, the fact that the male gods are warriors and goddesses embody fertility and beauty make the correspondences a bit weaker here. Still, the Prose Edda, source of much of our knowledge of the Norse gods, has a few pieces of telling description.
“Odin is the greatest and oldest of the Æsir.” The patriarch is Dumbledore; both sacrifice a great deal for wisdom – Odin his eye and Dumbledore his loved ones then his hand. Thor, the greatest of Odin’s sons, is a brawling warrior, but the next, Baldur, is the brightest and most beautiful, sacrificed to save humanity. Harry is the best parallel, unless one is a Cedric fan.
“Bragi is the name of another of the asas. He is famous for his wisdom, eloquence and flowing speech.” Flitwick has some echoes, though he’s closer to the clever crafting dwarves. “Hoder who is blind, but exceedingly strong; and the gods would wish that this asa never needed to be named, for the work of his hand will long be kept in memory both by gods and men.” Misled, he killed the handsome, eloquent Baldur, just as Mad-Eye Moody’s form is used to betray Cedric and Harry.
Finally, “there is yet one who is numbered among the asas, but whom some call the backbiter of the asas. He is the originator of deceit, and the disgrace of all gods and men. His name is Loki.” Loki, contentious and set apart, the traitor, has Snape parallels…
Among the goddesses, “The ninth is Var. She hears the oaths and troths that men and women plight to each other. Hence such vows are called vars, and she takes vengeance on those who break their promises.” This corresponds with the Unbreakable Vow, which dominates the sixth book.
“The tenth is Vör, who is so wise and searching that nothing can be concealed from her. It is a saying that a woman becomes vor (ware) of what she becomes wise.” Perhaps McGonagall knows more than she’s telling, as she’s certainly the goddess of wisdom in the series.
“The eleventh is Syn, who guards the door of the hall, and closes it against those who are not to enter. In trials she guards those suits in which anyone tries to make use of falsehood. Hence is the saying that ‘syn is set against it,’ when anyone tries to deny ought.” The guardian who protects against liars seems much like the Fat Lady, whose portrait defends the Gryffindor common room.
“The twelfth is Hlin, who guards those men whom Frigg wants to protect from any danger. Hence is the saying that he hlins who is forewarned.” Lily, Harry’s protector, certainly parallels her as a heaven-sent guardian.
The Greek pantheon lacks the animal gods echoed in Hagrid, Lupin, Firenze, and other teachers. For these, we must go to Celtic Epona or Rhiannon, Lithuanian Medeina, Hindu Sarama, or a host of Egyptian and Native American animal-spirits. The Celts especially have particular links to the animal gods, including Rudiobus, the god of horses and a link for Rubeus Hagrid. Rudiobus’s name means “red” with the Latinized masculine ending us; making his name “He of the Red Zeal,” or “He of the Red [Battle] Frenzy.” Thus Rudianus is a “bearsark,” a berserker, one who is filled with the red mist of rage in battle, the perfect warrior god.
Celtic Rosmerta is “The Great Provider,” goddess of fertility and wealth. Her symbol is a cornucopia, or horn of plenty. Meanwhile, Balor of the Evil Eye may parallel Mad-Eye Moody. Balor’s eye, ruined in an accident, is so hideous that he only opens it to kill his enemies with its terrible venom. Also, there’s the crone Cailleach, who guarded her underworld with a monstrous gatekeeper dog named Dormarth “Death’s Door” and brewed regeneration and prophecy in her cauldron. Sybill Trelawney only has teacups, but is obsessed with the Grim in a subtle parallel. Another correspondence for her is Corra, Goddess of Prophecy, transcendent knowledge, and transitions. The rune stones, crystal balls, and tarot cards were her symbols.
There are other, subtler correspondences, with Filius Flitwick as Sucellos, the Celtic ‘good striker’ and smith god. Unusually, the Celts has a male love god, Angus Og, who corresponds with Gilderoy Lockhart. The terrible Hogwarts team of Dolores Umbridge and the Carrows parallel the triple war goddesses Badb/Madb/Macha who would cheer on carnage and shriek their bloodlust on the battlefield.
Nuada of the Silver Hand was the first king of the Tuatha Dé Danann (fairyfolk), who brought his tribe to Ireland and contended with its inhabitants for possession of the island. An enemy sliced off his left hand at the wrist. Because sacred law decreed that a king of the Dé Danann had to be whole in body and mind, the maimed Nuada was forced to step down as ruler of the gods. However, the people needed him, so the Dé Danann physician Dian Cecht fashioned a magical silver hand, which worked as well as the flesh one, and enabled Nuada to take back his throne. This of course finds a parallel in Peter Pettigrew‘s replacement hand. It’s not Peter’s hand that makes him unworthy, though the missing finger betrays his identity; it’s Harry’s mercy for him that makes him truly corrupted as he serves Voldemort. When Harry challenges him in book seven, reminding Peter he once saved his life, the hand strikes back, serving the godlike Voldemort to the end. Thus magical gifts often have a catch.
The Dagda, Celtic earth god and All Father, had a few Dumbledore parallels. Though he was a formidable fighter, he shared Dumbledore’s humility and simple tastes, dressing in a brown tunic and hooded cape. He was god of the arts, knowledge, magic, music, prophecy, prosperity, and regeneration. Dumbledore offers much knowledge, magic, and prophecy through the series, along with traces of these other gifts. The Dagda mingled life and death, with a club that could slay nine men with one end and bring back life with the other and a pair of swine, one of which was perpetually roasting, the other perpetually growing. His other talismans were the bottomless cauldron of plenty, one of the original Hallows, and a harp with which he controlled the seasons – this is seen in the symbolism of Hogwarts with its indoor snows or night skies. In perhaps the most striking image, the Dagda had four great palaces under hollow hills, much like the Hogwarts houses.
Lugh, the Irish and Welsh god of harpers, healing, poets, smiths, sorcerers, and waters, bears the symbol of a white stag. Thus he’s linked with Snape, and both symbolize Lugh’s classic themes – healing, reincarnation, prophecy, knowledge, and revenge. Lugh quested for a wife but a curse prohibited him from having an earthly wife, so his uncles made him one out of flowers and named her Blodeuwedd. She betrayed him, and she and her lover, Gronw Pebr, plotted Llew’s death. James Potter and Lily run off together, betraying Snape, from his point of view.
“The Horned One,” Cernunnos, is a Celtic god of fertility, life, animals, wealth, and the underworld. Cernunnos is depicted with the antlers of a stag, thus corresponding with James Potter. Each year, the Horned God is born at the winter solstice, marries the goddess at the spring festival of Beltane, and dies at the summer solstice. Each year he continues the cycle of death, rebirth and reincarnation, emphasizing the connection between life and death and the power of the natural cycle. James Potter’s spirit returns from death several times, in photographs and stories and most often through Harry’s stag Patronus. As the death god, Cernunnos leads the wild hunt at Samhain, the holiday on which James Potter was killed. “Hunted animals were sometimes perceived as messengers of the Otherworld powers, the means of bringing living humans, either directly or indirectly, to the underworld.” 282 Stags, especially white stags, were associated with shapechanging as they were often messengers from the fairy world.283 “It is possible that Cernunnos was a skin-turner or shape-shifter, able to vary his outward form from human to animal at will.”284
In Egypt, Dumbledore corresponds to the father god as always. However, when Osiris was prematurely murdered by his brother Set, he was avenged by his heroic son Horus. After he died, his wife Isis searched the world for the pieces of his body, rather like a Horcrux hunt. Besides this, most teachers correspond to obvious archetypes: Minerva McGonagall reflects Ma’at, goddess of truth, balance, order, law, morality, and justice. Poppy Pomfrey corresponds to Serket, goddess of healing stings and bites, and Pomona Sprout to Hathor, goddess of life and growing things.
Once again, there are the dark, rejected members of the Pantheon, in this case Set, brother and betrayer of Osiris, and god of the desert, storms, darkness and chaos, who corresponds best to Voldemort. Dolores Umbridge works as Nephthys, the dark despised rejected goddess, wife of Set.
Two closer correspondences appear in Irma Pince, always described as “vulturelike” as she guards the library. Nekhbet, the white vulture, was a protective goddess. Likewise, Mrs. Norris, the cat always keeping watch, is Bast, the cat goddess of protection.
The Hindu goddess Parvati, wife of Shiva, is known for her bravery. Her name derives from the Sanskrit/Hindi word Parvat, mountain – something unmovably strong. “Padma” means “sacred lotus” and is a name of Saraswati, goddess of intellect. If Rowling wanted to name the two Indian students as the “perfect Gryffindor” and “perfect Ravenclaw,” and then sort them into those houses, these names were good choices. It’s no coincidence that Parvati’s favorite subject is Divination, reflecting Hindu belief in “Kundali,” which contains all the details and secrets of a person’s past, present and future
The third Indian name in the series goes to Nagini. Voldemort’s snake is roughly twelve feet long and thick as a man’s thigh.285 Naga means male snake in Sanskrit, and nagin is the female snake in Hindi and Urdu. Nag and Nagini are also the villainous snakes in the British children’s book Rikki Tikki Tavi.
Two archetypes are absent: There is no queen equal to Dumbledore (McGonagall is accurately cast as Minerva since she acts as more of a daughter-subordinate to Dumbledore). Hogwarts is also notable for its lack of warriors, except among the Death Eaters who take over the school. (Mad-Eye has a small role but works better as maimed Hephaestus.) Hogwarts is clearly a place of higher thought rather than brutality, but they surrender to dark forces for several months of the final book.
There are also basically no marriages or couples among the teachers, and Rowling’s descriptions on Pottermore reveal romantic tragedies in some of the teachers’ pasts, isolating them. The love goddess is absent (though Fleur has a small role), and love potions always go horribly awry. Finally, the great mother goddess is absent (mothers Molly and Lily are exiled from the school and have limited power). However, as the heroes grow up and take their place in Cursed Child, a shift appears: McGonagall rules the school and adults Hermione and Ginny do more to establish themselves as warrior-mothers, fighting to defend their families.