Harry Potter and the Classical World: Greek and Roman Allusions in J.K. Rowling's Modern Epic - Softcover

Richard A. Spencer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0786499214 ISBN 13: 9780786499212

Publisher: McFarland & Co, 2015

Synopsis

J.K. Rowling has drawn deeply from classical sources to inform and color her Harry Potter novels, with allusions ranging from the obvious to the obscure. ""Fluffy,"" the vicious three-headed dog in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, is clearly a repackaging of Cerberus, the hellhound of Greek and Roman mythology who guards the entrance to the underworld. But the significance of Rowling's quotation from the Greek tragedian Aeschylus in the frontispiece of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a matter of speculation.

Rowling's use of classical material is abundant and varied, and often presented with irony and humor as she introduces a timeless literary tradition to a new readership. This extensive analysis of the Harry Potter series examines Rowling's wide range of allusion to classical characters and themes and her varied use of classical languages. Chapters discuss Harry and Narcissus, Dumbledore's many classical predecessors, Lord Voldemort's likeness to mythical figures, and magic in Harry Potter and classical antiquity - among many other topics.

About this title

Review:

• “This is a book which does much more than its title claims...an absorbing volume which will doubtless be enjoyed by Potter fans and classicists, as well as pointing the serious enthusiast towards further reading...a degree of detail that even the most hardcore fan will not have noticed before...valuable...insights on the book will, in places, be new to even the longest-standing fans...provides a rich resource on myth, folklore and classical languages in the Harry Potter books. It is an ideal book for the young (and not-so-young) Rowling fans who have noticed the classical side of their favorite books and want to find out more.”—Classics for All
• “Spencer provides students, academics, and general interest readers with an examination of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series of children’s books, focusing on the author’s use of allusions to classical sources”—ProtoView

About the Author:

Richard A. Spencer is a professor of Classics and Biblical Studies at Appalachian State University, USA. A Protestant minister for 46 years, he has written in the fields of Classics, Literary Criticism and New Testament Criticism, published commentaries on the New Testament and apocryphal books and written for religious publications.

About this edition

• Publisher: McFarland & Co
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0786499214
• ISBN 13: 9780786499212
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 324