The cultural and literary phenomenon set forth by J.K. Rowling enraptured an audience spanning many generations, inviting her readers to immerse themselves in the fantastical wizarding world bound by her seven novels. Rowling rewards her versed readers; while the Harry Potter novels are ones easily (and presumably most often) enjoyed by their younger devotees, they craft an allegorical puzzle for an informed audience. Rowling makes brilliant use of the classical tradition to provide the consumers of both canons, classical and Potter-centric, with a repertoire of themes, motifs, and language reminiscent of those in antiquity, allowing for parallels to be drawn across the millennia. These elements of the classical tradition are employed both
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“piety”), implying goodness and duty to others; another merit that could just as easily be attributed to Harry. An implicit example of this is given in a particular episode in Rowling’s first novel, The Sorcerer’s Stone, in which Harry stumbles upon the Mirror of Erised. Harry’s gaze into this mirror produces a startling reflection; he is met with the image of his parents, a manifestation of his deepest desire. The inscription on the mirror reads (when rearranged to plain English), “I show not your face but your heart’s desire” (Rowling, 207), providing explanation as to why Harry, orphaned as an infant, sees a reflection of his family. Harry’s thoughts are consumed by the mirror and the images he sees; when Harry goes to revisit the mirror a following night, he is confronted by Dumbledore. In their exchange, Dumbledore reveals the secret of the mirror and how it has caused men to “waste away before it, entranced by what they have seen” (Rowling, 213). The parallel to Ovid’s account of Narcissus in his collection of myths told by Metamorphoses is blatant. In both cases, the young men are enraptured by the images they see; so much so as they both become “inordinately obsessed” (Spencer, 59) with this manifestation of their deepest, most personal desires. The same images that bring the boys extreme elation brings also affliction at what can never be; Harry feels a “powerful ache inside him, half joy, half terribly sadness” (Rowling, 209). Narcissus can never touch his image, he can never act upon the “burn[ing] love” (Ovid, 45) he feels for himself; Harry can never feel the touch of his parents, never experience the proximity of his family. While the similarities are indisputable, the tales diverge around a critical theme. At the beginning of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the future of baby Narcissus is foretold by an ominous divination; the boy will
“piety”), implying goodness and duty to others; another merit that could just as easily be attributed to Harry. An implicit example of this is given in a particular episode in Rowling’s first novel, The Sorcerer’s Stone, in which Harry stumbles upon the Mirror of Erised. Harry’s gaze into this mirror produces a startling reflection; he is met with the image of his parents, a manifestation of his deepest desire. The inscription on the mirror reads (when rearranged to plain English), “I show not your face but your heart’s desire” (Rowling, 207), providing explanation as to why Harry, orphaned as an infant, sees a reflection of his family. Harry’s thoughts are consumed by the mirror and the images he sees; when Harry goes to revisit the mirror a following night, he is confronted by Dumbledore. In their exchange, Dumbledore reveals the secret of the mirror and how it has caused men to “waste away before it, entranced by what they have seen” (Rowling, 213). The parallel to Ovid’s account of Narcissus in his collection of myths told by Metamorphoses is blatant. In both cases, the young men are enraptured by the images they see; so much so as they both become “inordinately obsessed” (Spencer, 59) with this manifestation of their deepest, most personal desires. The same images that bring the boys extreme elation brings also affliction at what can never be; Harry feels a “powerful ache inside him, half joy, half terribly sadness” (Rowling, 209). Narcissus can never touch his image, he can never act upon the “burn[ing] love” (Ovid, 45) he feels for himself; Harry can never feel the touch of his parents, never experience the proximity of his family. While the similarities are indisputable, the tales diverge around a critical theme. At the beginning of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the future of baby Narcissus is foretold by an ominous divination; the boy will