MYTH-501 Lessons

A strange sight meets the students as they arrive for their lesson. Professor Morgan stands behind a table at the front of the room, wand out, a fierce look of concentration on her face. Professor Anne stands off to the side with a grin, obviously trying not to laugh. She beckons the students to gather around the table to see what Professor Morgan is up to.

At the table, the students find an enchanted image before them. A country landscape seemingly normal except for the lightning bolts flying throughout the sky and Giants tromping around the hills. Standing at the mouth of a cave, wizards in long robes gesture wildly pointing to the sky in an obviously heated debate, while Dryads poke their heads out from between the trees of a neighbouring forest.

After another minute of watching the scene unfold, Professor Morgan lets her concentration slip, and the images fade away. The students smile, a bit bewildered, and then take their seats.

Well, my dears, if you managed to sort all that out, you will know exactly what I’m going to talk about today, with a little help from Professor Anne.

Today is our final day studying Greco-Roman mythology, although it would be quite reasonable to say that we have merely scratched the surface of this rich collection of stories. I could quite honestly spend a year or two’s worth of classes on this topic alone, however we simply haven’t the time. I do encourage each and every one of you to explore the Greco-Roman myths in more detail outside of class as the depth and breadth of the adventures you can find is simply astonishing.

As it stands, we have time to discuss a few last topics: forces of nature, Giants, and some of the magical influences of Greco-Roman mythology. Let’s begin!

Forces of Nature

In many sets of mythologies around the globe, forces of nature, or the workings of the planet and the universe, were explained through mythology. More specifically, these machinations were the work of the gods.

Greco-Roman mythology certainly fits this pattern. Zeus, the head of the pantheon, was the ruler of the sky. Hurricanes, thunder, and lightning were all associated with his abilities, whether it was the creation of these phenomena or the dispelling of them. Other major gods associated with these forces of nature include Helios and Apollo, who were the sun and the sun’s driver respectively. Poseidon was the god of the sea; just as turbulent in personality as the sea’s waves could be.

There are many other examples of the Greco-Roman gods being the source of natural phenomena, however a more curious aspect of these phenomena is the magic that may account for some of these nature-based myths.

One of the most well-known myths in Greco-Roman mythology is that of Odysseus’ passage between two monsters known as Scylla and Charybdis. Scylla was said to be a six-headed sea monster that ate everything it could reach, and Charybdis, an underwater sea monster who sucked in as much of the sea it could three times a day, creating a giant whirlpool. It was impossible to navigate between the two perils. If you were far enough away from Scylla to avoid the six-heads, the whirlpool of Charybdis would suck you in, and vice versa. Both Muggle and magical linguists alike believe this particular myth gave rise to sayings such as “between a rock and a hard place”, which indicate a path where you are forced to chose between two evils.

Odysseus’ ship passes between Scylla and Charybdis

In this particular myth, Odysseus chooses Scylla to be the lesser of the two evils. He sacrifices the lives of six of his men - one to each mouth - in order to protect everyone else from the distinct possibility of losing the entire ship to the whirlpool.

While Muggles have written off this particular myth as an exaggeration of the dangers of the Strait of Messina between modern day Italy and Sicily, magical historians are not quite so certain. Certainly, there is a large rock formation on one side of the straight, and evidence of a minor whirlpool on the other side, but that whirlpool would only be dangerous to a ship the size of a canoe. But why would such a myth have been written if the hazards were so minor?

Magical historians theorize that these hazards may have actually been dire in the past, and something changed them. There are three-headed dogs, as you know. Could a pack of these magical wild animals have stalked the shores of the Strait? It is certainly possible that Muggles could have mistaken them for a multi-headed monster if they attacked in packs from the shore. Could a different magical creature such as a Chimaera have been responsible? In any case, there are certainly possibilities that would account for this aspect of the myth.

Even more curious, there is evidence embedded in the sea floor that the current whirlpool once had much more strength - the sort of strength that would have had the ability to span most of the width of the Strait. The question of the source of the whirlpool is at this time an unanswered one, however many have theorized that magic could have created a whirlpool of that nature, although the concentration and willpower needed for such a spell would be exhausting, even for a group of spellcasters. It is more likely that there was some sort of source for the whirlpool that was removed - possibly by magical means. This area is still under investigation by magical historians and magiarchaeologists. Perhaps you could join their ranks when you graduate and find out the answer for all of us!

The final force of nature in this mythology for us to discuss are the circumstances where Muggles may have seen evidence of magical creatures working in nature, and created a story to explain what they could not see or understand.

Specifically, the mythologies of the Nymphs seem to have been derived from actual magical creatures. In Greco-Roman mythology, Nymphs can be divided into groups depending on which aspect of nature they are associated with. The Naiads, Nereids, and Oceanids are associated with various bodies of water, the Oreads with the hills, and the Dryads with the forests.

The Nymphs as a whole are described as sweet, mostly benign humanoid creatures, who occasionally - and quite accidentally - caused trauma or death to humans. For example, a very handsome young man named Hylas was drawn into the pool where he was getting water by the Naiads and was never seen again. Examples such as these aside, the Nymphs were known for their healing and nurturing nature towards plants and humans alike.

What you may not be aware of is the general agreement by magical historians and magizoologists alike that the Dryads (also known as wood nymphs) are a direct reference to Bowtruckles. It makes a lot of sense when you think about it. As you may have learned in Care of Magical Creatures, Bowtruckles will not bother you unless you get too close to their tree. They are known for their nurturing nature.

Given this agreement, the search is still on as to which magical creatures the Muggles may have mistaken for the various types of water Nymphs as well as the Oreads. Perhaps these creatures that are mythical to the Muggles are not so mythical after all.

Giants

Our second topic for today, and the reason for Professor Anne’s visit to our classroom, is to explore the Greco-Roman myths regarding Giants. This particular topic is quite fascinating for, as you well know, Giants are real.

A point of clarification before we continue, however. Please do not confuse the Giants with the Titans. The Giants are a mythical creature, and the TItans are some of the older gods. While both are enormous in stature, they are not the same, nor anywhere equal. Remember, the Titan Atlas was said to be carrying the entire world on his shoulders.

A typical representation of a traditional Greco-Roman Giant

In Greco-Roman mythology, Giants were extremely large, yet mortal creatures of a mostly humanoid appearance. While bipedal (two footed) in nature, they were often depicted with scales either covering their legs, or actual snakes for legs. The Giants also included the Cyclops, which were similar, except they had only one eye. Please note that being a Cyclops in a Giant family was no different than having a different hair colour than one of your siblings. For example, the Giant Orion - the great hunter whose image hangs in the sky as one of the constellations - is brother to Polyphemus, the one-eyed, blind Cyclops that was tricked by Odysseus during his journey.

The temperaments of mythological Giants varied as much as their appearance. They were known both as gentle guardians, such as the Giant Talos who guarded the island of Crete, as well as vicious, man-eating monsters such as Cacus, who preyed on any human who strayed too close to his cave near Rome.

In terms of intelligence, again, Giants varied from the incredibly skilled workers that assisted Hephastos in creating Hades’ invisible helmet, Zeus’ thunderbolts, and Poseidon’s trident, to Polyphemus who was so easily tricked by Odysseus.

It was in later myths involving Giants, however, that a vein of truth seemed to trickle through. In these tales the Giants began to ignore the divine rules and fought against the gods, and were depicted as moody and rebellious.

On that note, I would like to introduce you to Professor Anne, who has graciously agreed to join us here today. For those of you who have not yet had the privilege of meeting one of our Care of Magical Creatures professors, you have missed out on a great deal of knowledge!

Professor Anne is going to give us an outline of what real Giants are like as opposed to the mythological ones we have just examined. Please pay close attention and be on your best behaviour.

Hello all! Thank you to Professor Morgan for inviting me to speak with you today. As you know, I am here to discuss some basic information on Giants, since they will not be covered in depth until Seventh Year in Care of Magical Creatures.

Giants are classified as Beings by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. They are not given a rating on the Creature Classification Scale, mainly due to them not completely being considered creatures because they can mate with humans, as seen with half-giants like Rubeus Hagrid. While it isn’t quite known how this mating occurs, it is assumed a Shrinking Charm is used. Giants are an average of twenty to twenty-five feet tall, so you could only imagine how mating would go if it was attempted at their natural size! This rating is also in place because they are widely considered to be intelligent, and thus can help shape magical law.

Giants are humanoids, some appearing more like people than others. Some are incredibly hairy, while others may even have sharp, protruding molars and other beast-like qualities. Like humans, their eye, hair, and skin color can vary. They are not unintelligent, being significantly smarter than trolls, but not as smart as humans. Giants have proven themselves capable of learning languages, such as English, as well as other languages native to where they reside. They live in tribes, often in the sides of mountains.

While they have no magic of their own, Giants are extremely powerful simply due to their raw strength. They have very little patience, and rather than have a long discussion to try and resolve a matter, they resort to killing whomever they are interacting with. Our magic has little to no effect on them, and this lack of effect carries over to half-giants as well. This violence is not only seen in interactions with other species, but among tribes as well. There are tribe hierarchies, headed by a tribe leader. When a new leader wishes to take over, he will simply kill the current leader.

As you can tell, Giants are incredibly large and violent creatures. Not only will they kill other people, but will kill each other, despite dwindling populations, simply to take over a tribe. Hopefully this gave you a brief overview of the creatures, and for those studying Care of Magical Creatures, we will go into quite a bit more when we discuss them in Seventh Year, specifically their influence in the wizarding wars and on wizarding society. Thank you again to Professor Morgan for allowing me to visit, and I will see you all at dinner this evening!

Thank you, Professor Anne! Now students, I do hope that you were taking notes during Professor Anne’s discussion as you will need them for at least one of your assignments today.

Greco-Roman Mythology’s Influence on Magic

There is no doubt that the magical world had an influence on Greco-Roman mythology. We have seen not only mention of creatures similar to magical creatures, but descriptions and stories about creatures and events we know to be true. The same can be said in the other direction; Greco-Roman mythology has had a direct influence on magic as well.

Take, for example, Zeus and his thunderbolt. If you took Year Four of Ancient Studies, you would know that an entire branch of Divination practiced during Greco-Roman times was based on flashes of lightning. The belief was that the lightning - where it occurred in the sky and how often it flashed - contained messages from Zeus himself. The Diviners who interpreted these flashes of lightning were called Fulgurators.

Another example, while not a direct influence on how magic was used, still shows the influence of these myths on astronomy. More specifically, a significant number of constellations in the Northern Hemisphere have been named after characters in these myths. Orion, the great hunter, is only one of these constellations, but is quite easily spotted in the night sky.

The constellation of Orion

You may be aware that there are many names for all of the constellations across the globe. However, it is the Greco-Roman names that seem to have, in most cases, remained the standard names in both Muggle and magical astronomical circles.

While there are many other examples of how Greco-Roman mythology has influenced both practice and nomenclature in magic use, I’m afraid we have rather run out of time for today!

Today’s assignments include a quiz and essay that are both mandatory, as well as an optional, extra credit assignment for which you will need your thinking cap! No, not an actual one - you are required to do your own thinking.

I would also be remiss in my duties if I did not remind you that you will be sitting your midterm examinations at the end of our next class. Your midterms will be comprised of both a quiz and an essay, and will cover all of the material up to the end of today’s class. Our next class will also be the beginning of our discussions on Norse mythology, so it’s across the continent we go!

Until next time, rest and study well.

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Sources:

Cotterell, Arthur & Storm, Rachel. 1999. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology. Hermes House Anness Publishing Ltd. New York.

Grimal, Pierre. Ed. 1989. Larousse World Mythology. Gallery Books, New York.

Hamilton, Edith. 1940. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. Mentor Books, New York.

www.harrypotter.wikia.com