The Greek Mythology in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"

von Patrizia Hannemann

Pre-University Paper from the year 2015 in the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 1, , language: English, abstract: This paper should primarily deal with the Greek mythology that occurs in the final book of the Harry Potter series Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, written by Joanne K. Rowling. It will show how deeply Miss Rowling immersed herself in Greek mythology in order to find suitable names for her characters, which myths she revived in her novel, which creatures are mythology-related and what magic and objects were inspired by Greek mythology. Furthermore it will also touch on the story of the Deathly Hallows itself in order to recall what happens and who wins the fight between Good and Bad.

This paper aims to determine how much Greek mythology plays a part in J. K. Rowling's book, and the extent to which these uses tally with their Greek origins, based on comparisons between literature that deals with Greek mythology and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. In sum, the paper will show by what measure Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is inspired by Greek mythology, and how much the story has in common with the ancient Greek tales.