The lion, in contrast, appears only obliquely on the crest of Gryffindor House. Although the meanings associated with snakes are many and contradictory, both positive and negative, when used symbolically, they tend to represent evil more often than not. Lions, in contrast, despite a reputation as violent and rapacious beasts, usually carry more positive associations. In mythology, the basilisk and the griffin share many similarities.
Nonetheless, the similarities end there, for they are also mortal enemies of one another. The basilisk is the deadliest of all creatures, while the griffin is the most noble.
Of the basilisk, John Guillim writes in his seventeenth-century Display of Heraldry :. Nigg and We already know that Voldemort is the heir of Slytherin; I think we might learn that Harry is the heir of Gryffindor. Yet, Rowling is not wholly unaware of the ambiguities surrounding the snake and the lion, the basilisk and the griffin, nor the many similarities that they share.
After all, on the one hand, Harry is a parselmouth, and the Sorting Hat did consider placing him in Slytherin; on the other, Snape has acted with courage, and Dumbledore has consistently signaled his complete trust in him. Whether for good or for ill, we shall have to wait and see! Complicating, but ultimately clarifying, matters is an additional mythical creature, the phoenix, which symbolizes, through its immolation at death and its rebirth from the ashes, both destruction and recreation.
In this sense, the immortal Fawkes represents the dual realities of never-ending change and similarly persisting continuities. We can see the contrary symbolism of continuity and change at work in many early works of literature. For example, in The Metamorphoses , the Roman poet Ovid reflects upon the ceaseless transformations of nature and the seeming permanence of the phoenix:.
How many creatures walking on this earth Have their first being in another form? Yet one exists that is itself forever, Reborn in ageless likeness through the years. Nigg The symbolism of the phoenix, therefore, implies the reconciliation of counterbalancing realities: death and rebirth, destruction and re-creation, change and continuity. It should not surprise us, therefore, that the phoenix is also a symbol of individual constancy, perhaps the chief virtue of the Stoics, a symbol of the countless readjustments and renewals required to survive so many setbacks and disappointments.
It is no mere coincidence that in The Order of the Phoenix , she has him meet likeminded individuals who are both personally and politically dedicated to the same virtue. If we turn our attention to alchemy, we can view the mediating quality of the phoenix in another light, which, I hope, will clarify my claim that Harry himself is become the phoenix.
The production of the stone involves repeated cycles of chemical dissolutions and coagulations. Each stage represents the successful chemical reconciliation of opposite states and qualities such as sulfur and mercury, hot and cold, dry and moist, fixed and volatile, spirit and body, form and matter, active and receptive, and male and female , which eliminates differences between them and unites their contrary attributes.
The ultimate coagulation is the stone itself, capable of transmuting base metals into gold and humans into the divine Abraham. Alchemists always present this process in highly metaphorical language, which Rowling has adopted and adapted in her work. If my reading of the alchemical symbolism of the phoenix is correct, it suggests that Rowling has chosen to depict it as the reconciler of the snake, on the one hand, and the lion and the griffin, on the other. Often, in alchemical writings, the snake represents the matter with which work is begun, as well as the prime matter.
It is highly volatile. In contrast, the lion symbolizes sulfur, and the griffin symbolizes mercury. Thus, the lion represents the hot, dry, solar, active, and male principle, while the griffin represents the cold, moist, lunar, receptive, and female principle. When the lion and the griffin are united and brought to bear against the snake, the phoenix is born Abraham. Its explication begins with the Platonic assumption that humanity is divided against itself, separated into two sexes.
Often enough, it is depicted as the marriage of the masculine sun and the feminine moon. This metaphysical union leads to death of the alchemist, as the soul leaves the body to unite with the eternal spirit, but out of this death emerges new life. Dissolution and coagulation take place simultaneously. The body dissolves into spirit, and the spirit coagulates into form Abraham.
For in setting the values of Gryffindor the lion and the griffin against the values of Slytherin the snake , Harry emerges as the exemplar of constancy the phoenix. Dare I say through metaphorical cycles of dissolution and coagulation?
In this way, we can begin to view Harry himself as an alchemist. Thus, we may also view Harry, the mythic hero, as the phoenix, as a reconciler of opposites, who brings hope out of danger and devastation. I think it likely that at the end of The Half-Blood Prince , with the demise of Dumbledore, Harry is poised to undergo the kinds of transformations to which alchemical symbolism alludes—not necessarily literally, but metaphorically. By following the path of Stoic virtue, he has already begun to do so.
She employs ancient symbols to structure an age-old struggle between good and evil, and constructs her hero according to traditional patterns of heroism. She makes him the product of a past and gives him the intellect to recognize its shaping influence upon the future. And finally, she places him in a near-contemporary world, resembling our own, which combines numerous elements, both familiar and fantastic, drawn from history, legend, and myth.
Working primarily in mythological categories, I intend to investigate how Rowling teaches this theme. We will begin by exploring the symbol of the phoenix and how it relates to the theme of death. All of the subsequent content will be linked to this central symbol. I will then argue that Harry progresses through a figurative death and resurrection cycle in each book, teaching him, in effect, to live and die well.
The phoenix has been a powerful literary and religious symbol for thousands of years. As such, it achieved some prominence as a religious symbol. As early as 96 A. Alice Mills, who notices the Christ symbolism, explains for us the mythical significance of the phoenix as it relates to other symbols utilized by Rowling, such as unicorn blood also a Christ symbol and the three-headed dog: All of these mythic figures…are linked to the human longing to transcend time and death, whether by descending to the underworld and returning unscathed, or by magically gaining eternal life through the use of a talisman, or by being resurrected from the dead Mills 4.
Since the symbol of the phoenix does relate quite powerfully to the theme of death, we see its frequent use in the Harry Potter novels. Before progressing to these words, however, we do well to consider his connection to the phoenix. The denouement of Goblet of Fire provides us with an intriguing scene that illustrates the connection between Dumbledore, Fawkes, and the theme of death.
Harry absolutely does not want to talk about it, but Dumbledore presses him: If I thought I could help you…by putting you into an enchanted sleep for a while…I would do it. But I know better. Numbing the pain for a while will only make it worse when you finally feel it There is much that Dumbledore teaches Harry about death. He learns much about how to grieve Rowling, Goblet ; Order Ultimately, the lesson that Dumbledore wants to teach Harry over and over is that it is only love that holds the power to conquer death.
However, the O. Harry Potter perfectly embodies this difference. Harry is already a powerful and influential wizard, capable of teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts on his own, but he is just a mediocre student.
In this sense, the O. Harry has faced Voldemort and escaped many times, and he has saved Hogwarts more than once—yet he is still terribly worried about passing his O. In the medieval bestiary, the phoenix primarily represents the resurrected Christ, appearing as a symbol of salvation. In bestiaries the phoenix tale served as an allegory, reminding the Christian faithful to build their own spiritual pyres of sweet smells by following the word of God.
Paul Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig XV 3, fol. The phoenix has been a popular character across centuries of texts, both religious and secular. Similarly, in early rabbinic teachings it is written that the phoenix refused to eat the forbidden fruit offered to it by Eve. God then granted it a modified form of immortality, as well as permission to remain in paradise. Since all other animals did eat the fruit, they were banished from this garden.
This leads us back to Harry Potter. In the fifth book in the series, Albus Dumbledore creates the Order of the Phoenix, a revolutionary group that aims to achieve social justice and peace.
The values this organization embodies—selflessness, belief in the good, and individual freedom—were not just a product of J. They are adaptations of the stories of the phoenix found in literature dating back centuries. This imaginary creature has stood the test of time for its deep morality and its appealing symbolism of healing and rebirth.
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