Classical Mythology in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

By Duncan Rize

The extraordinary Chronicles of Narnia reflect many influences. They serve to stimulate thought and imagination on many levels and speak to a wide audience. Despite the underlying and profoundly Christian metaphors, these books are enjoyed by a wide audience of “children of all ages” and of religious and philosophically backgrounds. .

C. S. Lewis was a classical scholar who was acutely familiar with Greek and Roman Mythologies. Indeed, some of the most endearing characters come directly from his study of classic literature. Thus Narnia is populated by beings like fauns, satyrs, centaurs, dryads and naiads. Bacchus, the Roman god of wine -makes visits to Narnia every now and again, as mentioned in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. He even makes an appearance in another of the Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian.

The first official “Narnian” that Lucy encounters is in fact an adaptation of a classical myth, in the form of Mr. Tumnus the faun. In Classical mythology, fauns are half-human creatures with the legs and tail of a goat. In the original Roman myths, fauns were rambunctious creatures who followed Pan, god of the woods, and Bacchus. In Narnia, the fauns are tamer, and work for the good.

There is a host of mythical creatures that flock around Aslan in the chapter “Peter’s First Battle” in The Lion, Witch and The Wardrobe. We meet the “Tree Women” and “Well Women," who are, Lewis notes: “(Dryads and Naiad as they used to be known in our world)." Dryads are tree nymphs and Naiads are water nymphs. In the Classics, they are elusive and tend to flee humans.

There are the four centaurs (half man/half horse) who are also present. They are described in this way: “The horse part of them was like huge English farm horses, and the man part of them was like stern but beautiful giants.” In Classic mythology centaurs are unkind creatures, but in Narnia they are transformed into dreamy and staunchly loyal beings.

It might be argued that the giants also reflect Greek and Roman mythology, particularly the evil ones. The Cyclops was a giant and a malicious one at that. We also may argue the transformation of beings into statues and back into beings reflects Greek and Roman mythologies where we see many instances of humans into inanimate materials and back. There is the myth of Pygmalion who creates a statue that comes to life and spurns him. We have Midas and his golden touch. He accidentally turns his own daughter into gold and she is transformed back when he sacrifices his powers and grows donkey ears. We have Medusa the Gorgon who can turn men to stone at a glance

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Chronicles of Narnia represent a full synthesis of the beliefs, scholarly background, philosophical position and love of writing of Lewis. He has created a full representation of the New Testament and has populated it with creatures from his academic imagination. The co-existence of these two factors perhaps serve as a testament to his philosophical arguments that one’s Christian beliefs and one’s intellectual life need not be at odds. Indeed they meet beautifully in these wonderful stories.

Duncan Rize loves the writings of C.S. Lewis and works with the marketing group at www.LearningByGrace.org. Learning by Grace manages of a number of internationally known online K-12 academies including www.TheGraceAcademy.org, www.TheJubileeAcademy.org, www.TheMorningStarAcademy.org and www.TheNarniaAcademy.org . This article is © 2005 ELRN, Inc. and may be quoted in whole or part as long as the author (Duncan Rize) and source (www.TheNarniaAcademy.org) are credited.