OOP: Land of the Dead spoilers

[mooseming]

No: HPFGUIDX 67311

"minetourjunkie" <sarah_wendling at h...> wrote:

<major snipage> 

>I'll focus on Death!  Firstly, digger's thoughts about 
> Harry travelling to a Land of the Dead. (post no 59498)
> 
> It reminded me of this interview with JKR in Entertainment Weekly 
> from around the release of GoF, where the interviewer asked about 
> Cedric's death and its parallels to Greek Mythology.  Specifically 
> the Iliad and how the recovery Cedric's body is similar to Achilles 
> and Patroclus.  Given this and a bevy of other examples of JKR's love 
> of Greek/Roman myth (names of people, for starters, Minerva, Remus, 
> etc.), I would think she's schooled in the whole issue of visits to 
> the Land of the Dead (or Deadland ... as it were).  After all, one 
> marker of a classical hero is such a visit - Herakles did it, so did 
> Odysseus.  So, if JKR is trying to place Harry into some sort of epic 
> tradition, a visit to the land of the dead would have a lot of 
> historical precident.

> If he does wind up 
> going, I don't think that it will be a simple "live in the past, 
> commune with the dead" sort of thing.  As I said, it is a heroic 
> tradition to go visit the dead and the knowledge gained is always 
> useful on the quest. 

> And by the way, I'm sure a scholar somewhere has picked up on all
> this. Anyone have a direction to some papers to point me in? 

> 
> Cheers,
> Sarah

me (Jo) says
I'm not a scholar but I do have a copy of 'Brewer's Dictionary of
Phrase and Fable' which I can't recommend highly enough!

A quick flick through reveals Hercules, during one of his twelve
labours, has to travel to Hades (land of dead) and bring back Cerberus
(a three headed dog) which he does before releasing him to return.

So how about Harry travels through the veiled gateway brings back
Sirius, who has information/knowledge, but has to release him to
return to the underworld? Do we think the SAD DENIAL crew can take
losing Sirius twice?!!!

By the by Brewer's also says another labour is to capture the Thracian
Horses belonging to the tyrant King of Thrace, Diomides. These horses
were flesh eating and Diomedes fed them on the bodies of strangers
visiting his kingdom. After capturing the horses Hercules fed Diomides
to them.

Hum, who could we feed to these beasties then?

I'm having fun!
Jo