Aberforth

[mz_annethrope]

No: HPFGUIDX 174903

> Carol:
> > His goat Patronus? If we think that Snape has a hard time 
letting go
> > of Lily, what are we to think of Aberforth and Ariana (and, no; 
I am
> > not talking about an incestuous affection, only a lifetime 
> > obsession)?
> 
> Jen: I caught this while re-reading, that his goat Patronus 
> symbolized Ariana; I found it touching rather than thinking of it 
as 
> an obsession, touching to discover that some of Aberforth's 
happiest 
> memories were of the little sister who loved him dearly just as he 
> loved her.  There was a certain need attached to their bond of 
> course, since he was the one who understood her best and she felt 
> comfortable with him, but that didn't diminish the mutual 
affection 
> each felt for the other, not in my eyes at least.   
> 
> Carol:
> > (Another side note: I looked up the etymology of Ariana, which 
turns
> > out to be a variant form of Ariadne, the name of the princess who
> > rescued Theseus from the Minotaur and was later abandoned by him.
> 
> Jen:  Ah, clever Ariadne, the inspiration for my yahoo name. ;)  
I'm 
> trying and failing to think how the Ariana character might have 
been 
> inspired by this particular myth - anyone else have an idea?
> 
> Jen
>

mz_annethrope:

Goat Patronus? Wait a second, Dionysus was in love with Ariadne 
(Ariana), in some stories he married her. In one story he descended 
into the the underworld to rescue her from death. He also rescued 
his dead mother (Semele?)on the same journey, brought both women 
back to life and turned them into goddesses.

The center of Dionysian worship was Naxos, the island where Ariadne 
was stranded. And who attends bacchanals and Dionysian revelries but 
maenads and satyrs? And satyrs are half goat.

Of course Aberforth has a goat Patronus!

mz_annethrope (who until this moment had always assumed that the 
inappropriate charms were merely rude suggestions)