CHAPT DISC: Prisoner of Azkaban Chapter 13: Gryffindo...

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 190056

> June:
> > I am sorry to point this out (and I supposed it won't be allowed but I will try) but this is not about the character of Trelawney from Harry Potter. This refers to the real life Cassandra from the time of the trojan war. 
> 
> <snip>
> 
> > Trelawney's great grandmother as we all know was named Cassandra and from what I saw in the first article here her name came from the trojan Cassandra but the curse was on the latter.
> 
> Geoff:
> Yes, I think that Nikkalmati made that point by suggesting that there was a parallel. Cassandra of Troy was not believed; Trelawney of Hogwarts was equally not believed.
> 
> I think HP deliberately created Sybill's great-great-grandmother  Cassandra just in order to prompt the memories of any readers with a smattering of classical knowledge.
>
Carol responds:

Exactly. It's a literary technique called allusion. 

http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/general/glossary.htm

The author expects the reader to make the connection between Trelawney, via her grandmother Cassandra, and the mythical Cassandra. It's not an exact parallel, of course, but JKR chooses her names for a reason. (Remus Lupin is a good example; the astute reader should see a connection with wolves in his name but again, not an exact parallel.) Note that Sybil herself is named for the Sybils of ancient Rome, another connection with prophecy.

Carol, wondering what possessed some of the mothers in the HP books to give their children names like Fenrir and Alecto! (Joking, of course; it was JKR who named them for her own purposes)