Well if the movie's okay, I thought, the book must be okay too. Thus I found myself in my high school library looking for the book. I spotted it right away. The librarians had just put out the brand new books with the fancy covers. I picked it up and headed to the check out.

"Revisiting fairytales!" the librarian smiled at me. "Well, this one's good to read again," she continued as she stamped the return date on the back of the book.

"Thank you." I smiled. I put the book into my backpack and hurried home. Once there, I finished the book in one night. It was amazing! The whole story was about Jesus! I marveled over Lewis' genius, partly annoyed that I hadn't done it first.

"This guy is amazing!" I whispered as I shut the book. I had seen other books in his series at the library as well. I determined to check them out as soon as I could. One by one, The Horse and His Boy, The Magicians Nephew, and all of the others passed through my hands and into my heart.

As I read, I pushed down feelings of regret... regret at having not been exposed to them at a younger age. I wanted so badly to be able to compare a childhood view of Narnia to my now grown-up view. I placated myself with the fact that my future children would have the chance to read it in their youth and then the choice of revisiting it in adulthood, perhaps when they read it to their children. Most of all, I want my children to fall in love with Aslan.

As soon as I finished it I recommended the books to my siblings, but it wasn't until the movie came out and we saw it that their interests were truly peaked. My siblings and my mother are all in love with The Chronicles of Narnia. I don't regret picking up this book for one moment.

Narnia is an amazing read. One of my high school friends remarked that, "C. S. Lewis doesn't talk condescendingly to kids. He makes you feel like you know something, and I really like him for that." I hope that your kids will be able to discover for themselves, the magic of Narnia and fall in love, as I have, with the greatest story ever told.

Many characters are involved in this book, with perhaps the main character as Shasta. Shasta is an ordinary boy (he believes) who is trying to live and go on with his life as a fisherman's servant, more like a slave. Shasta is a role model in this book due to the fact that he is completely honest, thus never wanting to steel if he can avoid it. Another important character in The Horse and His Boy is most likely the second name in the title; the horse. The horse is originally a talking beast from Narnia, who was kidnapped as a foal and sent to be a warhorse in the Calormen Army. He later finds himself with a runaway boy, who is also trying to pursue his dream: to leave the Tashbaan Empire and live free in Narnia, the North.

The setting of this book is not as it may seem in the beginning. Shasta does in fact live in the desert, but not in the desert you and I are used to. This book is set in not a world of or own, but of another, new world with magical talking creatures and giants and huge chariots. There is no particular time period, because time, as described in the seven books about Narnia, may be one century to one second in Narnia, or vise-versa.

Many subjects interfere with the plot of this book, but the over-whelming objective is to reach Narnia, to become a free Narnia ruled by no cruel Empire or Savage Tisroc, as the Calormene call them. The side objectives is to save Anvard, the Capitol of Archenland, from being over-ruled by the Prince Rabadash, the fierce prince of Calormen.

Perhaps the moral of this story is actually a lesson. This book is always talking about how tyrants should be brought down by all means necessary, for the good of all mankind. With out just one person ruling all of one land, the power should be ruled down to the very lowest of peasants, who would usually have the best ideas in mind for everyone to benefit from. With this in mind, people could stop to think about how they could help out our would today.

The conclusion of this story is of a happy one. In the end, after Prince Rabadash is defeated with his men at the gates of Archenland, Shasta meets King Lune and discovers that he is indeed the son of him, making Shasta Prince Cor, and the future Kind of Archenland. To say the least, everything is resolved and everyone is happy.

Finishing this book was actually rather painful, because I knew that after I had finished this book once, it would never be the same the next time I read it. I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes a heart-warming tale of magical creatures and great knights. This would also be a great read for anyone who has read the other six tales about Narnia in The Chronicles of Narnia.

It's though provoking and challenging for the intellectual who has discredited the God of the Bible on the biases of human pain and suffering. Good Luck! And may the God of all grace grant to you wisdom and understanding on your quest.

C.S. Lewis and Virginia Woolf, authors of “The Rival Conceptions of God” and “The Death of a Moth,” respectively, attempt to effectively penetrate the sheltered minds of his and her readers by picking away at the normal confines of human existential belief and discuss an extremely sensitive subject, the spiritual attributes of our physical life. Both authors attack this topic from varying religious or metaphysical standpoints that in no way, according to their doctrinal outlooks, agree with each other. However, Woolf's pantheistic perspective of an all-encompassing, impersonal life-force and Lewis's Christian perspective of an all-exclusive, biased evangelical-God are ironically united by both author's shared focus upon the incorporeal and dichotomous nature of life.

Reflecting upon the menial existence of a hybrid day-moth, Woolf concentrates on an all-encompassing and impersonal life force that inhabits all things. On the surface, it seems as if Woolf is simply dictating the life and sudden death of a moth. Intertwined within her craftily employed words, however, dwells a steady stream of philosophical musing about an omnipresent ethos inhabiting even the “pathetic” (20) wanderings of an insignificant day-moth. This ethos, Woolf's incorporeal bias, reflects that of pantheism, a spirituality defined by Lewis in his essay as, the belief that God exists as a universal, indifferent energy that interconnects all things. Not only does Woolf make reference to such an essence when she describes the moth as nothing but a “tiny bead of pure life decked with down and feathers” (21), but her metaphorical tactic of equating humans with moths and rooks with downs endows every word she uses with a similar “fibre of pure, enormous energy” (20). Although Woolf does not mention the word “God” in her entire essay, her readers are vividly aware of a similar force being given recognition as they sympathize with the dusty-wing, hay colored creature.

Choosing to dwell within a much more structured and defined paradigm as compared to Woolf's ethereal philosophies, Lewis clearly identifies his partiality towards an exclusive and biased evangelical-God. Although Lewis both compares and contrasts various theological and non-theological viewpoints of God and life, he expresses an obvious inclination towards a singular and omnipotent God - the “one-and-only” referred to exclusively by the Christian religion. Lewis discusses the dichotomy between just and unjust and offers his theological and philosophical reasoning to support his argument for the existence of a righteous and just creator, the “King of Kings.” He employs a Cartesian mode of thinking by implying the ideas of just and unjust as innate and required - the presence of one proves the existence of the other. Because, as an atheist, he believed the world to be universally unjust, it inevitably led him towards the belief in the one thing he tried so hard not to believe in - a just God. The bulk of his essay argues against atheism and for Christianity but amongst his discussion he mentions other religious beliefs that, although still completely wrong, “are closer to right than others,” such as pantheism. Lewis's comparing and contrasting writing style aligns with his religious affiliations as well. His readers get a sense of his fervent belief in good and evil as they digest one opposition after the other. For example, Lewis pits Christianity against atheism, pantheism, Hinduism, just against unjust and light against dark; he is clearly speaking from a doctrine-colored viewpoint.

Woolf and Lewis, although clearly speaking from incompatible, theological standpoints, both share a common thread as they express their reflective philosophies about the underlying, incorporeal nature of life. In spite of the fact that both authors discuss a “higher” or “expanded” life-force using different terms and doctrines, when read in light of the other, an intrinsic web of similarities reveals itself. Woolf and Lewis both acknowledge a spiritual substance that is somewhat responsible for or synonymous with life itself. Skipping the differing prologues altogether, both authors imply that the world as we know it was created and the divine force behind this spark of physical manifestation still exists and exerts its control upon us today, for example, the “great force” that brought morbid solitude to that of the hybrid day-moth. Best efforts aside, the common desire behind all living things to justify and defend their existence in this world cannot be overlooked. Be it Jesus, Buddha, Krishna or a universal life energy, the only difference between pantheism and Christianity, it seems, can be equated to Lewis preferring a cup of French Vanilla and Woolf preferring a dish of Neapolitan. Perhaps this sounds sacrilegious, but when viewed upon through the differing lenses of Woolf and Lewis, one can easily appreciate the validity of both theological rationales.

Woolf and Lewis also discuss his and her own interpretation of a divine dichotomy: light and dark, life and death, just and unjust. While these opposite circumstances are often referred to as separate and antagonistic, both authors reveal their actual, codependent nature. In Lewis's essay, he discusses the existence of both just and unjust circumstances and, although the presence of unjustness is often used as an argument against the existence of a loving and righteous God, explains how both terms and situations can and must exist as a divine, dichotomous pair. The dichotomy Woolf focuses upon is obviously life and death as she queerly ponders the significance of such a menial and neutral creature and then shifts, as abruptly as the moth's life does, to a struggle to understand death's true purpose. When asked to compare such terms, one might be at a loss for words to counter the stark difference between “alive-and-well” and “dead-as-a-door-knob;” however, Woolf overcomes this difficulty by subtly or perhaps even unconsciously revealing the powerful meaning death actually contributes to life itself, even to that of a “frail and diminutive” (20) insect.

The distinct but somewhat hidden connections between both authors' perspectives on the spiritual and dichotomous nature of life ironically unites and weaves together an immense, emotionally-charged and epic debate between various spiritual beliefs and claims about the truth of life itself. Religious beliefs, the notorious irritants involved in most brutal disputes, represent a different and often opposing perspective in followers of theological denominations and thus are usually regarded as mutually exclusive. Millions have perished defending what they thought to be the true answer to life's quandaries as communicated by their God or gods. Most political disputes between countries are the result of initial religious differences and fueled by desires to proselytize “lost sheep.” Although society is able to unite and compromise on a myriad of differing stances, if not the evolution of our species would be severely hindered, religious ideologies remain steadfast and immensely guarded. According to Lewis and the core dogmas of various major religions, all differing spiritual beliefs are misguided, blasphemous and, as Lewis so tactfully states during his arithmetic metaphor, wrong. Examples of these core dogmas are the countless biblical quotations stating Jesus Christ as being the “only son of God” and the savior of mankind. One of the Ten Commandments as transcribed by Moses states, “thou shalt not worship false idols.” The majority of religions are built around the assumption that they hold the only true key to the meaning of life and the well being of human kind, hence the punishment of eternal damnation promised to all blasphemers of the Christian God. If God Himself threatens to punish in such a way, the extremist followers of many religions feel they have the right to punish, or at least condemn, those of differing faiths as well. Even cupid with all his love-inspired wisdom and “magic arrows” could not entrance and unify two opposing religions - in this case, opposites certainly do not attract.

Despite the plethora of evidence supporting the incompatibility of differing religious beliefs, Woolf and Lewis inconspicuously and, most likely, unknowingly offer a counter argument. Regardless of his strong stand upon the pages of the New Testament, Lewis's underlying intention and spiritual viewpoints align conveniently with that of the “damned” (97) opposite, the pantheistic viewpoint of Woolf. He does this during his discussion on just and unjust circumstances. Lewis briefly describes his personal journey and spiritual awakening from atheism to Christianity. As mentioned previously, he states that his belief in the unjustness of the world led him to ultimately question his rigid atheistic loyalties and eventually acknowledge the existence of the Christian deity because in order to experience unjust circumstances one must experience, or be somewhat aware of, just circumstances - these being God. It is safe then to extrapolate Lewis's consequent belief that just and unjust, good and evil, light and dark are necessary. If they are necessary then one can say they are indeed codependent and connected; one cannot exist without the other. Bridging both author's together, Woolf's necessary, or inherent, dichotomy of life and death and her belief that these two forces are in some way connected or even one in the same, parallels greatly with the necessary existence of good and evil according to Lewis's perspective. When all is said and done, the stark differences between pantheism and Christianity seem to be a result of simple misunderstandings, a differing in vocabulary. Lewis chooses to draw a thick dividing line between good and evil personifying both with names such as God and the Devil; he thus refers to two ends of the same stick separately. Woolf, on the other hand, remains content with the vagueness of existence acknowledging only the “massed, indifferent energy” that flows through all things; she thus refers to the entire stick itself as one object. Both, however, are discussing the same stick - the backbone of human existential belief.

Both Woolf's and Lewis's delivery of their spiritual perspectives on life prove effective in many ways. However, it is Woolf who surpasses the other by reaching through the pages of literature and invading the often-distracted minds of aimless beings. Differing from Lewis, Woolf engages the creative tendencies in her readers and, at the same time, stimulates complex thought as she ponders the significance and morality of death. Woolf's readers are entertained and captured by her imaginative prose and descriptive genius especially as she describes the world beyond the “windowpane” (20). Woolf romanticizes the simplicities of daily life to such a degree that here readers truly feel guilty of often rejecting such an amazing opportunity for joy and pleasure. Her comparison between human beings and the pitiful happenings of a hybrid day-moth and then her ultimate transcendence of the moth placing it high above humans as it nobly and tenaciously battles for its menial existence against the quintessential super power, death, leaves her readers screaming for a second chance to appreciate each and every second from now on. The possibility of an interconnecting stream of energy that is the fundamental component of all things and both the inspiration for birth and catalyst for death seems not only possible but probable as Woolf metaphorically employs the rooks, ploughs and downs as symbols to represent this amazing and universal power. Whether or not she actually changes the beliefs of her readers depends solely upon each individual's openness to let fresh outlooks affect them. However, Woolf undoubtedly plants the seeds endowing them with the same energy she speaks of within the diminutive body of the moth and intricate pathways within her own brain - her readers are convincingly left with a choice: to live life unaware of the multitude of meaningful possibilities and pass on with feet in the air or take charge, experience life to the outermost edges of human possibility and leave this world kicking and screaming, defending an existence that truly gleamed with purpose.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis is about four children who enter a magical wardrobe and come out in Narnia. A lion called Aslan who is an important part of the book created Narnia. The capital is Cair Pavavel where at the end of the book the four children are coroneted kings and Queens.

I found the story The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe interesting because of the strong but yet hidden Christian influence in the story. Aslan can be compared with Christ as in the Catholic faith for a number of reasons. One of the reasons is that Aslan is very kind, companionate and forgiving as evident when he says, “Here is your brother and - there is no need to talk to him about the past”.

Here Aslan is reconciling Edmund as he had collaborated with the White Witch, the protagonist in the story. Another point is that as Jesus died on a cross to save us from our sins, Aslan also dies to save Edmund from being taken by the White Witch. He here shows once again forgiveness and pity. Jesus and Aslan both resurrected after being killed and walked once again amongst the living.

The story also has a very living quality and that is another reason why I liked the book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Lewis fills the world of Narnia with many different creatures and gives all of these the power to talk, which makes things interesting as the animals can now communicate and have a greater impact on the story. There are many interesting creatures with some listed as Lucy says “...there were Cruels and Hags and Incubuses, Wraiths, Horrors, Efreets, Sprites, Orknies, Wooses, and Ettins there.”

These were some of the animals present at the sacrificing of Aslan. Nature is very important in the story and also gives it a relaxing feeling in some parts and the setting is often described beautifully e.g. "But they all knew that it was her spells which had produced the ended winter; and therefore they had all knew when this magic spring began that something had gone wrong, and badly wrong, with the Witch"s schemes. And after the thaw…' The setting here tells the characters that sometime had gone wrong with the Witch.

This is a very imaginative book and I recommend it to older children and younger teenagers. A beautiful book.

During his quest for survival, Ransom meets several of these strange and interesting characters, including one named Hyoi. Towards the center of the book, Hyoi gives Ransom a discourse on his view of time saying that our past, present, and future are all connected. Later on in the story, Weston contradicts this view and says that time moves in a linear motion with no connection. These two different beliefs create one of the major conflicts of the story.

Hyoi sees time as one gigantic moment. He says that a moment in a person's past is not left behind but it is part of that person's present and in turn is part of his/her future. For example, a conversation between two mere acquaintances might not mean anything to them at the present time, but ten years in the future it might have a lasting impact on those two people.

This is what Hyoi means when he says in his speech that an event in a person's past is never truly finished. It lives in the person and continues to grow, even when the event seems to be complete. An event in time only really affects a person after the event takes place. Hyoi's idea is the very essence of life because it emphasizes the oneness and constant circle of life.

Hyoi's idea of time as one huge moment fits in perfectly with the setting of Out of the Silent Planet. In the galaxy, the planets are unified and they are not isolated from one another. This is how Hyoi's theme is carried on throughout the setting: time and space are both one. Also in Malacandra there are three species, but they make up one world. They live in harmony together, and there is no one race that is dominant over the other. They are all one. This is how Hyoi's time discourse is related to the setting of Malacandra.

Weston thinks of time differently than Hyoi does. He thinks of time as simply linear movement in which past, present, and future are all three separate stages of time. His idea of time emphasizes movement and fragmentation; he believes that life is this constant march and past, present, and future are separate stages in that march. Weston, being a scientist, is obsessed with the idea of constant motion and this idea causes him too see time in a flawed way, in stages rather than one gigantic event. Weston's view of time is the exact opposite of how time really works.

In conclusion, the discourses that Hyoi and Weston give in Out of the Silent Planet are two completely different views. Hyoi believes that past, present, and future are all connected, and they are all one big moment. He articulates that an event that happens in a person's past is never really over but it continues to grow until a lasting effect comes out of it. On the other hand, Weston believes that time is this constant motion that moves in fragments. To him, past, present, and future are separate stages of time have nothing to do we each other.

We know that this belief is wrong and we must look at life the way Hyoi does because his view captures the real meaning of life.

The story began when Lucy and Edmund were visiting Eustace on Earth. While they were looking at a picture of a boat in the ocean, suddenly it became real. After they fell into the picture and began to drown, sailors from the boat rescued them. Lucy and Edmund discovered that the boat belonged to their friends in Narnia, Prince Caspian and Reepicheep, a talking mouse. The three children from Earth joined the sailors to find the seven banished lords and possibly sail to the end of the world.

Their first destination was the Lone Islands which on Caspian and the children from earth were captured and were made slaves. However, Caspian was sold to one of the lords. Caspian was freed and formed a plan that they would make the king of the Lone Islands think they had a large army and make him surrender his throne. After they do this, the lord is made king and the children are freed.

On the next island, they found one of the lord's arm bands and assumed he had died on this island. When they left that island they confronted a sea monster. The ship almost was crushed but they escaped. They came to another island on which they found a pool. There was a statue of a man in the pool. They figured out that the statue was a lord whom the water had turned to gold.

Once again, they traveled to an island and helped invisible people become visible by reading a magician's spell book. When they left that island they came to a black mist. After traveling through it they heard a voice. Because the voice was from one of the lords, so they brought him onto their ship. They docked on a small island where they found the three remaining lords were asleep at a banquet. Caspian learned that in order to waken them, he must travel to the end of the world and leave one member there. When they got to the end of the world, Reepicheep was left behind because he thought that after the end of the earth was Aslan's country. The three children went with Reepicheep and Aslan sent them back to Earth.

In the beginning of this story, Eustace was annoying and disrespectful. In front of Reepicheep, the mouse, Eustace blurted out, “I hate mice, they're silly and vulgar and-and sentimental.” Again, he said to the mouse “what on earth's that. Take it away, the horrid thing.” When Eustace asked “whether there was a sign of the storm getting less, but Caspian said, "What storm!"” This showed us that Eustace was being annoying when he kept on complaining.

However, after Eustace had been a dragon he became courageous and useful. He makes this change because when he is in the dragon's cave he thinks he is seeing the dragon. He is really looking at himself. Then he realizes how horrible he had become. When Eustace started to help the sailors “it was clear to everyone that Eustace's character had improved.” When the sea monster was attacking the ship Eustace “now did the first brave thing he had ever done. As soon as the serpent's body was near enough he began hacking at it with all his might.” When Eustace was on the island as a dragon he “was very anxious to help. He flew over the whole island and found that it was inhabited by only goats and droves of old swine. Of these he brought back many provisions.”

The setting in the beginning of the story was populated and corrupt or dangerous. The islands were full of corrupt leaders and society. As the story went on the setting became less populated but remained corrupt or dangerous. In the beginning of the story, when they landed on the Lone Islands, “there was slave merchants dressed in black.” The three children “were rowed out to a slave ship and taken to a long, rather dark place.”

The next place they went to an island with a dragon. Eustace “had been surprised at the dragon's behavior” on the island. The dragon “that came out of the cave was nothing he would have imagined.” The population got smaller; there was only “goats and droves of wild swine” besides the dragon.

They landed on another island. This island had “water that turned things into gold.” This was dangerous because a lord they were looking for “undressed at the top of the hill and dived into the pool.”

They traveled to an island inhabited by a small group of people. The people that inhabited this island were “wielding spears” and threatened them to do what they want. Then they traveled to an island “surrounded by a dark mist.” The island was “an accursed place.”

Because Eustace changed from useless to useful and the setting changed from being corrupt and dangerous to less populated but still corrupt this means that Eustace always had the capability to do evil actions because the corruptness was still there. However, since the population got smaller and smaller Eustace started to have more control of his actions and stop himself from doing evil actions.

C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling both use aspects of classical mythology and mythological figures in their fantasies, and although “Greek and Roman myths are an indelible, indispensable, inescapable part of our cultural background and heritage,” (Grant, Michael and Hazel, John) the two authors' education and upbringing can lead us to understand why they borrowed so heavily from the classical world and the differences in their borrowing.

Born in Belfast, Ireland in 1898, C.S. Lewis' first structured learning of the classical world began at Wynyard School under the tutorship of Reverend Robert Capron. From Wynyard, Lewis went on to Campbell College followed quickly by a move to Malvern College, where one of his greatest influences was “Harry Wakelyn Smith (1861-1918) who taught classics... from 1885 until his death in 1918,” (Green, Roger Lancelyn and Hooper, Walter) and from where Lewis was introduced to the writings of Virgil.

After Malvern College it was then onto Great Bookham, Surry, to be taught privately under William T Kirkpatrick, (his father's old headmaster) where two days after his arrival he found himself studying Homer in Greek, and in his spare time read works by Horace and Aristotle and poured over "Prometheus Bound," also in its original Greek form. At last Lewis made it to Oxford where his interest in the classical world continued, and after returning from a stint in France during World War I, “embarked at once on the "Honour Mods" course in Greek and Latin literature,” (Green, Roger Lancelyn and Hooper, Walter) and by 1923 had a Double First In Classics and a First in English, and was giving private tuition as a means of income.

Born in Chipping Sodbury, near Bristol, England in 1965, one of J.K. Rowling's first introductions to the classical world of mythology came when she read C.S. Lewis' "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," while enrolled at Tutshill Church of England Primary School. "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," would be one of Rowling's first encounters with the centaurs, dryads, satyrs and giants of classical mythology, and “had an influence on "Harry Potter and the Philosopher"s Stone.'” (Smith, Sean) After attending secondary school at Wydean Comprehensive, Rowling then made the step up to Exeter University where she studied French and Classics.

Rowling “liked the Classics side of things. She liked those mythological stories,” (Smith, Sean) and although she dropped Classics in her last two years at university, her time with the department obviously made an impression that carried over into her writing, even basing the character of Professor Binns “entirely on a lecturer in the Classics department at the university.” (Smith, Sean)

In breaking down their use of classical mythology into three sections; their use of mythological beasts, their use of mythological people, gods and their names, and their use of themes and tales from classical mythology in their fantasies, it soon becomes apparent that although many of their characters and stories share similar traits relating to those portrayed in the world of classical mythology, Lewis' has a deeper understanding of this world based on his education and early life than Rowling, who did study classics but not to as an advanced level as Lewis.

In comparing Lewis and Rowling's use of classical mythological beasts in their fantasies, it is noticeable that both authors use many mythological beasts and both capture the physical aspects of the creatures they write about according to how they were described in the classical worlds. In the case of the centaur, the character traits are also the same for both authors, but in the treatment of Giants, Rowling depicts only one side of their character according to the classical myths, whereas Lewis shows us both.

Lewis and Rowling both include the classical figure of centaurs in their fantasies, and both writers depict the figures similarly and in keeping with the classical mythological description. In classical mythology centaurs have the legs and body of a horse but a human torso, arms and head, and Lewis and Rowling describe their centaurs as thus.

In J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone,' Harry comes across three centaurs in the forbidden forest and in an argument between two of them, Bane and Firenze, Bane admonishes Firenze saying, “Have we not read what is to come in the movements of the planets?” (Rowling J.K.) This is a clever link to the mythical tale of the centaur Chiron, who Zeus placed in the constellation of the stars as Sagittarius, and “these heavenly connections may explain why the centaurs who live in the Forbidden Forest … look to the stars to read the future.” (Colbert, David) However, C.S. Lewis also makes the same connection in his fantasy writing.

In Lewis' 'The Last Battle,' Roonwit the centaur warns King Tirian that, “Never in all my days have I seen such terrible things written in the skies.” (Lewis C.S.) As stated both writers use the classical mythological figure of the centaur in the same vein, including using the same link to the centaur Chiron.

Lewis and Rowling also use the classical figure of giants in their fantasies, but here we see the two writers differ in their depictions with Rowling portraying the giants as friendly, whereas Lewis depicts them as being both friend and foe. For example, in Rowling's, 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,' the characters of Hagrid and Madame Olympe Maxime (the half giant headmistress of Beauxbatons school for wizards) are seen as friendly giants who are a force for good. In Lewis' 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,' the first giant we meet is one that is freed by Aslan after being turned to stone by the white witch, and who subsequently joins the battle on the side of good.

However, near the end of the book we learn of the giants from the north, who Peter has to go into battle against. This time the giants are seen to be opposing the forces of good. C.S. Lewis' depiction of giants fighting on the side of good and evil is much more in keeping with the classical mythological model. In classical mythology the giants fought a battle against Zeus and the gods. Here they are depicted as being a force for evil and were defeated, however another classical myth tells of how the giants helped Zeus to overthrow Cronos and the Titans, where afterwards they “remained Zeus' faithful allies.” (Grant, Michael and Hazel, John) This other myth puts the giants on the side of good, and Lewis has recognized their duality in his fantasy.

As well as the centaurs and giants Lewis also uses fauns, satyrs, and naiads, which are all present at the birth of Narnia in 'The Magician's Nephew.' In the same book, Strawberry the horse is also transformed into a flying horse, akin to Pegasus, the winged horse in Greek mythology. Dryads, the mythological nymphs of the trees also appear in 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.' In the Harry Potter series, Rowling also uses the classical mythological beasts of the sphinx, the phoenix and a three-headed dog akin to Cerberus, the mythological watchdog of the underworld. The phoenix, a mythical bird that upon its fiery death is born again from the ashes, is not only Dumbledore's pet, but is also the name given to a secret society of witches and wizards who fought against Voldemort in 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.'

In comparing Lewis and Rowling's use of classical mythological people, gods and their names, it is apparent that Rowling borrows a lot from the classical world and incorporates either their names, characteristics or both in moulding her own characters. Lewis however is less subtle than Rowling, lifting the gods straight out of the classical myths and planting them firmly in his own writing without much tampering or subtlety.

One example of Rowling's subtlety is in the naming of Percy Weasley's owl, Hermes. In the Harry Potter world, owls are used to deliver mail and messages to their charges, and in the classical world, Hermes was the messenger of the Greek gods. However Hermes is not the only owl to feature in Harry Potter with links to the classical world. It is also put forward in the critical essay, 'Cinderfella: J.K. Rowling's Wily Web of Gender,' that Harry's white female owl Hedwig is also in "the classical tradition of Bubo, the owl of the warrior goddess Athena." (Gallardo, Ximena and Smith, Jason)

In J.K. Rowling's, 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,' the reader first meets Sibyll Trelawny a teacher of divination. In classical mythology Sibylla or Sibyl was the name of a woman who was given the gift of prophecy by Apollo. In the same book, Harry, Ron and Hermione, use a divination textbook written by Cassandra Vablatsky. In the classical world Cassandra could foresee the future but was cursed by Apollo in that whomever she told it to would never believe her. In the Trojan War she warned King Priam not to lead the wooden horse into the city, but as he did not believe her warning he did so anyway, and after nightfall, Greek soldiers hidden inside the horse that he had brought inside the city walls, overran Troy.

Other examples of characters from the Harry Potter books who's names are influenced by classical mythology include Professor Minerva McGonagall, who's first name refers to the Roman goddess of wisdom, Remus Lupin who's first name comes from the story of Romulus and Remus, who founded Rome "after being suckled as infants by a she-wolf," (Kern, Edmund K.) and Hermione Granger, who's first name belonged to the daughter of Menelaus and Helen and who's name was the same as a character in Shakespeare's 'A Winter's Tale,' a play seen by the young Rowling as a school girl at Wyedean.

C.S. Lewis however employs no such subtleties in his use of classical mythological people or gods as featured in his writings. When in 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,' Tumnus the faun describes the land of Narnia before the Witch caused it to become a constant winter, but never reaching Christmas, he tells Lucy of how Bacchus would visit them and "the streams would run with wine instead of water and the whole forest would give itself up to jollification for weeks on end." (Lewis, C.S.) In the classical world Bacchus was "the god of wine and ecstatic liberation," (Grant, Michael and Hazel, John) and rather than portraying mere aspects of Bacchus in a character of his own creation, as often seen in Rowling's fantasies, Lewis lifts him straight out of mythology and into his own story, not differing much from the classical version. The god Bacchus also reappears in a similar description later in Lewis' tale of 'Prince Caspian.'

In Lewis' 'That Hideous Strength,' the classical gods of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jove congregate at the house at St. Anne's and effect the human inhabitants in accordance to the attributes each god was thought to possess and be the god of in mythology. Also in Lewis' 'Till We Have Faces,' the author retells Apuleius' story of Cupid and Psyche which includes a whole pantheon of gods and characters from the classical world and from which Lewis "transformed a good tale into a profound one." (Van Der Weele, Steve J.)

One reason for the different approaches in the use of classical figures and gods could once again be attributed to the backgrounds of the two authors. C.S. Lewis had a much deeper knowledge of the classical world and maybe felt more comfortable and confident writing about its characters, without changing or disguising them from their classical context too much. Lewis also read many classical texts in their original Greek and Latin, where the stories lay in their original forms. Rowling on the other hand, while still having a knowledge of the classical world, may have felt more comfortable in only incorporating bits and pieces of classical figures into her own characters. Her reading also would have differed from that of Lewis, as Rowling never studied classical mythical stories in their original text.

In examining and comparing the two writers use of themes and stories from classical mythology, one can see that Rowling borrows a considerable amount from these stories and incorporates them into her own writing. Sometimes there may even be more than one classical story or theme appearing in just one Harry Potter book, and critical writers have compared different sections of the Harry Potter series as anything from mimicking Oedipus to mining "into the quirks of sexual desire," (Gupta, Suman) present in Ulysses. C.S. Lewis however, tends to borrow more from Christianity, especially in his chronicles of Narnia, and although these books are not totally devoid of classical references, it is Lewis' 'Till We Have Faces,' thatshines through as a major example of his use of a theme or story from classical mythology.

There are many similarities between the classical mythological tale of Oedipus, and that of Rowling's Harry Potter. In 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone,' Harry is unaware that his parents were a wizard and a witch, much in the same way that Oedipus was unaware that his real biological parents were the King and Queen of Thebes. The Oedipus link is reinforced once again in 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,' where in the maze of the final task of the tri-wizard tournament Harry must answer correctly a riddle posed by a sphinx in order to continue, which he does so.

In Greek mythology a sphinx was sent by the goddess Hera as a punishment against Laius the King of Thebes. The sphinx asked travelers who crossed her path a riddle, whereby if they answered incorrectly the sphinx promptly killed them. When Oedipus came across the Sphinx, he guessed the answer to the riddle and the sphinx killed herself, thus freeing the land of her menace.

Even putting aside Suman Gupta's view in 'Re-Reading Harry Potter,' there are also similarities between the stories of Ulysses and the character of Harry. Harry Potter's adventures as seen in J.K. Rowling's writings follow the pattern of Ulysses own adventures in classical mythology, and is common in many heroic characters throughout the world. "A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder. Fabulous forces are there encountered and decisive victory is won. The hero comes back … with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man." (Campbell, Joseph) If we take 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' as an example, we can see parallels with Joseph Campbell's words.

Harry leaves the ordinary world of muggles and the Dursleys for the world of Hogwarts, he encounters the dangers of Tom Riddle and the Basilisk, (a snake similar to that of the classical creature of the Medusa who could turn people to stone by looking at them) where he is victorious, and by the end of the book saves Ginny Weasley and frees Dobby from a lifetime of servitude as Lucius Malfroy's slave.

Another storyline from the classical world used by J.K. Rowling, is that of Orpheus and the underworld, which can be seen in 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.' In the classical tale, Orpheus must get past a three-headed dog named Cerberus to enter the underworld and attempt to rescue Eurydice. Orpheus gets past Cerberus by charming him with music.

In 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone,' Harry must get past a three-headed dog named Fluffy to get through a trapdoor to the philosopher's stone, which he does by playing music on a flute and soothing the beast. As an aside, Rowling puts in a sly mention of where she borrows this tale from, when Hagrid mentions that he bought Fluffy from a "Greek chappie I met in the pub." (Rowling J.K.)

As stated earlier, although much of C.S. Lewis' writing contains references to Christianity, themes and stories from classical mythology also find their place. 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,' carries many traits inherited from the classical tale of the Odyssey, where the figure of Odysseus was forced to travel on a great sea voyage, encountering many adventures and strange lands, as he made his way home from Troy. This is similar to the book, 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,' in which the story follows King Caspian and his companions on a voyage beyond their known lands in search of seven friends of Caspian's father, who were sent off to explore the eastern seas.

It is an interesting point that in one of Lewis' notes on the plot of the book he wrote "islands (of Odyssey and St Brendan) can be thrown in." (Hooper Walter) This shows that he was thinking of the Odyssey in the story's planning and as further evidence he even makes direct reference to the classical tale in 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.' When Reepicheep threatens to bind Caspian to the ship Edmund remarks, “Like they did with Ulysses when he wanted to go near the sirens.” In the mythological tale, Odysseus (known as Ulysses in the Greek form) ordered his men to tie him to the mast so he could hear the magical voices of the Sirens but not be able to join them, and thus go to his death.

However, for the ultimate example of a mythological story or theme used by C.S. Lewis in his own fantasy writing, one need look no further than his work 'Till We Have Faces.' In 'Till We Have Faces,' Lewis retells Apuleius' (a Latin writer from the second century) tale of Cupid and Psyche, a tale he "had been fascinated with … since his undergraduate days." (Donaldson, Mara E.) According to the romantic myth, a king had three daughters, the youngest being Psyche. Psyche was so beautiful that people stopped worshiping Venus, and as a punishment for this, Venus ordered Cupid to make Psyche fall in love with the ugliest person he could find. However, Cupid ends up falling in love with Psyche himself, and after several trials and tribulations marries her with Jupiter's consent.

Lewis "says that his version is the way that the Cupid and Psyche myth “must have been,”" (Gibson, Evan K.) and even though Lewis 'retains many of the ingredients of Apuleius' account,' (Van Der Weele, Steve J.) to even attempt a retelling or dislocation of an established myth requires a detailed knowledge of classical mythology and indeed the mythological tale itself. This knowledge is something that C.S. Lewis had in abundance, whereas Rowling lacks Lewis' depth.

So in summation, we can see that in their use of mythological beasts both writers described the beasts as they were portrayed in the classical world, but Lewis uses a more accurate account of the mythological giants. In their use of classical characters and gods, Rowling only incorporates aspects of the characters in her fantasies, whereas Lewis has the confidence to supplant the figures straight into his own writing without straying much from their classical descriptions. Lastly both writers use mythological stories and themes in their writing and although Lewis borrows more from Christianity, his retelling of Apuleius' story of Cupid and Psyche remains more detailed than the themes and stories picked up by Rowling in the Harry Potter series of books.

So as stated, both C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling made many uses of classical mythology and mythological figures in their fantasies, and although “Greek and Roman myths are an indelible, indispensable, inescapable part of our cultural background and heritage,” (Grant, Michael and Hazel, John) which both writers would have inherited, Lewis' use goes deeper than that of Rowling's due to his superior classical education and earlier influences from the classical world.