Names
of Stars and Constellations in Harry Potter
The
Harry Potter books contain loads of references to classical names and myths
related to astronomy, but did you know that The Philosopher’s Stone has been
translated into Latin and Classical Greek?
This
is a light hearted look at some of the astronomy-related names in the Harry
Potter books. It’s aimed at my younger (or like me, younger at heart) readers.
I
came late to ‘HP’. My daughter had been a fan for many years, pretty much since
she learned to read. I used to wind her up by referring to ‘Larry Schlotter’ or ‘Darren Blotter’ or ‘Gary Grotter’.
Then one day, my daughter said, in a very Hermione-ish
way, ‘Look Dad, why don’t you actually read
a Harry Potter book? Then at least you could criticise it with authority.’
So
I did. Late in Advent one year, I sat down next to the Christmas tree one
night, with a mince pie and a glass of port, and started to read. By Twelfth
Night, seven books and many too many more mince pies later, I emerged briefly
and started again. At this stage I have read the lot several times (alright, alright,
numerous times). You could say I’m a fan. Call me an escapist; call me
infantile. I don’t care.
Whatever
you think of the vast marketing machine that Harry Potter has become, even the
most jaundiced would allow Rowling’s Dickensian genius for names. Who could
resist a chuckle at the magical historian Adalbert Waffling? Or perhaps the author of a book on potions
named Arsenius Jigger?
Other
characters – quite a few of them - take their names from stars and
constellations. What many who sneer at Harry Potter (as I once did) don’t
realise is the depth of Rowling’s cleverness in this, using names linked to
classical mythology (she trained as a Classicist). So
I thought I’d round them up here with a look at the significance those stellar
names often have for their characters.
Sirius
Black
We
meet Sirius, son of Orion Black, in Book three as the titular Prisoner of
Azkaban. Sirius is a ‘notorious mass murder’ who killed a street full of
Muggles and then laughed, or so we are led to believe. In fact, Sirius turns
out to be Harry’s godfather and his father’s best mate at school. The twist is
that Sirius is a type of wizard called an animagus
who can turn into a large black dog at will and has thus evaded capture.
The
astral Sirius is of course the Dog Star and has been so since antiquity: Sirius
rises after Orion the Hunter and then follows him across the winter sky. Sirius
and Orion are mentioned in Homer’s epic poems, The Iliad and The Odyssey, which
were written around 725 BCE and probably record the songs of bards passed down
for centuries before that.
As
an example, here Homer is describing the Greek warrior Achilles in Book 22 of
The Iliad lines 26-29:
“He swept across the plain, glittering like
the star which will come next from autumn, whose brilliant beams appear among
the multitude of stars in the dark of the night: which they call by the
nickname Dog of Orion …”
The Greek for that last clause shows that ‘Dog of Orion’
(highlighted) is original, not some modernising interpretation by the
translator:
… ὅν τε’ κυν’ ’Ωρίωνος επίκλησίν
καλεουσίν
Rowling
trained as a classicist and would doubtless have known that quote, so it is
probably no coincidence that through Harry’s darkest times in books four and
five, Sirius becomes a light in that darkness, the only adult to whom Harry can
turn for support and guidance.
From
an astronomical perspective, Sirius is the brightest star in the sky (excluding
the Sun). It is a young white (class A) star just 8.6 light years away and
shining with 25 times the luminosity of the Sun.
Regulus
Arcturus Black
Sirius’
long-dead younger brother revels in the names of two famous stars. Regulus
means ‘little king’ in Latin and is the brightest star in the constellation
Leo. Regulus Black was indeed the little king of the Black family, the chosen
son, preferred over his rebellious brother Sirius.
Arcturus
meanwhile is the brightest star in the constellation Boötes (another Greek
name, literally meaning ‘shouter’ or ‘ox driver’). Arcturus is the fourth
brightest star in the sky.
For
the character, his middle name may have even more significance. He joined Lord
Voldemort’s Death Eaters, but watched Voldemort for weaknesses and tried to
destroy one of his ties to immortality, Voldemort’s soul-fragment hidden in
Slytherin’s locket. Perhaps not coincidentally, ‘Arcturus’ means ‘Watcher of
the Bear’ in Greek, a name that appears in the poet Hesiod, a contemporary of
Homer.
Orion
Black
Father
of Sirius and Regulus, was known to be a supporter of the Dark Arts and a collector
of dark objects in his dank and sinister London home at Grimmauld
Place (get it?) that Harry eventually inherits from Sirius.
Orion
is of course The Hunter, a constellation known since ancient times (see above).
Orion was a mythical figure too, a great hunter (and lover) who pursued the
Pleiades, assaulting Merope. He was punished by being turned into the
constellation.
Interestingly,
Orion Black did in a sense assault Merope Gaunt: he bought Slytherin’s
priceless locket which had once been Merope’s property and out of which she had
been cruelly swindled for a pittance.
Cygnus
Black
Father
of Andromeda, Narcissa and Bellatrix in the books. Cygnus is another prominent
constellation - Cygnus (The Swan) lies as a huge cross overhead in the northern
hemisphere during the late autumn and early winter.
Alphard
Black
In
the books, Sirius’ uncle Alphard helped him out after he ran away from home to
escape his parents oppressive household. Alphard means
‘the solitary one’ in Arabic.
Astronomically,
Alphard is the brightest star in the constellation of Hydra.
Hydra
was a monster with many heads and Alphard is sometimes known as the heart of
Hydra. Perhaps Uncle Alphard is the only member of the old many-headed and
monstrous Black lineage with a heart.
Other
Stellar Blacks
Names
like Arcturus and Cygnus were traditional in the Black family and crop up
elsewhere on the family tree tapestry that was a feature of Grimmauld
Place. But there are other past members of the family with stellar names we
haven’t met before, including Cassiopeia and Pollux.
Cassiopeia
is another bright constellation, shaped like a giant ‘W’. The star Pollux is
one of the heavenly twins in Gemini.
Merope
Gaunt
Merope
Gaunt is Lord Voldemort’s mother, daughter of the fallen Gaunt wizarding family
and much bullied by her father and brother. In the novels, Merope Gaunt shames
her family by falling in love with a Muggle (Voldy’s
father, Tom Riddle senior).
More
Rowling cleverness lies behind the choice of Merope’s name. In legend, Merope
was one of the Pleiades – seven sisters who were turned into a star cluster, an asterism, one of
the most recognisable in our sky. Significantly, Merope is the faintest star in
the Seven Sisters, who hides her face in shame because she alone
among them married a mortal.
Bellatrix
Lestrange
Bellatrix
is Sirius’ evil cousin. She is Lord Voldemort’s most devoted follower and a
powerful and ruthless witch. Bellatrix is the infamous torturer of Harry’s
friend Neville’s parents and she eventually kills Sirius himself. She goes on
to torture and cut Hermione in book seven and is one of the Series’ nastiest
and most complex characters.
Not
coincidentally, the stellar Bellatrix is the right-hand shoulder of Orion.
Appropriately, the name derives from the Latin word for female warrior, but was
only associated with the star (officially Gamma-Orionis) in the Fifteenth
Century.
Rabastan Lestrange
Rabastan
Lestrange is the brother of Bellatrix’s husband Rodolphus
and another follower of Lord Voldemort (i.e. a ‘Death Eater’).
Rabastan
isn’t a stellar name, but curiously its close anagram Rastaban
is. The star Rastaban is in the constellation Draco
(meaning serpent, but also the name of Harry’s arch-enemy at Hogwarts). The
word is derived from an Arabic phrase meaning ‘Head of the Serpent’. Given
Voldemort’s affinity with snakes, can this be a coincidence? Did Rowling
deliberately change the name around for reasons unknown? Did she just have a
moment of dyslexia?
Draco
Malfoy
One
of the best-known characters in the books, Draco becomes Harry’s arch-enemy
from his first moments in the Wizarding World and remains so until he finds
some redemption at the very end.
Draco
is from a rich and dark wizarding family who are followers of Voldemort and the
name means ‘snake’ or ‘dragon’ in Latin, but comes from Greek. Draco’s mother
is Bellatrix’s sister, another member of the extended Black family.
Astronomically,
Draco is the constellation of The Serpent or Dragon – a suitably serpentine asterism
that circles the celestial north pole.
Scorpius
Malfoy
Scorpius
is Draco’s son, who we meet only in the very last moments of the final book,
when the older protagonists are watching their own children go off to Hogwarts
on the train.
Scorpius
features more prominently in the later play, but Rowling didn’t write it and I
don’t consider it ‘canon’ (shock! Horror!)
Scorpius
is of course another famous constellation – the Scorpion in Latin – another one
known since at least the time of Ptolemy. In Greek myth, Scorpius kills Orion.
Aurora
Sinistra
Appropriately,
the astronomy teacher at Hogwarts.
Sinistra
is a star in Ophiuchus, it means ‘left’ in Latin.
Aurora
was the Roman Goddess of dawn and is of course the word we give to the Northern
Lights, the glowing curtains of colour sometimes seen in the northern
hemisphere, caused by charged particles travelling the earth’s magnetic field
lines and exciting atoms in the air to fluoresce.
Andromeda
Tonks
Andromeda
Tonks is the mother of the auror and staunch Order of
the Phoenix member, Nymphadora Tonks. Andromeda is
also the sister of Bellatrix, but one of the good members of the complex Black
family.
The
Greek legend has Andromeda chained to a rock and rescued from a sea monster by
the hero Perseus (who has recently slain Medusa and carries her head in a
sack). Roman mythology, perhaps based on a lost play by Euripides, has
Andromeda, Perseus et al. cast into to heavens as constellations – Andromeda
being the constellation that houses the eponymous (also the brightest and
largest) external galaxy, Messier 31.
There
may well be more astronomical names or references hidden in the Potter books.
Let me know if so.