KimCL
Since JK Rowling lives in Britian, and most of them are Catholic, even if she's not, she probably think a snake was evil. Uhm...no... not really, no. >.>; Definitely not 'most'.
Anyway;
Is she necessarily using popular mythology or symbolism? I don't remember her writing that snakes are evil, just that Voldemort took them as one of his symbols. Besides, many snakes are venomous, and that could be the reason she used them to represent Voldemort. They are also seen as cunning and intelligent and all those other representations usually cited when discussing Slytherin.
And Phoenixes are, in mythology, a symbol of
rebirth.
She also uses things from everywhere, (ancient) mythology, history, stories, so it's not impossible that she could be using a Christian idea... >.>
And can I just point out a fallacy in your reasoning?
What you're saying is:
Voldemort is evil.
Voldemort's symbol/sign is a snake.
Therefore snakes are evil.And that's just a bad argument... it's just like reductio ad Hitlerum...
It's as if you were saying:
Hitler was evil.
Hitler was a vegetarian.
Therefore all vegetarians are evil.Voldemort uses a snake as a symbol, however that does not mean that snakes are evil.
Snakes as symbols:
Wikipedia.org
In Egyptian history, the snake occupies a primary role with the Nile cobra adorning the crown of the pharaoh in ancient times. It was worshipped as one of the Gods and was also used for sinister purposes including killing an opponent or for suicide as Cleopatra did.
India is often called the land of snakes and is steeped in tradition regarding snakes. Snakes are worshipped as gods even today with many women pouring milk on snake pits (despite snakes' aversion for milk). The cobra is seen on the neck of Shiva and Vishnu is depicted often as sleeping only on a 7 headed snake. There are also several temples in India solely for cobras sometimes called Nagraj (King of Snakes) and it is believed that snakes are symbols of fertility.
Also, back to Greek mythology, snakes were a symbol of healing, not health, I'll quote Wikipedia again, since they say it in a better way than I can XD
Wikipedia.org
In honor of Asclepius, snakes were often used in healing rituals. Non-poisonous snakes were left to crawl on the floor in dormitories where the sick and injured slept.
It could be a dark sense of irony on J.K.R.'s part, having a symbol of healing as Voldemort's sign. [
Maybe - Voldemort used a snake as his symbol because he wanted to 'heal' the wizarding community of all muggle influence? Just a thought~]And that was way too long. xD;
Sumurika
-__- You know, with all this religion arguing going on, I forgot the purpose of this topic...
There's tons of stuff like that in the book. Like, how Minerva is the goddess of knowledge (and many other things, too lazy to check right now). I had found some other stuff, but i forget now. sweatdrop >.>; Minerva
is the goddess of knowledge, in Roman Mythology. The Greek counterpart being Athena/Athene.
I haven't found many mistakes in her mythological/historical knowledge~ J.K.R. is rather good with her research... well... apart from her geography xD But I think we can forgive one mistake over a trainstation.
xd
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