How Greek Literature and Poetry Influenced C.S. Lewis (featuring Anthony Hopkins!)

This past week was the birthday of the famous British author C.S. Lewis (Nov. 29 to be exact), so to celebrate we will take a look at how Greek literature and poetry have had a profound impact on his work. Lewis was a professor of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at the University of Cambridge and is best known for his works of fiction, including The Chronicles of Narnia and The Space Trilogy. He was also a prolific writer of non-fiction, including literary criticism, theology, and philosophy.

Lewis was deeply influenced by the classics, particularly the works of Homer, Plato, and Aristotle. He studied Greek and Latin literature at Oxford and went on to teach these subjects at Cambridge. His love of the classics is evident in his writing, which often draws on themes and motifs from ancient Greek and Roman mythology. Before we continue with this article, there is a movie starring Anthony Hopkins from 1993, called Shadowlands, that you might be interested in watching. It is a biographical movie about the life of C.S. Lewis, and you can watch all of it on YouTube below (or continue this article below it):

Lewis was introduced to Greek literature at a young age by his tutor, William T. Kirkpatrick, who taught him Latin and Greek and encouraged him to read widely and critically. Lewis was captivated by the beauty and wonder of the Greek myths, which he described as “a sort of airy wine” that filled him with “a joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief”.

Lewis recognized that the Greek myths were not true in a historical or scientific sense, but he also believed that they contained a deeper truth that transcended rationality. He called this truth “myth”, which he defined as “a real though unfocused gleam of divine truth falling on human imagination”. He argued that myth was a way of expressing the inexpressible, the longing for something beyond the natural world, the desire for God.

Lewis was also influenced by the poetry of the ancient Greeks. He was particularly drawn to the works of Homer, whose epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are considered among the greatest works of Western literature. Lewis was fascinated by the way in which Homer used language to create vivid images and convey powerful emotions. He saw this as a model for his own writing, which often uses vivid imagery and poetic language to convey complex ideas.

Lewis’s admiration for Greek literature was not only intellectual, but also artistic. He learned from the Greek poets and storytellers how to craft compelling narratives, memorable characters, and vivid imagery. He also borrowed from the Greek literary genres and motifs, such as epic, tragedy, comedy, satire, allegory, and fantasy.

One of the most obvious examples of Lewis’s use of Greek literature is his Narnia series, which is full of references and allusions to Greek mythology. For instance, in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the children encounter a faun named Mr. Tumnus, who is a creature from Greek mythology that has the legs and horns of a goat and the torso and head of a man. In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the ship sails to the island of the Duffers, who are similar to the Cyclopes, the one-eyed giants from Homer’s Odyssey. In The Silver Chair, the heroes meet a witch who turns people into stone, like the Medusa from Greek mythology.

Lewis also used Greek literature as a source of inspiration for his themes and messages. For example, in Till We Have Faces, he retold the myth of Cupid and Psyche from a different perspective, exploring the nature of love, beauty, and faith. Lewis believed that myths were not simply stories, but rather they were a way of expressing deep truths about the world and human experience. He saw the myths of ancient Greece as a way of exploring the human condition and the nature of reality.

Lewis was particularly interested in the idea of the “mythical method,” which he believed was a way of conveying truth through the use of imaginative stories. Lewis’s work continues to be read and studied today, and his legacy as a writer and scholar is secure. If you want to learn more about him, you can watch the documentary below (or the movie Shadowlands, featured above) :