I had some ado to prevent Joy and myself from relapsing into Paganism in Attica! At Daphni it was hard not to pray to Appolo the Healer. But somehow one didn’t feel it would have been very wrong — would have only been addressing Christ sub specie Apollinius. (Roger Lancelyn Green quoting C.S. Lewis in the biography C.S. Lewis: A Biography)

C.S. Lewis’s love affair with Greek paganism is clearly seen in the selection of characters for his masterfully written and much-beloved series, The Chronicles of Narnia. The mysterious and wonderful world of Narnia is home not only to the Christ-like Aslan, but is teeming with the icons of ancient pantheistic and idolatrous religions. Pagan gods, demi-gods, and Aslan all dwell together in harmony.

These characters include:

The Roman God Bacchus: Worshipped by millions of pagans from the ancient world as the god of wine, Bacchus is associated with drunkenness, revelry, and immorality. In The Chronicles of Narnia, Bacchus makes occasional visits to Narnia. He is mentioned in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and makes an appearance in Prince Caspian, as does Silenus, a figure from Greek mythology who was the teacher of Bacchus. In Greek mythology, Bacchus goes by the name Dionysus.

Maenads: The ancient Greeks and Romans knew the maenads as the special attendants to Bacchus (which is why they also went by the names Bacchae and Bacchantes). The word maenad literally means “raving ones.” They were believed to have occult powers. In Narnia, they are “madcap” girls that still attend to Bacchus. Of Maenads, Wikipedia has this interesting explanation: “They were known as wild, insane women who could not be reasoned with. The mysteries of Dionysus inspired the women to ecstatic frenzy; they indulged in copious amounts of violence, bloodletting, sex, and self-intoxication and mutilation. They were usually pictured as crowned with leaves, clothed in fawnskins and carrying the Thyrsus and dancing with the wild abandonment of complete union with primeval nature.”

Fauns: Half humans and half goats, fauns find their origin in Roman mythology as followers of the gods Pan (god of the field) and Bacchus (god of wine). They are generally portrayed in myth as troublemakers. Fauns play a central role in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and can be found throughout The Chronicles of Narnia, but unlike their Roman counterparts, Lewis’s fauns are kind, beloved creatures.

Centaurs: In religious worship and mythology, centaurs are half human, half horse — wicked demi-gods given to violence and sexual excess. (Exception: The centaur Chiron (trainer of Achilles) was depicted as just.) Centaurs are important figures in the Narnian landscape. Lewis portrays them as generally loyal to Aslan, and as star-gazers that tell the future by the stars.

Dryad and Naiads: Pantheism (the worship of God in nature) is a critical element of ancient paganism. Dryads are yet another mythological manifestation of this anti-Christian idolatry. A dryad is a tree spirit linked to an individual tree. In Lewis’s Narnia, Dryads are mysterious, tree/spirit beings who are faithful to Aslan and Narnia itself. In ancient mythology, naiads were water nymphs. (They appear less frequently than Dryads in the Chronicles.)