The Matrix Symbolism
Following my previous post about The Matrix.
As I said, the saga has a rich content of symbolism in almost every aspect of the movies, games and anime. Some of the most obvious ones are the names: they, almost every one of them, are names with certain philosophical meanings and/or have historical roots.
This is an excerpt from http://www.thematrix101.com/matrix/symbolism.php :
Matrix in the
dictionary refers to "a situation or surrounding substance within which
something else originates, develops, or is contained. The womb."
Additionally, the concept of the Matrix as an illusion or a ‘construct’
that humans are unaware of resembles the idea of Samsara
in Buddhism and Hinduism. Samsara teaches that the world we consider
‘real’ is actually a projection of our own desires. From Morpheus Neo
learns that how he’d perceived himself in the Matrix was simply a "the
mental projection of your digital self." The "real" sensory world "is
simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain."
Neo in latin means new. It’s also an anagram of
"one". Thomas Anderson, Neo’s given name relates to ‘doubting Thomas’
in the bible when he doesn’t believe he is the One. Anderson means ’son
of man’ which is a messianic title.
The Oracle in greek history was an intermediary
between god and man. People could ask an Oracle questions and get an
answer, sometimes in a riddle format that often wouldn’t make sense
until later. In the Matrix she says, "You know what that means? It’s
Latin. Means know thyself." "Know thyself" is inscribed upon the Oracle
of Apollo and attributed to the Delphic Oracle, Greece, 6th century B.C.
Trinity represents the number three which is a
powerful number in many stories and traditions. In keeping with the
Christian themes, the ‘father’, ’son’, ‘holy spirit’ seems to be
related here. In The Matrix, Morpheus, Trinity, and Neo fight the
machines.
Morpheus means the fashioner or molder, because
of the shapes he calls up before the sleeper, in classical mythology.
He is the god of dreams, which ties in with the sleep/dream theme that
runs throughout the Matrix.
Cypher is the classic betrayer, the Judas
Iscariot. The word refers to a mathematical symbol denoting an absence
of quantity, a zero. Also, someone with no value, a nonentity. It’s
also potentially related to Satan (the name could be a shortened
version of ‘Lucifer’). Cypher also has a goatee and wears red early in
The Matrix which relate to popular images of Satan.Niobe
was a female greek mythological character in the Iliad of Homer. In
that epic story she is described as a woman who compares herself to a
goddess.Merovingian relates to an ancient Frankish
dynasty whose members were attributed with saintliness, magical powers
and divine origin because they were believed to be descendents of
Christ.Persephone was the daughter of Demeter and Zeus
in Greek myth. Hades abducted her and took her to the underworld, but
she was eventually allowed to return to the surface for part of the
year. Her mother Demeter, in her grief neglected her duties and the
earth became cold and barren, so Zeus allowed Persephone to come home
for only 6 months of the year. This marked the changing of the seasons.
These are just some of the characters we found in the saga who got their names somehow related to the roles they play in the story. If I may add:
The word ‘matrix’, also has a meaning in mathematics, which I’m sure you already knew, is a concept build from the arrangement of elements (numbers) on rows and columns which has certain operations defined on it. Coincedentally, this is parallel to the meaning of The Matrix in the movie, which is also an arrangement of elements (poeple’s and machines’ mind) connected to form a massive network which together created the matrix itself.
The Merovingian, as said the excerpt, is the name of the dynasty living in France in mideavel ages, famous for the legend surrounding them, that they’re descendent of Jesus (Isa) himself, thus contradicting the deity attributed to him by the Christians. Recently, the legend got a new attention following the success of world bestseller "The Da Vinci Code", where the legend is told, that Jesus had infact, married to Maria Magdalena and had a child. The descendents later on move to France and establish the kingdom known as the Merovingian, named after the first king, Merovech.
More with these later……
