Aornis Hades
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In Jasper Fforde's series of books featuring Thursday Next, Aornis is sister to Acheron and Styx Hades, members of a rather nasty family of criminals and psychopaths. Aornis is a mnemonomorph - meaning, she can change people's memories.
Fforde claims that the Acheron, Lethe, Cocytus, Phlegethon, and Aornis rivers are tributaries to the river Styx. The name Aornis is used so that both she and Acheron may have the same initials. This is used as a plot device so that readers who may suspect Acheron is alive will not consider the possibility of another relative.
In the widely accepted version of the underworld, or Hades, the river Styx has no tributary rivers. The Acheron, Lethe, Cocytus, and Phlegethon are full rivers. The river Aornis does not exist in the accepted underworld, nor does anyone else in Greek and Roman mythology bear that name. It is a Greek-sounding word which starts with the letter "A".
