Hannibal 3x03: "Secondo"

[cleolinda]

This recap is entirely ridiculous with the pictures and the book quotes and the movie references and the background research and I'm not even sorry because this third season is all we have left, you guys. The show's throwing in everything plus the kitchen sink, so I might as well follow suit

Comments

FOOTNOTE: Name background: Hannibal Lecter

[cleolinda]

I tend to believe that European Aristocracy wasn't a background Harris had in mind when he wrote Red Dragon; the name "Hannibal Lecter" does not sound Lithuanian in the least. (Real talk: We all know he chose it because it rhymes with "cannibal.") I've yet to hear of "Lecter" being a real-life surname, but you can surmise that it derives from words like lector, lectern, lecture--and not just in the Hannibal Lecture sense; they're all words that ultimately derive from from the Latin leggere, "to read," and Hannibal is nothing if not ridiculously erudite.

"Hannibal" is a bit more complicated etymologically--there are many very nice people, I'm sure, named "Hannibal," but I think its initial positive connotation comes from Hannibal Barca, "one of the greatest military commanders in history," famous for marching his army, complete with elephants, over the Alps to attack Italy during the Roman Republic. Because if you really looked at its meaning--who would name their kid "grace of Baal, a demon who likes child sacrifice"? Well,