![]() ![]() Many commentators have linked the name to the Latin words ratiō ("reason") and ōrātor ("speaker"), noting his role as a reasoner with Prince Hamlet, and surviving (even though he begged for death) to tell Hamlet's heroic tale at the end of the play. Horatio is a variation of the Latin Horatius. Being from Wittenberg, a university that defined the institutional switch from theology to humanism, Horatio epitomizes the early modern fusion of Stoic and Protestant rationality. Horatio is not directly involved in any intrigue at the court, but he makes a good foil and sounding board for Hamlet. Hamlet has departed for England by this point, and is not supposed to return. For example, when Gertrude (the queen) is reluctant to admit the "distract" Ophelia, she changes her mind following Horatio's advice. He is on relatively familiar terms with other characters. Hamlet is glad to see him, and Horatio remains at court without official appointment, simply as "Hamlet's friend". ![]() He was present on the field when King Hamlet (Hamlet's father) defeated Fortinbras (the king of Norway), and he has travelled to court from the University of Wittenberg (where he was familiar with Prince Hamlet) for the funeral of King Hamlet. Horatio is a character in William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. Horatio (standing, dressed in red) with Hamlet in the "gravedigger scene" by Eugène Delacroix ![]()
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