“Erasmas” is the phonetic rendering of the Greek phrase that means “our hero” (ήρωάς μας)
Link to Google Translate. Remember to listen to the pronunciation.
Everybody loves Snow Crash’s “Hiro Protagonist,” but Anathem gets no love despite doing it in Greek!
But Erasmus was a contemporary scholar—
Yes, and I’m sure that influenced the name choice1. But I also think it’s too unlikely to be a coincidence, given Anathem’s other name choices and other Stephenson work, and would argue the connection with Erasmus of Rotterdam is secondary, and the “our hero” pun primarily drove the name choice.
Specifically, I think it helped locate Erasmas’s position on the possibility and value of reforming an institution that had thoroughly lost its way, analogizing Erasmas with Erasmus contra Martin Luther. Erasmas breaks his vow, rebelling against Mathic dogma and life that’s interwoven with falsehoods. But his rebellion, like Orolo’s, isn’t rooted in anger at being lied to. It’s rooted in love of what Mathic life was intended to be, could be, and should be.