Melancholic Temperament

"All men of genius are of melancholy temperament."
Aristotle

Personality Temperament Inventory

During the age of the Greeks, there was, in medical circles, the concept of the four humors, which regulated health of a person. Certain diseases would be linked to a surplus of one of the four humors, black bile, yellow bile, blood and phlegm. What Galien and Hyppocrates discovered though, was that the four humors were also symbolic of personality types. This system was one of the first that brought together the idea of physical attributes and personality.
There are four categories of behavior in this system:
Sanguine-extrovert, talker, optimist, "popular"
Phlegmatic-introvert, watcher, pessimist, "peaceful"
Choleric-extrovert, doer, optimist, "powerful"
Melancholic-introvert, thinker, pessimist, "perfect"

So how does our beloved Potion Master fit in to the system? He is a major Melancholic- exhibiting most of the qualities, with perhaps one or two crossovers.

THE "PERFECT" MELANCHOLIC'S EMOTIONS
*deep and thoughtful
*analytical
*serious and purposeful
*genius prone
*talented and creative
*artistic and creative-remember how he enters and exits a room- full of symbolic meaning, and, well, artistry. Even though it is difficult for us to imagine Snape painting or drawing of sorts, we do get wonderfully vivid and complete works of art in his mannerisms and his carefully constructed entrances\exits
*philosophical and poetic- remember the riddle in the end of book one- yes, it is a riddle, but anything not written in paragraphs is literarily defined as 'poetry.'
*appreciative of beauty-at first seems contradictory. But recall the first speech : "I don't expect you will fully understand the beauty of the simmering cauldrons with its shimmering fumes..." (and you know the rest). He finds his beauty in an unlikely place- Potions (which is then used as a symbol for logic).
*sensitive to others-I tend to point away from this one, but I can't formulate an argument that makes sense to me. There is probably evidence for it.
*self-sacrificing- the fact he's risking his life for the progression of good says it all.
*conscientious- see his class
*idealistic-he has an almost absurd idea of right versus wrong, good versus evil. If someone does something wrong, then they should be punished. The fact that Potter constantly violates that causes much of the conflict in Snape.

THE "PERFECT" MELANCHOLIC AS A PARENT
*sets high standards
*wants everything done right
*keeps home in good order-evidence: see how all his potion ingredients are in neat order. He also knows exactly when something is missing (like gillyweed, or boomslang skin) because everything is neat and orderly
*picks up after children- not literally for Snape, but he does make sure that if one of his students screw up, he can fix it. Whenever Longbottom does something wrong, even though everyone looks at his sarcasm and condemnations, he does fix the problem
*sacrifices own will for others
*encourages scholarship and talent-Many interpret Snape's behavior in the classroom as just plain mean, and that's certainly how the voice of the novel, Potter, sees it. But really, all the 'nasty essays' he has them do just encourages research and work upon their part

THE "PERFECT" MELANCHOLIC AT WORK
*schedule oriented
*perfectionist, high standards
*detail conscious
*persistent and thorough
*orderly and organized
*neat and tidy-many of us laugh at this, because we immediately jump to Snape's 'greasy shoulder-length" hair. but I think there is another reason...
*economical
*sees problems
*finds creative solutions
*needs to finish what is started
*likes charts, graph, figures, lists

THE "PERFECT" MELANCHOLIC AS A FRIEND
*Makes friends cautiously-with Snape's DE background, and his experience of betrayal, no one should be surprised. Also consider his schooling. I don't think that after being hated by the majority of the class he would then be open to making friends
*content to stay in background-or else he would be like Lucius Mafloy, donating to charities, full of honors....also, JKR demonstrates this literally in book two when the teachers examine the petrified Mrs. Norris:
"The tip of Dumbledore's long, crooked nose was barely an inch from Mrs. Norris's fur. He was looking at her closely through his half-moon spectacles, his long fingers gently prodding and poking. Professor McGonagall was bent almost as close, her eyes narrowed. Snape loomed behind them, half in shadow, wearing a most peculiar expression: It was as though he was trying hard not to smile."
*avoids causing attention
*faithful and devoted-to Dumbledore (and perhaps Voldemort? we don't know)
*will listen to complaints-I don't know about this one. The only evidence I have is when he listens to Dumbledore
*can solve others' problems
*deep concern for other people- he hides it very well, but it exists. He has compassion for Potter, he has compassion for his students (because he doesn't want them to fail). One could say he uses 'tough love' if he loves at all.
*moved to tears with compassion-no evidence of this yet.
*seeks ideal mate-probably. Again, no evidence, but with he rest of his personality, it wouldn't be surprising.

NOTES:
The Melancholic is the one of the four that is most prone to obsessions. Any of these traits taken to an extreme becomes a vice. The attention to details is usually good, but too much can constitute a brooding over problems and the past. Their schedule-driven lives also causes them to be mircomanagers. They also criticize everyone and everything, even when not warranted.

Sound familiar? Of course, any comments are appreciated.