Lecter in his Memphis cell.
Let us analyze the names of the two species of moths that are used in the movie, Acherontia styx and Acherontia atropos (as we will see later in the hidden plot thread, Benjamin Raspail's head actually contained a specimen of A. styx).
The Acheron is a river located in the Epirus region of northwest Greece. In ancient Greek mythology, Acheron was known as the river of pain, and was one of the rivers of the Greek underworld. In the Homeric poems the Acheron was described as a river of Hades.[a] The river Styx was a river in Greek mythology which formed the boundary between Earth and Hades. It circles the underworld nine times. Based on the foregoing, it makes sense for Gumb to have put Acherontia styx in Benjamin Raspail's head, since Gumb is Satan's pupil, and Satan resides in the underworld.
Atropos ("inexorable" or "inevitable", literally "unturning") was the cutter of the thread of life. She chose the manner of each person's death; and when their time was come, she cut their life-thread with her shears.[b] Going by this symbolism, it makes sense for Gumb to have placed Acherontia atropos in the mouth of one of his victims (that of the West Virginia girl), since he is tailoring (working with thread) to create the skin suit.
a. Wikipedia, 'Acheron'. Web, n.d. URL = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acheron.
b. Wikipedia, 'Moirae'. Web, n.d. URL = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moirae.
[If you are only interested in viewing the explanation of the film's hidden plot, continue on to part 25 of the 'unified analysis' of the first three Hannibal Lecter movies.]
[UPDATE: The analysis of The Silence of the Lambs has been extended, in the 'unified analysis' of the first three Lecter movies.]
