Conception
When he was at school in his younger days, C.S. Lewis studied classic Greek works including the Odyssey. One of the iconic scenes from the Odyssey is repeated in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, in which Drinian fears his crew's sanity and safety when Lucy discovers merpeople (although Drinian does not resort to using wax on his crew to block out their noise like Odysseus). Indeed, Dawn Treader follows in the same sea saga as the Odyssey, with the crew encountering mythical creatures and mysterious islands. Although Drinian is highly proficient in nautical expertise, he is not depicted as being noble or as having an inextinguishable desire for glory and, as a result, does not exhibit any other trait similarities with Odysseus. Similar to the mythology and archaic material within the Greek works, Lewis also enjoyed Arthurian myths. Lastly, Lewis suggested that he was greatly influenced by dreams when creating the characters and situations within his works. In conclusion, Drinian is a compilation of Odysseus from the Odyssey and the heroes of the Arthurian myths.
Read more about this topic: Lord Drinian
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