1. What drew you to writing/working with Classical Antiquity and what challenges did you face in selecting, representing, or adapting particular myths or stories?

My publisher came to me with the idea for a children’s book about goddesses in classical mythology, not the other way around, but I agreed to the project because I believed in it. I’m happy to write for children; children actually read books. But even now there’s still a lot of sexism in children’s books and classical mythology is no exception. So that was a big challenge: figuring out how to avoid gratuitous sexism while not changing anything fundamental about the myths. I wanted the book to be feminist without coming across as pandering.

2. Why do you think classical / ancient myths, history, and literature continue to resonate with young audiences?

I’m unsure about the extent that they do in a global context so I don’t want to make overly broad statements. I will say though that while I was writing the book I was constantly reminded that myths are just a lot of fun. They have distinct characters, clear and exciting plots, sometimes profound morals. These are characteristics of good children’s books in general, not just ones about classical mythology.

3. Do you have a background in classical education (Latin or Greek at school or classes at the University?) What sources are you using? Scholarly work? Wikipedia? Are there any books that made an impact on you in this respect? 

I have an A.B. in Classics (2015) from Princeton University and an MPhil in Classics from the University of Cambridge (2016). I drew upon a range of Latin and Greek sources but mostly from Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Hesiod’s Theogony, so those two texts had the greatest impact on this particular project.

4. Did you think about how Classical Antiquity would translate for young readers, esp. in (insert relevant country)?

My publisher wanted the book to be for children between the ages of 8-12, which is tricky because that’s a wide range and different children can demonstrate vastly different reading capabilities around that time. But it did mean that I had to downplay the more potentially traumatic aspects of the stories and at the same time not excise everything that’s difficult about them. Specifically, I was not allowed to depict sexual violence—and there’s a lot of that in classical mythology.

5. How concerned were you with "accuracy" or "fidelity" to the original?  (another way of saying that might be — that I think writers are often more "faithful" to originals in adapting its spirit rather than being tied down at the level of detail — is this something you thought about?)

I decided early on that I wanted to stay pretty faithful to the original myths, although it’s unclear what “original” means here because stories often have multiple competing versions. I guess I wanted the myths to follow some basic, agreed-upon structure. So at times I added details that were my own but I never, for example, changed the ending of a myth. I wanted children to be able to read the book and come away with what could be reasonably called an accurate understanding of classical mythology. 

6. Are you planning any further forays into classical material?

I will continue writing for Eidolon, the online Classics magazine where I’ve been working since 2015. There may be more books in my future but no concrete plans yet.

Prepared by Ayelet Peer, Bar-Ilan University, ayelet.peer@gmail.com