Category: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Madeline Miller

The narrative follows Circe from a young child who is bullied and shunned by her family and peers until she meets the mortal Glaucos. Circe falls in love with the mortal and searches for a way to turn him into a god, discovering the power of pharmakeia and feeding him sap from flowers sprung from the blood of gods while he sleeps, turning him into a sea-god himself. Circe believes this will finally allow them to be together, but Glaucos’ eye is caught by the nymph Scylla, who drives Circe (...)

literary

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Achilles Aeëtes Circe Crete Cyclops / Cyclopes Daedalus Greek Gods Helios Iliad Immortality Minotaur Odysseus / Ulysses Odyssey Ovid Pasiphae Penelope Prometheus Scylla Telemachus Trojan War

Janusz Towpik, Jadwiga Żylińska

Expedition for the Golden Fleece [Wyprawa po złote runo]

Based on: Katarzyna Marciniak, Elżbieta Olechowska, Joanna Kłos, Michał Kucharski (eds.), Polish Literature for Children & Young Adults Inspired by Classical Antiquity: A Catalogue, Faculty of “Artes Liberales”, Warsaw: University of Warsaw, 2013, 444 pp.The story begins when Iolcos, an ancient Thessalian city, was ruled by the usurper King Pelias. Pelias deprived his brother Aeson of the throne, but he didn’t know that Aeson’s lawful successor – Jason – w(...)

literary

YEAR: 1974

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Absyrtus / Apsyrtos Aeëtes Aphrodite Argo Argonauts Circe Clashing Rocks / Symplegades / Cyanean Rocks Dioscuri Golden Fleece Harpies Hecate Hera Homer Jason Lemnos Medea Orpheus Pelias Phaeacia Phineus Phrixus

David Antram, John Malam, David Salariya

Jason and the Argonauts

In this straight-forward retelling of the myth of the Argonauts, the story begins with the prophecy by the oracle who proclaims that Pelias, king of the city-state of Iolcus, should pay attention to his family, because they will deprive him of power. So Pelias decides to kill everyone, showing mercy only to his brother Aeson, whom he throws into the dungeon. When he arrives to kill Jason, his brother's son, he is tricked by Alcimede the boy's mother, into believing that the young man had(...)

literary

YEAR: 2004

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aeëtes Aeson Alcimede Argo Argonauts Argos / Argus (Constructor of "Argo") Athena Centaur(s) Chiron / Cheiron Colchis Corfu / Kerkyra Golden Fleece Harpies Hera Jason Medea Oracles Orpheus Pelias Poseidon Sirens

Nick Willing

Jason and the Argonauts

Zeus and Hera, looking like a young and handsome couple, peer down at mortals from heaven among the clouds. They are observing Jason’s life from the murder of his father Aeëtes by his uncle Pelias, through his childhood years spent in anonymity away from his home, his return to the King’s court, the forced expedition to seek the Golden Fleece for his uncle, his visit to and escape from the Amazons, the finding of the seer, the arrival in Colchis, Medea’s help in getting th(...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 2000

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Absyrtus / Apsyrtos Aeëtes Amazons Argo Argonauts Argos / Argus (Constructor of "Argo") Atalanta Castor Clashing Rocks / Symplegades / Cyanean Rocks Colchian Bronze Fire-Breathing Bull Colchian Dragon Colchis Eros Harpies Heracles Hercules Hypsipyle Iolcus Jason Lemnos Magic Medea Olympians Orpheus Pelias Phineus Pollux Prophecy Teeth of the Dragon

Natalia Kapatsoulia, Filippos Mandilaras

Jason and the Argonauts [Ο Ιάσονας και η Αργοναυτική Εκστρατεία (O Iásonas kai ī Argonaftikī́ Ekstrateía)]

Mandilaras’ narrative starts with Jason’s childhood on Mount Pelion and ends with the hero’s adventures in Colchis. Aeson, Jason’s father, entrusted the child Jason to the centaur Chiron. When he turned twenty Jason headed for Iolcus to dethrone Pelias, his uncle. At a river crossing, Jason assisted an elderly woman, who was the goddess Hera in disguise. Jason lost one sandal in the river. King Pelias was terrified when he saw Jason. He remembered an oracle that he w(...)

literary

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Achilles Aeëtes Aeson Amphiaraus Argonauts Argos (City) Boreas Calais Chiron / Cheiron Clashing Rocks / Symplegades / Cyanean Rocks Colchis Greece Harpies Hera Hercules Iolcus Jason Lemnos Medea Mysia Nymphs Orpheus Peleus Pelion Phineus Theseus Thrace Zetes

Joan Holub, Suzanne Williams

Medea the Enchantress (Goddess Girls, 23)

In this installment, we meet the twelve year-old Medea, princess of Colchis. Medea’s father is very strict: “he wouldn’t let her hang out with kids he didn’t approve of.” (p. 11). While the king appears severe and controlling, he means well and just wishes to protect his only child. In this way, the authors try to explain to their readers why some parents appear stricter, namely not because they do not love their children, but quite the opposite. Nevertheless, Medea(...)

literary

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Aeëtes Aphrodite Apollo Ares Argonauts Artemis Athena Circe Eros Golden Fleece Harpies Heracles Hercules Hylas Jason Orpheus Pheme Phineus Poseidon

Esther M. Friesner

Nobody's Prize

The sequel to Nobody’s Princess, Nobody’s Prize tells the story of Helen of Troy as a teenager, before the events of the Trojan War. In this novel, the adventure-loving Helen sneaks on board the Argo to participate in the quest for the Golden Fleece. She is disguised as a boy named Glaucus, and accompanied by her friend and freed-slave, Milo.After running into trouble in Iolkos, Helen persuades Heracles’ nephew, Iolaus, to take her and Milo on as weapons bearers and hide their (...)

literary

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Acastus Aeëtes Aethra Agamemnon Aphrodite Argos / Argus (Constructor of "Argo") Atalanta Boreads Calais Castor Clashing Rocks / Symplegades / Cyanean Rocks Clytemnestra Harpies Helen Heracles Hylas Iolaus Jason Medea Menelaus Orpheus Phineus Phrixus Polydeuces Theseus Zetes Zeus

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Tanglewood Tales for Girls and Boys

Tanglewood Tales is the sequel to Hawthorne’s first volume of Greek myths for children, A Wonder Book for Girls and Boys. In the Introduction to this book, a precocious young storyteller Eustace Bright returns to Tanglewood Manor to visit Nathaniel Hawthorne, and they discuss the success of their recent publication, which, according to the fiction, Eustace composed and Hawthorne edited. Now Eustace presents his friend with a second collection of six stories. Although this volume does not f(...)

literary

YEAR: 1853

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Aeëtes Aegeus Aethra Ariadne Cadmus Ceres Chiron / Cheiron Circe Crete Delphi Demeter Europa Golden Fleece Hades Hera Heracles Hercules Hermes Jason Labyrinth Medea Minos Odysseus / Ulysses Pelias Persephone Proserpina Telephassa Theseus

Aleksei Simukov, Aleksandra Snezhko-Blotskaia

The Argonauts [Аргонавты (Argonavty)]

Two Greek boys playing on the seashore notice a wrecked ship and an old man sitting nearby. The man, Jason, tells them the story of the ship (“Argo”) and recalls some of his friends the Argonauts (Theseus, the Dioscuri, the Boreads, Orpheus, and Heracles). He tells how the ship was built and how they journeyed to Colchis in order to find the golden fleece. Among the adventures Jason recalls moving rocks of Symplegades, Stymphalian birds, and sirens.In Colchis in order to win the gold(...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 1971

TAGS: Aeëtes Ares Argonauts Athena Athens Boreads Clashing Rocks / Symplegades / Cyanean Rocks Colchis Dioscuri Hecate Heracles Jason Medea Orpheus Sirens Stymphalian Birds Theseus

Jemal Bagashvili, Aleksander Basilaia, Evgeny Ginzburg

The Argonauts [არგონავტები (Argonavtebi)] / Merry Chronicle of a Dangerous Voyage [Веселая хроника опасного путешествия (Vesёlaia khronika opasnogo puteshestviia)]

The movie presents the myth of the Argonauts in contemporary setting. It starts with an introduction about Tim Severin’s expedition to Georgia in 1984 and then presents the director’s version of the myth. The movie contains most of the main elements of the classical myth. It tells briefly the story of Jason and Pelias, describes the building of “Argo” (which looks exactly like Tim Severin’s “Argo”) and the assembling of the team. Then it presents adventu(...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 1986

COUNTRY: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)

TAGS: Aeëtes Amazons Amycus / Amykos Argonauts Argos / Argus (Constructor of "Argo") Colchis Diogenes Dioscuri Golden Fleece Greece Heracles Hylas Jason Laertes Medea Orpheus Pelias Poseidon Sirens Tiphys

Natalia Kapatsoulia, Filippos Mandilaras

The Golden Fleece [Το χρυσόμαλλο δέρας (To chrysómallo déras)]

King Athamas, prompted by his second wife Ino, intends to sacrifice his son, Phrixus, but a golden ram appears and carries Phrixus away. Phrixus and his sister, Helle, ride the flying ram across the seas. Helle falls to her death over a narrow sea passage. At Colchis, Phrixus sacrifices the ram to Zeus and offers its golden fleece to king Aeetes. A dragon guards the fleece. Many years later, Jason requests the golden fleece from Aeetes. To receive it Jason is tasked with ploughing the land (...)

literary

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Aeëtes Apollo Athamas Colchis Corinth Crete Helle Ino Iolcus Medea Orchomenus Orpheus Pelias Phrixus Sirens Talos (Automaton) Zeus

Sulari Gentill

Trying War (The Hero Trilogy, 2)

Following immediately from the events of Chasing Odysseus, the second book of the trilogy, Trying War, continues the adventures of the young Hero and her adopted brothers, Machaon, Lycon and Cadmus. When they arrive home to rejoin the Herdsmen who live outside Troy, they find Mount Ida under attack by Amazons. The warrior women take Hero captive; a new journey begins as her brothers set out to rescue her, taking with them the nymph Oenone, Paris’ abandoned wife, and the wolf Lupa who had s(...)

literary

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: Australia

TAGS: Absyrtus / Apsyrtos Aeëtes Alcippe Amazons Ares Deidamia of Scyros Electra Eumenides Furies Hecate Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Jason Lykomedes Medea Oedipus Oenone Orestes Pan Pantheon Paris (Trojan Prince) Poseidon Theseus Troy