Category: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Andrei Valentinovich Shmal'ko

Gray Kite [Серый коршун (Seryĭ korshun)]

Nurgal-Sin, the main character, a Babylonian mercenary (“a gray kite”, which is, according to Valentinov, a name for Babylonian elite troops), has almost forgotten his true name, Cleoterus, as well as his native country, Achiyava (Valentinov uses the Mycenaean form of toponym, with digamma). The well-trained and highly-experienced officer has too few good memories of his native land to feel nostalgia: he was sold into slavery as a small child. However, he suddenly finds himself to be(...)

literary

YEAR: 1997

COUNTRY: Ukraine

TAGS: Electra Hades Laius Mycenae Oedipus Orestes Poseidon Zeus

Yaël Farber

Molora

Klytemnestra appears before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and admits murdering her husband. She considers the murder as an act of bravery, and her husband’s destiny. Her daughter, Elektra, then takes the floor and expresses her displeasure and indignation at her mother’s deeds. Both mother and daughter are now committed to the process of unearthing the past. They take us to a period when Elektra was seven years old. The murder is re-enacted. Because of the brutal kill(...)

african

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aegisthus Aeschylus African Traditions Agamemnon Clytemnestra Electra Orestes Sophocles

Margery Jean Gill, Roger Lancelyn Green

The Luck of Troy

The Luck of Troy transforms the Trojan War saga into an original story focalised through the character of the twelve year old boy Nicostratus, the son of Menelaus and Helen. Having been brought to Troy by his mother when he was a baby, Nico grows up in the besieged city, with only hazy memories of Greece and his father, and a deeply conflicted sense of identity and loyalty. As the war’s impact intensifies, most of the Trojans reject and persecute him as a traitor, but he finds some comfort(...)

literary

YEAR: 1961

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Agamemnon Antenor Cassandra Deiphobus Electra Hector Hecuba Helen Hermione Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Menelaus Mycenae Nicostratus Odysseus / Ulysses Palamedes Palladium Paris (Trojan Prince) Polyxena Priam Sparta Theano Trojan Horse Trojan War Troy

Brett Bean , Lucy Coats

The Unicorn Emergency (Beasts of Olympus, 8)

This is the eighth and final book in the Beasts of Olympus series. Pandemonius (or Demon as he is most commonly referred to in the series) is the 11 years old son of the god Pan and the mortal Carys. Demon is the official beast keeper of the Olympic gods and it is his responsibility to take care of the various beasts. In this story, Demons returns from Asgard and then enters a deep sleep, during which he prays for Morpheus to help the mad wolf Fenrir to find peace. Morpheus agrees but warns Demo(...)

literary

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Artemis Electra Hades Hephaestus Morpheus Norse Mythology Pan Pleiades Typhon / Typhoeus / Typhaon

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