Category: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Vikentsi Ravinski

Aeneid Inside Out [Энеіда навыварат (Eneida navyvarat)]

After the fall of Troy, Aeneas, the son of Venus, along with his soldiers travel to Rome in order to establish a new kingdom there. Juno, who does not like Aeneas's mother, Venus, wants to thwart the hero. She talks Aeolus, the Keeper of the Winds, into raising a storm in the sea. But Aeneas appeals to Neptune for help. Neptune calms down the wind and soothes the sea. Venus helps her son too; she asks Zeus to support Aeneas. Zeus promises Venus that her son will happily arrive in Rome and wi(...)

literary

YEAR: 1845

COUNTRY: Russian Empire

TAGS: Aeneas Aeneid Aeolus Bacchus Carthage Dido Eurus / Euros Juno Neptune Notus / Notos Troy Venus Virgil Vulcan Zephyrus

Natalia Kapatsoulia, Filippos Mandilaras

Aphrodite, Goddess of Beauty [Αφροδίτη η θεά της ομορφιάς (Afrodítī ī theá tīs omorfiás)]

Mandilaras and Kapatsoulia recount Aphrodite’s life, starting with her birth from the sea in Cyprus and ending with her veneration in Greek temples and legacy for sculptors and painters. Aphrodite emerged from the sea in a large seashell. She was beautiful and everyone fell in love with her. Zephyrus travelled with Aphrodite, first to the island of Cythera – where he spent a night with her – and afterwards to the west part of Cyprus. In Cyprus, the Hours made Aphrodite bea(...)

literary

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Adonis Aphrodite Aphrodite of Melos / Venus of Milo Ares Athena Cyprus Cythera Dionysus / Dionysos Eris Eros Helen Hephaestus Hera Hermes Horae Judgement of Paris Menelaus Olympus Peleus Persephone Poseidon Pottery / Vases Thetis Troy Underworld Zephyrus Zeus

Natalia Kapatsoulia, Filippos Mandilaras

Apollo and Artemis [Απόλλωνας και Άρτεμη (Apóllōnas kai Ártemī)]

The book starts by showing two gods as small children in a pram. We read that the boy grew up to become a patron of the arts and music, while the girl lived in the forests and hunted. Readers are asked to guess the two siblings’ names. Next, we read about pregnant Leto trying to find a place to give birth, running away from Hera’s frustration with Zeus’ infidelity. Leto takes refuge in a small island, and gives birth, first to Artemis and then to Apollo. It now becomes cle(...)

literary

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Actaeon Apollo Artemis Aulis Cassandra Daphne Delos Delphi Hera Hyacinth Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Leto Nymphs Python Tityos Troy Zephyrus Zeus

Franciszek Kobryńczuk

Hyacinth [Hiacynt]

Hyacinth, a beautiful boy, is friends with Zephyrus, the god of the west wind, and Apollo, the god of beauty. With Zephyrus, Hyacinth runs while Apollo teaches him to play the lyre and zither, shoot the bow, and throw the discus. Zephyrus is jealous of Hyacinth and Apollo’s relationship. Therefore, when the friends throw a discus, the god of the wind blows on the instrument, and it flies on a different track, hitting Hyacinth and killing him. The distraught Apollo, unable to revive his fri(...)

literary

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Apollo Hyacinth Metamorphosis Zephyrus

Bob Lentz, Kate McMullan , Denis Zilber

Keep a Lid on It, Pandora! (Myth-O-Mania, 6)

Keep a Lid on it, Pandora! Tells the story of Pandora’s box and Prometheus stealing fire with a contemporary twist, narrated by Hades, and is part of a series of Greek myths told from Hades’ point of view. Hades claims that Zeus edited all the original myths in order to make himself look more powerful. He goes on to give a different explanation for the myth of Pandora’s Vase, specifically that he and Zeus had made a bet on whether Pandora would open it or not. Since Zeus b(...)

literary

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Athens Caucasus Mountains Chaos Cronus / Kronos Cyclops / Cyclopes Delphic Oracle Epimetheus Gaia / Gaea Hades Harpies Hecatoncheires / Hundred-Handed Hephaestus Hestia Hypnos Olympus Ouranos / Uranus Pandora Pandora’s Box Parnassus (Mount) Poseidon Prometheus Rhea Sibyl Styx Titans Underworld Zephyrus Zeus

Marcin Szczygielski, Dorota Wojciechowska-Danek

Leo and the Red Machine [Leo i czerwony automat]

In this fantasy novel about the nature of humanity and creation, Leo is a twelve-year old boy living in the City (which stands for any contemporary generic city), where everyone is nice and they all help each other, smile and live a genuinely happy life. What makes the main character special is the fact that he was born in-vitro, which only few people find odd or “unnatural”. That attitude changes when one day, with no particular reason, citizens of the City become hostile, mistrustf(...)

literary

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Aquilo Balius Cassandra Eurus / Euros Moirai Notus / Notos Prometheus Xanthus (Horse) Zephyrus

Małgorzata Musierowicz

Mrs. Darling’s Kisses [Całuski pani Darling]

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 book presents a variety of recipes weaved into various stories about characters known from classic children’s books (Polish and from other parts of the world), Greek and Roman mythology and history. It is designed for a(...)

literary

YEAR: 1995

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Achilles Aeneas Amphitrite Apollo Baucis Caesar Circe Damocles Demeter Diogenes Eris Helen Hercules Hyacinth Hypnos Lucullus Midas Odysseus / Ulysses Persephone Philemon Phoenix (Bird) Poseidon Pyrrhus of Epirus Socrates Xanthippe Zephyrus

Geraldine McCaughrean, Bee Willey

Myths and Legends of the World: The Bronze Cauldron

The book offers a retelling of myths from around the world, suitable for children of all ages. (Among the myths we have stories from Mayan culture, Papua New Guinea, Inuit tale, Japanese and more).(...)

literary

YEAR: 1997

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Cupid Hades Jupiter Psyche Sisyphus Typhon / Typhoeus / Typhaon Venus Zephyrus Zeus

Kate McMullan , Denis Zilber

Nice Shot, Cupid! (Myth-O-Mania, 4)

This is the fourth book in the Myth-O-Mania series, which offer alternative versions of the Greek myths, narrated by Hades. Hades, who is a self-professed shy and serious god, promises to tell the whole truth about the Greek myth; he claims that his brother Zeus, is a myth-o-maniac (that is, a liar) and that he fabricated the myths and wrote his version so that he and his children will appear noble and praiseworthy. Hades’ versions offer the “true” story of the myths.In this bo(...)

literary

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United Kingdom United States of America

TAGS: Aphrodite Cupid Furies Hades Persephone Psyche Zephyrus Zeus

Shoo Rayner

Olympia. Throw for Gold (Olympia, 4)

Throw for Gold is the fourth in author-illustrator Shoo Rayner’s Olympia series of chapter books, which show what life was like for ordinary children in Ancient Greece. It features Olly, whose father runs the gymnasium where the great athletes train, and who dreams of being an Olympic champion, if only he can beat his arch-enemy, Spiro. The story opens with Olly and Spiro learning to throw the discus. Spiro is stronger than Olly, and hurls his discus further. His dog pounces on the di(...)

literary

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Acrisius / Akrisios Eurus / Euros Olympia Olympic Games Perseus Zephyrus

Kate McMullan , Denis Zilber

Stop that Bull, Theseus! (Myth-O-Mania, 5)

This is the fifth book in the Myth-O-Mania series. In this series, Hades is the narrator who promises to tell the whole truth about the Greek myth; he claims that his brother Zeus is a myth-o-maniac (that is, a liar) and that he fabricated the myths and wrote his version so that he and his children will appear noble and praiseworthy. In this book, Hades reveals the truth behind the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Hades claims that the Minotaur was actually Zeus’ grandson (Pasiphae w(...)

literary

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aegeus Aethra Ariadne Cupid Daedalus Dionysus / Dionysos Furies Hades Icarus Labyrinth Medea Minos Minotaur Poseidon Procrustes Sciron Sinis Zephyrus Zeus

Enid Blyton, Chris Price

Tales of Ancient Greece

This is a short collection of Greek myths retold for children. They are related in fairly simple language, mostly adapted closely from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The illustrations take the form of black and white line drawings depicting key moments in the chapters.Pandora and the Whispering Box.Phaeton and the Sun-Horses.Proserpina and the King of the Underworld.The Maiden of the Laurel Tree (Daphne and Apollo)The Watchman with a Hundred Eyes (Io and Argus).The Story of Echo and Narcissus.The K(...)

literary

YEAR: 1930

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Apollo Arachne Arion (Poet) Baucis Ceres Clytie Cupid Daphne Echo Epimetheus Hyacinth Io Juno Jupiter Minerva Narcissus Pandora Phaethon Philemon Pluto / Plouton Proserpina Psyche Zephyrus

Natallia Bashava , Siarheĭ Kavalioŭ , Kanstantsin Veranitsyn

Taras on Parnassus [Тарас на Парнасе (Taras na Parnase)]

This play is a presentation of the classic Belarusian poem Taras on Parnassus.To meet the needs of the production, the dramatist integrates the events of Taras’ family life into the plot of the classic poem Taras on Parnassus (Taras, a forester, got lost in the woods while hunting and found himself at Mount Parnassus, where he met the pantheon of ancient gods). The daughter of Taras and Paraska is getting married, but her father does not approve of her fiancé. According to the idea (...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 2004

COUNTRY: Belarus

TAGS: Augean Stables Bacchus Ceryneian Hind Cupid Erymanthian Boar Hebe Hera Hercules Hydra Jupiter Mars Naiad Neptune Nymphs Parnassus (Mount) Saturn Satyr(s) Stymphalian Birds Venus Vesta Vulcan Zephyrus Zeus

Kanstantsin Veranitsyn

Taras on Parnassus [Тарас на Парнасе (Taras na Parnase)]

After a long usual journey through the forest, Taras, the forester, the main protagonist and narrator of the poem, falls into a pit and finds himself on at the base of Mount Parnassus. A little Cupid (“curly-headed, like a sheep” with a quiver of arrows and a hefty bow) guides him to the top. Taras passes a large group of writers climbing the mountain (he notices that not everyone is allowed to enter) and finally gets to the top where he realizes that he is surrounded by Greek gods w(...)

literary

COUNTRY: Russian Empire

TAGS: Bacchus Cupid Hebe Hercules Jupiter Mars Naiad Neptune Nymphs Parnassus (Mount) Saturn Venus Vesta Zephyrus Zeus