Category: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Annie Di Donna, Abraham Kawa, Alecos Papadatos

Democracy is set in 490 BCE, just before the Battle of Marathon. One of the men fighting for the Athenians, Thersippus, fears that Athena would abandon them and this would cause Athens to fall. A second soldier, named Leander, approaches Thersippus and tells him that they will win as Athena would help them; he proceeds to tell a story of how he once saw Athena and how she helped him. Leander begins by explaining that when he was 16, he was living with his father, councilman Promachus, when (...)

literary

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Agamemnon Apollo Athena Athens Curetes Delphi Democracy Echo Eurydice Gorgon(s) Graeco-Persian Wars Hero(es) Hubris Leander Medusa Narcissus Oligarchy Oracles Orestes Orpheus Spartans Troy Tyranny Zeus

Jan Parandowski

From the Ancient World [Z antycznego świata]

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. This is a collection of short, varied essays introducing young readers to the fascinating world of Antiquity. Topics are very diverse, ranging from archaeology, Greek art, culture, architecture, history, and the Roman Empir(...)

literary

YEAR: 1958

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Alexander the Great Ancient Greece Aqueducts Archaeology Architecture Athens Caesar Cicero Colosseum Democracy Gladiator Games Greek History Homer Latin (Language) Roman Baths Roman Empire Roman History Roman Republic Rome

Natalia Kapatsoulia, Filippos Mandilaras

Pericles and the Golden Century [Ο Περικλής και ο Χρυσός Αιώνας (O Periklī́s kai o Chrysós Aiṓnas)]

The purpose of this book is to showcase Pericles’ life, from childhood to death, and the politics and warfare during Athens’ “Golden Age”, as noted in the subtitle. The front cover shows a helmeted and bearded Pericles before his major construction project, the Parthenon. Builders are shown carrying a Doric capital for the façade’s eighth column, which is missing from the incomplete temple. Yet, we are not only in ancient Athens. At the bottom of the co(...)

literary

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Agariste Aspasia Attica Callicrates Cimon / Kimon Democracy Ephialtes Ictinus Mnesikles Oligarchy Ostracism Paralos Parthenon Pericles Pheidias / Phidias Propylaia Sparta Xanthippos

Terence (Terry) David John Pratchett

Pyramids (Discworld, 7)

Pyramids is set in the fictional Djelibeybi (or the Djel), the tiny, powerless remains of an empire whose only importance is as a strategic block between its neighbours, Tsort and Ephebe. Pteppic/Teppic, the crown prince, has been training at the Assassin’s Guild in Ankh-Morpork. Returning to the kingdom following his father’s death, Teppic discovers that he has no real power, and the real ruler is Dios, the ancient high priest. After an unfortunate series of misunderstandings in whi(...)

literary

YEAR: 1989

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aesop Ancient Religious Practices Ancient Sacrifice Ancient Warfare Aristophanes Aristotle Athens Cleopatra VII Democracy Egypt Egyptian Mythology Founding Legends Greek Philosophy Homer Plato Ptolemaic Egypt Pythagoras Sparta Sphinx Symposium Thermopylae Trojan Horse Trojan War Zeno of Elea

Yann Le Bras, Yan Marchand

Socrates for President! [Socrate Président !]

Long ago, in this story, people were aware of the day of their death and appeared before the judgment of the gods in their best form and brought generous gifts. Even the immortals found it difficult to resist accepting such bounty, so more and more often, the rich were sent to the Isles of the Blessed, while the poor, even if they lived justly, could not lavish gifts on the gods and, so, made their way to Tartarus. When the gods realised that humans could hide an evil soul under a pleasant shell(...)

literary

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: France

TAGS: Democracy Minos Philosophy Plato Political Thought Rhetoric / Oratory Socrates Tartarus

Yann Le Bras, Yan Marchand

Socrates Steps Out of the Shadow [Socrate sort de l’ombre]

A sacred ship from Delos arrives in Athens on its return from a mission to the Temple of Apollo. While the citizens enjoy the festival of the Delia, an imprisoned Socrates prepares to drink poison hemlock, as required by his sentence. After death, his soul joins a queue of others who prepare to appear before the three judges personifying the three parts of the psyche – a many-headed bronze beast (desires and pleasures), a silver lion (justice) and a golden man (the reason). There Socrates (...)

literary

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: France

TAGS: Ancient Religious Practices Apollo Democracy Destiny Fates Greek Philosophy Homer Metempsychosis Moirai Plato Socrates Tartarus

TED , Alex Gendler, Melissa Schwartzberg

TED-Ed Lessons Worth Sharing, Series Government Declassified: What Did Democracy Really Mean in Ancient Athens?

The video shows a young woman surprised by the information that she won a lottery with an all but typical (at least for today’s standards) prize – a position in her country’s national legislature. This may seem strange, as today we understand democracy as a political system based on elections, not lotteries. Yet in ancient Athens things worked differently: elections were organized only for positions requiring high competences, such as generals; all of the other magistrates &nda(...)

ephemeral

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: Online

TAGS: Athenian Political System Athens Boule Democracy Ecclesia