Category: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Brett Helquist , Lemony Snicket

A Series of Unfortunate Events (Series, Books 1–13)

This series of thirteen 13-chaptered novels follows the "unfortunate events" which befall Violet, Klaus and baby Sunny Baudelaire after the death of their parents in a fire in the family home. On becoming orphans, the siblings are placed in the custody of their uncle, Count Olaf, who, from the first book onwards tries various – and typically murderous – ways, to acquire their huge fortune. Olaf is aided throughout by his accomplices in V.F.S., a mysterious organisation to w(...)

literary

YEAR: 1999

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Calypso Charybdis Damocles Glaucus Gorgon(s) Heracles Lotus Eaters / Lotophagoi Nero Odysseus / Ulysses Odyssey Plato Sappho Scylla

Christopher Barry, Dennis Spooner

Doctor Who (Series, Season 2): The Romans (The Slave Traders / All Roads Lead to Rome / Conspiracy / Inferno)

‘The Romans’ is a key example of the early format of Doctor Who (1963-1989; 2005-present), which sought to mix science-fiction adventures with historically-themed storylines (as an extension of its intended educational role). A playful comedy, the story sees the crew of the TARDIS (the time/space machine) materialise in the countryside outside Ancient Rome, and take a well-earned holiday at an abandoned Roman villa. Their rest is soon disturbed, however, when Barbara Wright and (...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 1965

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Great Fire of Rome Nero Roman History

Dominic Brigstocke, Steve Connelly, William Terence Deary, Chloë Thomas

Horrible Histories (Series)

A sketch show based on the books of the same name by Terry Deary, focussing on many aspects of history not just the Classical areas. Each episode includes parodic songs teaching children about aspects of history, with both live-action and animated sections often working in conjecture to form the full picture of the sketch. Each sketch is accompanied by the narrative character Rattus Rattus who is used as an accuracy marker for the jokes within the series. The show takes a non-linear format (...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 2009

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Aeschylus Aesop Aesop’s Fables Alexander the Great Antoninus Pius Aphrodite Archimedes Ares Aristotle Artemis Asclepius Athena Athens Avaricum Caesar Caesarion Caligula Cato the Elder Cerberus Claudius (Emperor) Cleopatra VII Constantine Cronus / Kronos Delphic Oracle Diana Diogenes Egypt Gallic Wars Gladiators Graeco-Persian Wars Greek History Hadrian Hannibal Hector Helen Hippocrates Janus Jupiter Marathon Mark Antony Mars Menelaus Mercury Minerva Mithras Neptune Nero Octavian Olympic Games Ouranos / Uranus Paris (Trojan Prince) Plato Pliny the Elder Pluto / Plouton Praetorian Guard Punic Wars Pyrrhus of Epirus Pythagoras Roman Baths Roman History Saturn Scipio Africanus Socrates Sparta Syracuse Theagenes of Thasos Thebes Tiberius Trojan Horse Trojan War Venus Vercingetorix Vesuvius Xerxes Zeus

Małgorzata Musierowicz

Jeżyciad (Series) [Jeżycjada]

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.Jeżycjada is a saga about the life of succeeding generations of families from a district in Poznań, Jeżyce. It began in December 1975. Most of the volumes highlight the problems of adolescence and early adulthood for girls from t(...)

literary

YEAR: 1977

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Aristophanes Aspasia Cyclops / Cyclopes Great Fire of Rome Homer Horace Hydra Hypatia Ides of March Jupiter Laocoön Group Latin (Language) Lotus Eaters / Lotophagoi Marcus Aurelius Nero Ovid Pyrrhus of Epirus Roman History Seneca Sibyl Socrates Styx Virgil Wedding Traditions (Greek and Roman)

Friz Freleng

Looney Tunes (Series): Roman Legion-Hare

The episode opens with the introduction to Rome of 54 CE and to the Colosseum adorned with an ad: "Coliseum Today Detroit Lions in Season Opener. Undefeated Lions Out For First Taste of Victory". This is evidently a big event; not only the Colosseum is packed with people, it is also joined by the Emperor Nero. He is presented as a dull, obese man with too much power. He demands to let the "victim" out in the arena, however, one of the soldiers informs him that there are no vi(...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 1955

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Colosseum Nero Rome

Wiktor Gomulicki , Konstanty Gorski (Górski)

Memories of the Blue School Uniform [Wspomnienia niebieskiego mundurka]

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.Pułtusk, a small Polish town, not far from Warsaw (part of the Polish territory under Russian rule), 1859–1864. The plot is based on autobiographical facts from the author’s school years. The main character – Wi(...)

literary

YEAR: 1905

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Architecture Caryatids Cato the Elder Colossus of Rhodes Cornelius Nepos Elegy Eutropius Fable Hephaestus Heracles Hercules Jupiter Latin (Language) Nero Orestes Ovid Phaedrus Philosophy Poetry Political Thought Pylades Saturn Stoicism Triton

Zinovy Gerdt , Sándor Kallós , Fyodor Khitruk

Olimpioniki [Олимпионики (Olimpioniki)]

This is an educational movie describing the history of the Olympic Games in the form of short funny stories. It was filmed during the 1980 Olympics held in the USSR.The movie is animated, however its last part includes found footage – documentary photo and video materials from modern Olympic Games, finishing with the Moscow Olympics. The animated material is based on ancient vase painting, sculptures, and architecture that is included extensively in the film. It talks about the origin(...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 1982

COUNTRY: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)

TAGS: Apollo Ares Coroebus of Elis Delphic Oracle Iphitos of Elis Milo of Croton Nero Olive Tree Olympic Games Orsippus from Megara Peisidoros Phayllos of Croton Pherenice Titans Zeus

Blue , Overly Sarcastic Productions , Red

Rome Survived Nero (A Post-American-Election Consolation)

The video does not belong to any of the Overly Sarcastic Productions’ series, although it is done in a similar way to those in the Armchair Classics and Armchair History cycles. The main difference is that there are almost no illustrations, and Blue’s manner of speaking is way more serious than usually. This is due to the fact that the video was produced on November 9, 2016, to serve as "consolation" for all those disappointed with the result of presidential election by Don(...)

ephemeral

YEAR: 2016

COUNTRY: Online

TAGS: Colosseum Emperor Julio-Claudian Dynasty Nero Roman Empire Roman History Rome

Taco Hemingway

Various Tracks (2014–2018)

As in the case of most rappers, Taco’s tracks are mainly about himself. He sings about his career, life in Warsaw, best friends and girlfriends, raising the subject of authenticity, art, youth, loyalty, and love. He uses various metaphors inspired by art, football (he is a fan of Tottenham Hotspur F.C.), popular culture (Harry Potter) or classic movies (his favourite seems to be Stanley Kubrick). Taco diagnoses the world that we all live in, full of fake news and lacking inspiration, and a(...)

music

YEAR: 2014

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Antigone Brutus Dionysus / Dionysos Moirai Nero Prometheus Zeus