Category: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

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

Jo Graham

Black Ships

This is the story of the fictional Pythia, from her birth to adulthood. Gull was a girl born to a Trojan slave woman who was brought to Pylos, to King Nestor's palace after the fall of Troy (which is named Wilusa in the book, the name comes from Hittite texts and is associated with Troy; thus the author shows her proficiency with classical archaeology). The background of the Trojan cycle is referred to in the book, especially the sacrifice of Iphigenia and the curse it incurred on the house (...)

literary

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Aeneas Anchises Aphrodite Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Neoptolemus Nestor Persephone Pythia Troy

Henry Lion Oldie

Odysseus, the Son of Laertes. Book 1: The Man of Nomos [Одиссей сын Лаэрта. Книга I: Человек Номоса (Odissei syn Laerta. Kniga I: Chelovek Nomosa)]

This is a heroic fantasy fiction based on the myth of Odysseus, aimed at young adults, in novel format. The novel belongs to the Achaean Cycle [Ахейский цикл] of Oldie. The first book – The Man of Nomos – describes the childhood of Odysseus, and explains, how he became “the man of Nomos” – a kind of a person whose greatest value is preservation of his world rather than heroic self-sacrifice. A strange boy, able to see phantoms, ghosts and gods, s(...)

literary

YEAR: 2000

COUNTRY: Russia

TAGS: Achilles Agamemnon Alkimos Anticlea Athena Autolycos Cronus / Kronos Diomedes (Son of Tydeus) Eumaeus / Eumaios Eurycleia Giants Gigantomachia Hades Helen Hera Heracles Hercules Iolaus Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Laertes Menelaus Odysseus / Ulysses Palamedes Paris (Trojan Prince) Patroclus Penelope Poseidon Priam Telemachus Tyndareus Zeus

Henry Lion Oldie

Odysseus, the Son of Laertes. Book 2: The Man of Kosmos [Одиссей сын Лаэрта. Книга II: Человек Космоса (Odissei syn Laerta. Kniga II: Chelovek Kosmosa)]

This is a heroic fantasy fiction based on the myth of Odysseus, aimed at young adults, in novel format. This book, together with the first book of the same novel, belongs to Oldie’s Achaean cycle [Ахейский цикл]. The plot of the novel is reframing and reinterpretation of Iliad and Odyssey. The Nomos of Odysseus and his friends Mentor and Diomedes breaks out into Cosmos – or, strictly speaking, into The Caldron of Cronus. The famous problem of classical epic – the abso(...)

literary

YEAR: 2001

COUNTRY: Russia

TAGS: Achilles Agamemnon Alkimos Anticlea Athena Autolycos Cronus / Kronos Diomedes (Son of Tydeus) Eumaeus / Eumaios Eurycleia Hades Helen Hera Heracles Hercules Iolaus Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Laertes Menelaus Mentor Odysseus / Ulysses Palamedes Paris (Trojan Prince) Patroclus Penelope Poseidon Priam Telemachus Tyndareus Zeus

Sharona Guri

Stories from the Greek Theatre [Sipurim Mehatheatron hayevany, סיפורים מהתיאטרון היווני]

The book offers a selection of synopses of Greek dramas, as well as an explanation about Greek theatre, including information about tragedy and comedy and different definitions relating to the theatre). There is even a historical background of 5th century BCE Athens in order to place the plays in their correct historical settings.The plays are divided by dramatist and each has his own introduction: Aeschylus: Prometheus Bound; Agamemnon; The Suppliants; Seven against Thebes. Sophocles: Oedipus R(...)

literary

YEAR: 1996

COUNTRY: Israel

TAGS: Aeschylus Agamemnon Antigone Aristophanes Cassandra Creon Eteocles Euripides Haemon Io Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Ismene Jason Lysistrata Medea Oedipus Plutus / Ploutos Polyneices / Polynices Prometheus Sophocles Tiresias Zeus

Jerzy Flisak, Anna M. Komornicka

Stories Not from This World [Historie nie z tej ziemi]

Based on: Katarzyna Marciniak, Elżbieta Olechowska, Joanna Kłos, Michał Kucharski (eds.), Polish Literature for Children & Young Adults Inspired by Classical Antiquity: A Catalogue (accessed: June 11, 2021), Faculty of “Artes Liberales”, Warsaw: University of Warsaw, 2013, 444 pp., section by Elżbieta Olechowska and Olga Grabarek, pp. 128–131. This is the first volume in the series The Legacy of Antiquity. The heroes of the book are siblings: Krzyś, Stefanek and Elżbie(...)

literary

YEAR: 1987

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Achilles Alexander the Great Apollo Asclepius Boreas Chiron / Cheiron Daedalus Demeter Hades Helios Hephaestus Hermes Hygeia / Hygieia Hypnos Icarus Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Iris Mercury Odysseus / Ulysses Parcae Phaethon Poseidon Thetis Zeus

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

Theresa Tomlinson

The Moon Riders

This novel follows over a decade in the life of the Moon Riders, a group of warrior priestesses from various tribes who serve the moon goddess Maa and travel across Asia Minor. They are called “Amazons” by outsiders. In particular, the novel focuses on a young Mazagardi Moon Rider named Myrina, and her friendship with the Trojan princess Cassandra. Tomlinson looks at gender politics and freedom from the point of view of a protagonist from an egalitarian society. Told in third person,(...)

literary

YEAR: 2002

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Aethra Amazons Cassandra Chryseis Clytemnestra Hecuba Helen Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Odysseus / Ulysses Paris (Trojan Prince) Penthesilea Priam Theseus

Roger Lancelyn Green, Betty Middleton-Sandford

The Tale of Troy

Roger Lancelyn Green’s The Tale of Troy stresses that the origins of the Trojan War go right back to the beginning of Zeus’ reign, when Prometheus prophesised that the sea nymph Thetis would give birth to a son who would grow up to be greater than his father. In order to preserve his power, Zeus changed his mind about being Thetis’ consort, and instead arranged for her to be married to the minor hero Peleus. All the Olympians attended the celebration, except for Eris, the godde(...)

literary

YEAR: 1958

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Aeneas Aeneid Agamemnon Ajax / Aias Andromache Antenor Aphrodite Apollo Athena Calchas Circe Clytemnestra Cyclops / Cyclopes Diomedes (Son of Tydeus) Epic Cycle Eris Hector Hecuba Helen Hera Heracles Hercules Hermes Hermione Homer Iliad Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Laocoon Menelaus Neoptolemus Nestor Odysseus / Ulysses Palamedes Paris (Trojan Prince) Patroclus Peleus Philoctetes Priam Prometheus Sinon Sirens Thetis Tiresias Trojan Horse Trojan War Troy Zeus

Anna Gkoutzouri

The Trojan Horse [Ο Δούρειος Ίππος (O Doúreios Íppos)]

The Trojan Horse is part of the "My First Greek Myths" series of babies' board books, by Anna Gkoutzouri. The cover image depicts the Trojan Horse and contains a surprise for readers. Sliding the middle panel upwards as a small arrow directs, reveals several pairs of eyes inside the belly of the horse. Two guards also pop up in the turrets of the castle. At the same time, bars slide across on the right-hand side of the page and the beautiful Helen is revealed at her windowsill, smi(...)

literary

YEAR: 2019

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Achilles Hector Helen Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Odysseus / Ulysses Trojan Horse Trojan War

Evi Pini, Elisa Vavouri

The Trojan War. The Beginning of History [Τρωικός Πόλεμος. Η αρχή της ιστορίας (Trōikós Pólemos. Ī archī́ tīs istorías)]

Evi Pini explains how the Trojan War started. The text is in the form of a fairy tale, as implied by the standard phrase “once upon a time” (my translation) at the very beginning. The book begins with Eris and ends with Iphigeneia’s last-minute rescue from being sacrificed to Artemis. Neither fighting nor bloodshed is presented. Instead, we have an account of human and divine passions and emotions, as well as a description of logistical preparations for going to war.&nbs(...)

literary

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Achilles Aeolus Agamemnon Aphrodite Argos (City) Artemis Athena Athens Boeotia Calchas Clytemnestra Crete Diomedes (Son of Tydeus) Eris Euboea Gods Greek History Helen Hera Hermes Idomeneus Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Ithaca Lykomedes Menelaus Menestheus Mycenae Nestor Odysseus / Ulysses Paris (Trojan Prince) Peleus Phocis Priam Pylos Skyros Sparta Thetis Troy Tyndareus 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