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

Robert (Bob) Blaisdell, John Green

Favorite Greek Myths: In Easy-to-Read Type

This short anthology of Greek myth is divided into six chapters, with mini sub-chapters within these. 1. Gods and Titans – The stories of Kronos and Ouranos and of Zeus’ war with the Titans.The Story of Prometheus: How Prometheus stole fire and Pandora opened the box. The Story of Persephone: The abduction of Persephone. 2. Hercules – How Hercules carried out labours to become immortal. 3. Heroes and Monsters – Divided into multiple hero stor(...)

literary

YEAR: 1995

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Achilles Agamemnon Ariadne Athena Bellerophon Cronus / Kronos Daedalus Echo Epimetheus Eurydice Hades Helen Heracles Hercules Icarus Jason Jocasta Medea Medusa Minotaur Narcissus Odysseus / Ulysses Oedipus Orestes Orpheus Pandora Paris (Trojan Prince) Pegasus Penelope Persephone Perseus Prometheus Theseus Zeus

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

Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Christian Williams

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (Series, S02E01–24)

The second season of Hercules: the Legendary Journeys utilizes the same basic structure as the first season (see relevant entry) but builds upon the momentum of the franchises’ popularity to expand the number of episodes to almost double that of the first season (13 and 22, respectively). Each episode is self-contained and depicts Hercules and his companion, Iolaus, embarking upon a quest to defeat a villain/bad-guy and/or to resolve an issue of injustice that plagues a town/village. (...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 1995

COUNTRY: New Zealand United States of America

TAGS: Admetus Alcestis Alcmene Aphrodite Barbarians Centaur(s) Demeter Echidna Giants Gods Golden Fleece Hades Hera Heracles Hercules Hero(es) Iolaus Iphicles Jason Judgement of Paris Medea Midas Orestes Persephone Prophecy Salmoneus Sisyphus Sparta Typhon / Typhoeus / Typhaon

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

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

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