Year: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Seymour Kneitel

Popeye the Sailor (Series): Greek Mirthology

The episode starts with Popeye the Sailor trying to convince his four nephews (Popeye, Peepeye, Poopeye and Pupeye) to eat spinach instead of ice cream. As an example of a great spinach-eater he sets Hercules, the children's great ancestor. Popeye starts the story about the great hero as a fairy-tale: "Once upon a time, a long time ago…", taking his nephews to a distant land where Hercules lived (the location is not specified). Hercules looks just like Popeye (he even has a (...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 1954

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Heracles Hercules

Cyril Walter Hodges, Rosemary Sutcliff

The Eagle of the Ninth

The Eagle of the Ninth is the first in a series of novels that recount the adventures of various generations of the Aquilii family down to the Norman period. In each case, one of the protagonists owns a Dolphin Ring, which has been passed on through the family. The publishers, Oxford University Press, state that the primary audience for these novels are 11–16-year-olds*.The Eagle of the Ninth, set in the first half of the second century CE, begins with the nineteen-year-old centurion Marcu(...)

literary

YEAR: 1954

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Slavery Hadrian Mithras Roman Army Roman Britain Roman Empire Roman History

Ash

The Horse and His Boy (The Chronicles of Narnia, 5)

The Horse and His Boy is set in the ‘Golden Age’ of Narnia, when the children from the The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, were Narnia’s Kings and Queens. In The Horse and His Boy, the reader is introduced to Shasta, a boy who lives in Calormen and is the presumed son of Arsheesh. Shasta is fascinated with Narnia and has always wanted to go there. All the people in Calormen have dark skin and many wear turbans including his father, but Shasta is(...)

literary

YEAR: 1954

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Faun Gods

Tom Galt, John Mackey

The Rise of the Thunderer

This book focuses on mythological stories related to the creation of the world and man. The stories are adapted for younger readers, although the poetic language suggests a more mature readership. The stories narrate the creation of earth, Gaia and Uranus, the Titans, reign of Cronus, the rise of the Olympians, reign of Zeus and tales around Prometheus. At the end of the book there are scholarly notes regarding the sources for each story and the author’s explanations. The stories are accom(...)

literary

YEAR: 1954

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Chronos Demeter Epimetheus Hades Hera Hermes Hestia Ouranos / Uranus Poseidon Prometheus Rhea Themis Thetis Zeus