Year: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Cynthia Voigt

A Solitary Blue tells the story of Jeff Greene, a character first introduced in Dicey’s Song (1982). When Jeff is seven, his mother Melody abandons him, purportedly to devote herself to helping others. Meanwhile Jeff’s father, an academic known as the Professor, is distant and seemingly uncaring. From an early age Jeff is accustomed to feeding both himself and his father, experiencing extreme anxiety lest his father become unhappy. Jeff becomes ill as a result of being negl(...)

literary

YEAR: 1983

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Horace Venus

Anatol’ Viartsinski

Hephaestus – the Friend of Prometheus [Гефест – друг Праметэя (Hefest – druh Prametėia)]

The story begins with a poetic prologue where Prometheus briefly gives answers to some questions and tells his story: “While the audience is getting into the mood for the performance, while the lights are fading out and the tableau curtains are being slowly drawn apart (this time they are drawn apart all too slowly), the dialogue starts, a question followed by the answer. The questions are asked by our time, by our contemporaries, by ourselves; they come from somewhere near, this side of t(...)

literary

YEAR: 1983

COUNTRY: Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)

TAGS: Aphrodite Bacchantes Briareus / Briareos Dionysus / Dionysos Hephaestus Hermes Oceanides Prometheus Satyr(s) Themis Zeus

Robert Baxter, I. M. Richardson

Prometheus and the Story of Fire

The book claims that the origin of the characters of Greek mythology can be found in the stories of Prometheus and Pandora. The narrative begins with chaos and the appearance of Gaea and Uranus, whose first children were monsters. Siblings to these monsters were Cyclops and Titans. Gaea calls upon her Titan children to fight Uranus, who had locked the monsters underground. Cronus steps forward and succeeds in overthrowing Uranus. To make sure he remains ruler of the universe and that none of his(...)

literary

YEAR: 1983

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Caucasus Mountains Cronus / Kronos Cyclops / Cyclopes Epimetheus Gaia / Gaea Hephaestus Heracles Hercules Ouranos / Uranus Pandora Prometheus Rhea Zeus

Natalia Rolleczek

Selene, Cleopatra’s Daughter [Selene, córka Kleopatry]

The previous version of the entry was 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. The action is set mainly in Alexandria and then in Rome, and covers over seven years after Cleopatra VII’s death. The scope of Octavian’s rule becomes unlimited. Having defe(...)

literary

YEAR: 1983

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Alexander Helios Alexandria Alexandrian Library Caesar Caesarion Cleopatra Selene II Cleopatra VII Egypt Gladiator Games Homer Mark Antony Octavian Ptolemaic Egypt Ptolemy Philadelphus Rome

Robert Baxter, I. M. Richardson

The Adventures of Hercules

This is a picture book for an older audience. On each page we have a labour of Hercules with a water-color like illustration, thus we have a narration and illustrations of all 12 labours. The language is aimed at young adults rather than small children. The illustration are also not naïve but in a more adult style. The story follows Hercules from his infantry and the killing of the snakes, then we arrive at his adulthood (killing a lion, helping the king of Thebes, and killing his family) a(...)

literary

YEAR: 1983

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Atlas Augean Stables Cerberus Ceryneian Hind Delphi Diomedes’ Mares Erymanthian Boar Eurystheus Geryon Hera Hercules Hippolyta Hydra Megara Nemean Lion Stymphalian Birds Thebes Titans Twelve Labours of Heracles Underworld White Bull Zeus

Nira Harel, Lidia Rivlin

The Flying Wondrous Horse: Stories From the Greek Mythology [(Sus haPele HaMeufef: sipurim meamitologia hayevanit) סוס הפלא המעופף: סיפורים מהמיתולוג ה היוונית]

The book offers a selection of stories with pictures which present the rich world of the classical Greek mythology to young Israeli readers, in a clear and simple language. The book opens with a short introduction of Greek mythology. It also contains a glossary for the different characters at the end. The stories which appear in this book are:What is Mythology? The Pomegranate SeedThe Fire ThiefMidas' Golden TouchThe King has Donkey EarsThe Narcissus FlowerThe Amazing Winged HorseT(...)

literary

YEAR: 1983

COUNTRY: Israel

TAGS: Aphrodite Daphne Demeter Greek Gods Heracles Hercules Hero(es) Medusa Midas Narcissus Orpheus Pegasus Prometheus