Year: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Franciszek Kobryńczuk

A Poem about King Picus [Poemat o królu Pikusie]

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.Picus, son of Saturn, the first king of Latium, is very rich and likes to hunt. In a forest, he meets a nymph called Canens. They fall in love and marry. Later, the witch Circe watches Picus and falls in(...)

literary

YEAR: 1994

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Canens Circe Latium Metamorphosis Picus

Mattel, Inc.

Barbie® The Great Eras® Collection (Series): Barbie® Doll as Egyptian Queen™

This collector’s edition doll depicts Barbie as an ancient Egyptian Queen (distinct from the similar dolls which depict Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra (2000), the 2010 Barbie as Cleopatra doll and the 2001 Princess of the Nile doll). The doll is part of the Dolls of the World, Great Eras collection, which also includes a "Grecian Goddess" doll. The doll wears a blue and gold dress with a blue cloak. Her black hair comes over her shoulders and is largely covered by a gold head-piec(...)

material

YEAR: 1994

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Cleopatra VII Egypt

Tom Anderson, Paul Halas, José Maria Millet Lopez

DuckTales: The Arcadian Urn [Rejsen til Epsilon]

Scrooge McDuck, his three great-nephews (Louie, Huey and Dewey) and Webby Vanderquack, the granddaughter of the triplets’ nanny, attend an auction where McMoney, one of Scrooge’s greatest enemies, sells an Ancient Arcadian vase for millions. Unhappy with how much money his rival has made, Scrooge decides to find Arcadia himself and bring back valuable artefacts. Bringing along his nephew, Donald Duck, and his personal pilot, Launchpad McQuack, Scrooge and the team set off to Gre(...)

literary

YEAR: 1994

COUNTRY: Denmark

TAGS: Arcadia Dragons Gladiator Games Gladiators Pottery / Vases Virgil

Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Christian Williams

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (Series, S00 – Season Zero)

Title of the Works: Hercules: the Legendary Journeys – Hercules and the Amazon WomenHercules: the Legendary Journeys – Hercules and the Lost KingdomHercules: the Legendary Journeys – Hercules and the Circle of FireHercules: the Legendary Journeys – Hercules in the UnderworldHercules: the Legendary Journeys – Hercules in the Maze of the MinotaurThe Hercules: The Legendary Journeys franchise, starring Kevin Sorbo in the titular role, is b(...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 1994

COUNTRY: New Zealand United States of America

TAGS: Afterlife Alcmene Amazons Ancient Sacrifice Centaur(s) Cerberus Charon Chiron / Cheiron Deianeira Elysian Fields / Elysium Hades Hera Heracles Hercules Hippolyta Hydra Immortality Iolaus Katabasis Labyrinth Lydia Minotaur Nessus Omphale Prometheus Sea Monsters Sea-Serpent Styx Troy Twelve Labours of Heracles Underworld Zeus

Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Christian Williams

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (Series, S00E01): Hercules and the Amazon Women

The narrative of Hercules and the Amazon Women is loosely based on Hercules’ labour to get the belt of the Amazon Queen Hippolyta. The film opens with Hercules and his companion Iolaus walking through the woods where they encounter a young girl who then transforms into the Hydra. In adherence with general mythological tradition, the pair defeat the beast by using fire to burn the stumps of the monster’s head(s), preventing new ones from sprouting. Once the Hydra is slain, a peac(...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 1994

COUNTRY: New Zealand United States of America

TAGS: Alcmene Amazons Hera Hercules Hippolyta Hydra Iolaus Twelve Labours of Heracles Zeus

Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Christian Williams

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (Series, S00E02): Hercules and the Lost Kingdom

This film’s narrative finds little direct precedent within ancient mythology but draws upon several identifiable themes/tropes for inspiration. After successfully saving a village from a giant, Hercules is approached by a messenger who asks for the hero’s help: his people have been forced out of their home-town, the “lost kingdom” of Troy. Zeus reveals that Hera caused the disappearance of Troy and, in order to find it, Hercules requires the “true compass”. &n(...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 1994

COUNTRY: New Zealand United States of America

TAGS: Ancient Sacrifice Deianeira Hera Hercules Lydia Omphale Sea-Serpent Troy Zeus

Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Christian Williams

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (Series, S00E03): Hercules and the Circle of Fire

This film takes inspiration from several mythological themes, such as Prometheus providing fire for mankind and the wounding of Chiron (with Hydra blood) by Hercules, and combines these into a largely unique narrative. The film opens with Hercules, plagued with premonitions that the world will be covered in ice, on a quest to defeat a witch who has (apparently) been sapping the life force of the local men. Hercules follows a young man into the witch’s cave but becomes suspicious that (...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 1994

COUNTRY: New Zealand United States of America

TAGS: Centaur(s) Chiron / Cheiron Deianeira Hera Hercules Immortality Prometheus Zeus

Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Christian Williams

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (Series, S00E04): Hercules in the Underworld

This narrative is based loosely on a combination of several known mythological tales: the rape of Deianeira by Nessus, the labour of Hercules capturing Cerberus in the underworld, the death of Hercules and Orpheus’ catabasis. The film begins in an undisclosed village where the ground opens up to create an eerie fissure from out of which a strange green light and mist emerge, destroying all who come into contact with it. Meanwhile, in Hercules’ own village, the hero is forced out of &(...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 1994

COUNTRY: New Zealand United States of America

TAGS: Afterlife Centaur(s) Cerberus Charon Deianeira Elysian Fields / Elysium Hades Hera Hercules Immortality Katabasis Nessus Styx Twelve Labours of Heracles Underworld Zeus

Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Christian Williams

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (Series, S00E05): Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur

This final pilot-movie is essentially a collection of clips from the previous four films loosely grouped together by an overarching narrative which appropriates the figure of the Minotaur into the adventures of Hercules. Hercules has now retired from “heroism” and is focused on settling down with his family for an ordinary life. Upon witnessing his sons fighting, Hercules explains that fighting should only be done to help other people, telling them the story of Eryx the boxer (from H(...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 1994

COUNTRY: New Zealand United States of America

TAGS: Deianeira Hera Hercules Iolaus Labyrinth Minotaur Zeus

Nadia Wheatley

Melting Point

Melting Point is the story of Xenia Hadzithakis, a seventeen-year-old Greek Australian girl living in Sydney, Australia. Xenia is a rebel, in constant conflict with her traditional Yaya over her style of dress, her forthright behaviour, even the fact that she is studying Latin at school rather than ancient or modern Greek. After a terrible argument with her grandmother, she finds solace in the classroom translating Ovid’s version of the story of Icarus’ flight and fall from Book Eigh(...)

literary

YEAR: 1994

COUNTRY: Australia

TAGS: Crete Daedalus Icarus Latin (Language) Metamorphoses (Ovid's) Ovid

Albert Barillé

Once Upon a Time... The Discoverers (Series, S01E02) : Archimedes and the Greeks [Il était une fois… les Découvreurs: Archimède et les Grecs]

Archimède et les Grecs is the second episode of the series about discoveries entitled Il était une fois… [Once Upon a Time…]. It presents the achievements of ancient Greek thought in terms of science and engineering by introducing Archimedes in an interesting and approachable way. The plot is similar to any other episode in the series: a white-haired, old Maestro narrates histories about important inventions from the past to a group of bored or inattentive childr(...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 1994

COUNTRY: France

TAGS: Alexandria Archimedes Democritus Eratosthenes (of Cyrene) Greek History Greek Philosophy Greek Science Hippocrates Praxagoras Protagoras Punic Wars Pythagoras Socrates Syracuse

Albert Barillé

Once Upon a Time... The Discoverers (Series, S01E03): Heron of Alexandria [Il était une fois… les Découvreurs: Héron d’Alexandrie]

Héron d’Alexandrie is the third episode of the series about discoverers entitled Il était une fois… It presents in a way, suitable for children, the achievements of ancient Alexandrian science, in particular the character of Heron of Alexandria, against a historical and cultural background. The structure corresponds to the template used in all of the episodes in the series: the white-bearded old Maestro narrates tales of important inventions from the past to a group of(...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 1994

COUNTRY: France

TAGS: Alexander the Great Alexandria Ctesibius Greek History Greek Science Heron of Alexandria Library of Alexandria Ptolemy

Stanisław Stabryła

School Dictionary. Greek and Roman Mythology [Słownik szkolny. Mitologia grecka i rzymska]

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.In this dictionary, alphabetically ordered entries take school children on a journey through Greek and Roman mythology. Accessibly written descriptions, mainly of gods and heroes, present adaptions of the most important myths and(...)

literary

YEAR: 1994

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Gods Greek Gods Hero(es) Roman Gods

Stanisław Srokowski

The Adventures of Odysseus [Przygody Odyseusza]

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.Designed in the same manner as Stanisław Srokowski’s Wojna trojańska [Trojan War], Przygody Odyseusza is an abridged and simplified version of Homer’s Odyssey; it retells Odysseus’ adventures in twenty-four chap(...)

literary

YEAR: 1994

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Achilles Aeolus Agamemnon Athena Charybdis Circe Cyclops / Cyclopes Helen Homer Menelaus Nestor Odysseus / Ulysses Odyssey Penelope Scylla Sirens Telemachus

Aliki Liacouras Brandenberg

The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus

The book offers adapted information on the Greek creation myth and the Olympian gods for children, as well as Hades and Eros, accompanied by lavish page-long colourful illustrations. The information about the gods contains their names and attributes. The gods and goddesses included are Zeus, Hera, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Eros, Ares, Poseidon, Athena, Hermes, Artemis, Apollo, Hades, Demeter and Persephone, Dionysus, Hestia. The book also adds the story of Gaia and Uranus as well as Rhea and Cronus(...)

literary

YEAR: 1994

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Demeter Dionysus / Dionysos Eros Hades Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hestia Persephone Poseidon

Eva Ibbotson

The Secret of Platform 13

The Secret of Platform 13 is a portal fantasy in which characters from an idyllic realm called “The Island,” travel to modern London by means of a “gump,” a portal between worlds that opens for only nine days every nine years. Nine years before the main action of the story, the Queen of The Island gives birth to a baby boy: his English nannies, homesick for their life in London, take him there on a visit. On the ninth day, he is stolen from his pram by a wealthy childless(...)

literary

YEAR: 1994

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Harpies Monsters Sirens

Stanisław Srokowski

The Trojan War [Wojna Trojańska]

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 book is an abridged and simplified version of Homer’s Iliad; it retells the whole Trojan War in twenty-four chapters imitating the composition of the original epic. It is written in prose; a map of Ancient Greece shows (...)

literary

YEAR: 1994

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Achilles Aeneas Agamemnon Ajax / Aias Andromache Aphrodite Apollo Athena Diomedes (Son of Tydeus) Hector Helen Hephaestus Hera Homer Iliad Nestor Odysseus / Ulysses Paris (Trojan Prince) Poseidon Thetis Trojan War Zeus