Year: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Joe Caramagna, Travel Foreman, Derek Fridolfs, Len O'Grady, Michael Avon Oeming

Part 1. Ares opens with a repeat of the cover image in which a Mohican-haired Ares looks down reflectively amidst a battlefield strewn with bodies. The opening text quotes Zeus in Homer's Iliad declaring Ares the most hateful of the gods. A second scene of devastation accompanies Ares' account of how the other gods called on him long ago to halt Hades' attack on Olympus. He recalls that even as Hades' hellish demons swarmed about them Hercules discouraged Zeus' appeal to(...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Achilles Alexander the Great Apollo Architecture Ares Argonauts Asclepius Athena Gods Greek Art Hades Hera Heracles Hermes Homer Iliad Immortality Jason Katabasis Mars Odysseus / Ulysses Olympus Trojan War Troy Zeus

William Lau, Walter P. Martishius

Barbie (Series): Mermaidia / Fairytopia. Mermaidia

Being a sequel to Fairytopia (2005, Barbie™), Mermaidia is a story in which Barbie, as the fairy Elina travels to the realm of the mermaids to rescue her merman friend Nalu, who was kidnapped by the evil fairy Laverna. Laverna pressures Nalu to reveal the location of a special berry, by threatening that she would poison the waters of Mermaidia. With the help of Nori, a mermaid in love with Nalu, Elina tries to save Nalu before Laverna’s servants retrieve the magical fruit allowing he(...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: Canada United States of America

TAGS: Delphic Oracle Metamorphosis Nereid(s) Nymphs Sea Nymphs Sirens

John Boyne

Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

This story is about a German nine-year-old boy named Bruno, who lives with his mother, father and older sister in Berlin. One day, the father’s boss, named "the Fury" orders them to move to the countryside. Bruno is not fully aware of his father’s job, but he is obviously sad to leave his friends in Berlin and spend the near future outside the city. There, he sees people in a fenced area through a window–he asks his mother who they are, and his mother tells him (...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Erinyes Furies

Geoffrey McSkimming

Cairo Jim at the Crossroads of Orpheus (Cairo Jim, 14)

Cairo Jim is a young archaeologist who is already an established member of the fictional Old Relics Society at the commencement of the series. He is always seen wearing a pith helmet and his desert sun-spectacles.Cairo Jim at the Crossroads of Orpheus is located in mid-to-late 20th-century Pompeii. It is a whimsical adventure in which the hero and his companions (a talking macaw named Doris and a telepathic wonder-camel named Brenda) work with an archaeo-botanist Bette Noire to rediscover l(...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: Australia

TAGS: Agrigento Archaeology Gods Orpheus Pompeii Roman Gods Telamon

Séverin Millet, Michel Piquemal

Fabulous Mythological Tales [Récits fabuleux de la mythologie]

The book begins with two short introductions (each signed separately by the author, clearly a reprint of the introductions published in the two-volume first edition) explaining why the author decided not to rely on various mythologies but rather go back directly to sources, i.e. to ancient authors who transmitted mythological stories. As a result, Michel Piquemal produced a collection of myths divided in two parts (volumes in the 2006 editions): Des héros et des monstres [Heroes and Monst(...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: France

TAGS: Amphitryon Arachne Ariadne Atalanta Bellerophon Daphne Demeter Europa Heracles Hydra Icarus Io Leda Midas Narcissus Oedipus Orpheus Pandora Paris (Trojan Prince) Pegasus Penelope Perseus Phaethon Prometheus Psyche Pygmalion Pyramus Sisyphus Theseus Thisbe Zeus

Bernard Beckett

Genesis

Dystopian speculative fiction for young adults, with a philosophical focus. Set in the "Republic," an island country that has survived global turmoil (war between continental powers, and plague). Protagonist Anaximander is undergoing examination for entrance into the "Academy," and therefore into an elite life of inquiry and culture. Her special topic is Adam Forde, a rebel from a previous period in history and a hero from an early stage of the Republic. As a coastal guard, A(...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: New Zealand

TAGS: Anaximander Bible Eve Greek Philosophy Pericles Socrates

Mirosław Rutkowski

Greek Myths for Children. Heroes [Mity greckie dla dzieci. Herosi]

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., section by Anna Górska, pp. 326–331.Second part of a series. Four myths about the greatest Greek heroes: Theseus, Hercules, Perseus, and Jason. Written for school children in the form of short stories. Theseus, (...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Acrisius / Akrisios Andromeda Apollo Argonauts Ariadne Athena Atlas Chiron / Cheiron Circe Danae Golden Fleece Graeae / Graiai Hades Helen Helle Heracles Hermes Jason Medea Minotaur Pegasus Perseus Phrixus Theseus Zeus

Jonathan M. Shiff

H2O: Just Add Water

A popular series for tween and teen viewers, H2O: Just Add Water was screened internationally for four years (from 2006 to 2010). It begins when teenage girls from Australia’s Gold Coast, Rikki, Cleo, and Emma, swim at the full moon in a pool hidden inside a mysterious volcanic island. When they return to land they discover they have been transformed. If a drop of water touches them, they transform into mermaids. Most episodes revolve around the sit-com challenges of their newfound identit(...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: Australia

TAGS: Sirens

Neil Gaiman

How to Talk to Girls at Parties

How to Talk to Girls at Parties presents the memories of Enn, who recalls events from school times when, as a fifteen-year-old boy, he and his friend Vic went to a party organised by one of their friends. Vic forgot the girl's address at the time, but the boys reached the place following the sounds of music. When they arrived it turned out that the party was organised by people whom Enn and Vic did not know; perhaps they ended up in a completely different apartment, but they did not mind.&nb(...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Sirens

Alicja Wach-Brzezińska

Myths of the Greeks and Romans [Mity Greków i Rzymian]

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. An anthology of ancient classical myths retold for older adolescents and related to the motif of love in all its manifestations: romantic, conjugal, brotherly, and as well as a passion for art, warfare, hunting, great wealt(...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Adonis Aeneas Anchises Andromache Aphrodite Ares Athena Crete Daedalus Demeter Eurydice Giants Gods Hades Hector Helen Hephaestus Hera Heracles Kore (Persephone) Midas Minos Narcissus Niobe Odysseus / Ulysses Orpheus Pandora Prometheus Remus Romulus Sisyphus Titans Twelve Labours of Heracles

Jean Marzollo

Pandora's Box

The story begins with Prometheus stealing fire from the gods. Zeus decides to punish humankind with the creation of a beautiful woman named Pandora. Pandora weds Epimetheus and Zeus gives them a special wedding present: a big box they are not allowed to open. Pandora finally succumbs to her curiosity and opens the box and evil bugs fly out of it. The bugs try to take Hope away from the box yet Pandora manages to trap Hope inside the box and save it.This book is a combination between picture book(...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Epimetheus Pandora Prometheus Zeus

Nicolas Presl

Priape

The story is set in Greco-Roman times. A child is born to a family living in the city. It is a boy with an extremely large penis – the family is horrified. The father orders the newborn Priapus to be abandoned in the wild. A shepherd finds the boy and decides to raise him together with his son. Unfortunately for the boy, he is mistreated by his foster father and bullied by his foster brother. On top of that, the foster brother wins the heart of a girl that Priapus desires. In despai(...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: Switzerland

TAGS: Anagnorisis Antigone Greek Homosexuality Greek Religion Oedipus Priapus Tragedy (Ancient)

Julia Golding

Secret of the Sirens (The Companions Quartet, 1)

An 11-year-old girl, Connie, is considered a freak because of a strong mutual attraction and affinity she feels for various animals and birds. She has to change schools often and is finally sent to stay with her aunt and continue her education in the small seaside village of Hescombe, in south-west England. It is progressively revealed that creatures we know from mythology are real and live still today but hidden from the majority of people; there is a millennium-old society protecting mythologi(...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Pegasus Sea Monsters Sirens Unicorn (hippos monokeras)

David Gemmell

Shield of Thunder (Troy, 2)

Troy, Shield of Thunder is the second in a trilogy of books by David Gemmel on the story of Troy. Shield of Thunder and Fall of Kings were published posthumously after Gemmel’s passing in 2006. The book spins an epic tale of love, trust, romance and bloodshed across the years before the destruction of Troy. In Chapter 1, A Black Wind Rising, Penelope, wife of Odysseus and Ithakan queen is introduced. Kalliades, the young warrior, together with Banokles, rescue Piria the runaway t(...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Agamemnon Andromache Hector Odysseus / Ulysses Penelope Priam Troy

Stanisław Stabryła

Small Lexicon of Greek and Roman Mythology [Mały leksykon mitologii greckiej i rzymskiej]

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.This lexicon includes over 1,000 entries ranging from proper names and characters to beasts and myths from Greek and Roman mythology. Stabryła touches upon famous legends like those about Hercules or Oedipus but does not forget t(...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Gods Greek Gods Hero(es) Roman Gods

Christina Balit, Hugh Lupton, Daniel Morden

The Adventures of Odysseus

This book offers a compact retelling of the trials and tribulations of Odysseus’ journey home from Troy. The prologue begins with the judgement of Paris and how this led to a 10 year long war between the Greeks and the Trojans. The prologue explains that the Greeks won the war, retrieved Helen and began their journeys home with ships full of loot. The book proceeds to tell the story of Odysseus’ journey home beginning 9 years in as he washes up on the shores of Phaeacia. In the same (...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Athena Charybdis Circe Cyclops / Cyclopes Hermes Magic Odysseus / Ulysses Penelope Scylla Trojan War

John Connolly

The Book of Lost Things

The protagonist, twelve-year-old David, lives in London. Shortly before the start of World War II, his mother dies. The boy is charged with taking care of her books: folk and fairy tales or narratives about knights, dragons, etc. He tries to avoid thinking about these stories, but the books do not allow him to do that, as he begins to hear them talking – the more time passes, the louder they become. When David’s father meets his new partner, Rose, the boy starts to faint and to have (...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United Kingdom United States of America

TAGS: Harpies Manius Aquillius Mithridates VI Roman Empire Scylla

William Terence Deary

The Fire Thief (Fire Thief Trilogy, 1)

The Fire Thief opens in Ancient Greece, at "The Dawn of Time" (or, as the first footnote concedes, "Yes, all right, maybe not the very dawn. Not the first hour of the first day." (p. 5)). As a punishment for giving fire to mortals, Prometheus has been chained to the side of a rocky mountains, and is tormented by Zeus’ cruel eagle. Known as the Fury, each day the bird visits the immortal Titan to devour his liver, which then grows back during the night. But Heracles(...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Chimera / Chimaera Epimetheus Hera Hermes Pandora Pegasus Prometheus Zeus

Julia Golding

The Gorgon’s Gaze (The Companions Quartet, 2)

The universe created by the author – the same as our own but also containing unknown to us the so-called companions, people with special affinities to mythological creatures – is threatened by an evil, demonic entity, Kullervo, who, to achieve world domination and destruction of the human race, needs the power of reaching and communicating with all creatures possessed only by a universal companion, an exceptional human born so rarely to be considered a myth even among the companions.(...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Cassandra Gorgon(s) Pegasus

Robert Byrd, Laura Amy Schlitz

The Hero Schliemann: The Dreamer Who Dug for Troy

Schlitz’ book gives an account of the life of Heinrich Schliemann, the infamous figure who discovered – and also destroyed – the ancient city of Troy. It reveals how Schliemann made his fortune, and how he remade the story of his life. Schlitz challenges the veracity of Schliemann’s own biography, and explores the psychology of a man who loved stories so much that "he wanted them to be true" (p. 2). One of nine children, and the eldest surviving son, Schlie(...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Archaeology Bronze Age Homer Iliad Mycenae Odyssey Troy

Jim Whiting

The Life and Times of Herodotus

Ch. 1. A Historic First, and the First History opens with an image of the Battle of Salamis accompanying a novelistic account of the Athenian army rushing to return to Athens following, as the reader discovers, the Battle of Marathon. Without knowing it, the Athenians are "competing in history's first marathon" (p. 9). The Persians left once they saw the Athenians at their city. "Centuries later, a legend would arise" about a messenger running from the battlefie(...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Athens Divination Graeco-Persian Wars Greek History Hera Pelion

Julia Golding

The Mines of the Minotaur (The Companions Quartet, 3)

Another assault on Connie Lionheart, the universal companion to all mythical creatures, by the evil shapeshifter, Kullervo, bent on destroying humanity. This time, he invades her mind from within using the mark he left in her brain during their bonding (see The Gorgon’ Gaze). He takes control of her body when she is sleeping and her defenses are down, and makes her go to the beach and summon a storm and flood. Afterwards, she is vaguely aware of having done something but has no clear recol(...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Minotaur Pegasus

Paul Shipton

The Pig Who Saved the World

This comic adventure novel is a sequel to The Pig Scrolls, starring a pig named Gryllus. Gryllus was one of Odysseus’ crewmen who was transformed into a pig by Circe. When the rest of the sailors were returned to their human form, he hid in the bushes, and after being found by Sibyl, a courageous prophetess, and Homer, an awkward teenage poet, goes on to (unwittingly and unwillingly) save the world.In the sequel, The Pig Who Saved the World, Gryllus and his friends go back to the isla(...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Circe Homer Labyrinth Midas Odysseus / Ulysses Odyssey Orpheus Polyphemus Proteus Sibyl Sirens Sisyphus Thanatos Tithonus Underworld

Rick Riordan

The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson & The Olympians, 2)

This second book in the Percy Jackson series opens with Percy experiencing a recurring dream about his friend Grover, who is perceived to be in danger. Percy notes that he hasn’t seen Grover since the previous summer’s events; Grover having gone on a quest to locate the missing god Pan. Percy recalls an uneventful year, which he is about to complete without being excluded from school. In the absence of Grover he has also made a new friend, Tyson, a physically strong, but emotion(...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Argonautica Argonauts Greek Gods Hero(es) Monsters Odyssey Sea Monsters

Anne Ursu

The Shadow Thieves (The Cronus Chronicles, 1)

The Shadow Thieves is the first volume of Anne Ursu’s The Cronus Chronicles trilogy. It revolves around thirteen-year-old Charlotte Mielswetski who is in the throes of teenage anxiety and self-doubt when it is announced that her cousin from England, Zachary (who prefers to be called Zee) will be coming to live with the Mielswetski family and attend school with Charlotte. At first a horrifying prospect to Charlotte, the readers shortly find out that this international move is under ominous (...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Charon Hades Harpies Hermes Persephone Prometheus Thanatos Underworld

Jeff Goodsill, Brian Sullivan, Randall Wallace

Titan Quest

Titan Quest tells the story of a warrior who travels through Greece, Egypt, and the Orient to re-establish the connection between the Olympian gods and the human race before the Titans destroy humanity. To do this, the hero must fight numerous mythical beasts, help various villages and civilisations, and ultimately destroy the Telchines, who are trying to summon the Titans to take over the Olympian gods. The game’s art style consists of typical Greek scenarios. In the area between tow(...)

electronic

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Alastor Arachne Centaur(s) Chimera / Chimaera Cyclops / Cyclopes Euryale Eurynome Gorgon(s) Harpies Hydra Limos Maenads Medusa Minotaur Orthrus Satyr(s) Stheno Titans Typhon / Typhoeus / Typhaon