Country: United Kingdom | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

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Showing 350 entries for country: United Kingdom

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Alice Werner

The Were-Wolf Husband

There was a girl, who, after attaining maturity, rejected all the suitors that came for her hand in marriage. This girl’s wish was to have a perfect husband. Her parents, who did not want to have a commoner for a son-in-law, supported her decision. One day, a sword dance was organized in the girl’s village, and young men came from far and near to take part in the dance. Amongst them was a tall and handsome young man who was the centre of attention for every young girl. He wore (...)

YEAR: 1933

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Mythologies African Storytelling African Traditions Werewolves

Victor Ambrus, Hugh Marshall, Rosemary Sutcliff

A Circlet of Oak Leaves

One evening at a tavern in Isca Silurium (Caerleon), sometime in the mid-second century CE, a group of cavalry auxiliaries and Roman legionaries get into to a debate over who has the most important role during a battle. As the conversation turns to a battle with the Picts beyond the Antonine Wall a decade before, at which point the Thracian horse-trader Aracos steps in and mentions that he fought in the battle as part of the Dacian Horse. When one of his fellow patrons notes that one of the Daci(...)

YEAR: 1965

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Roman Army Roman Britain Roman Empire Roman History

Alison Hawes

A Roman Soldier Handbook

This handbook contains information and facts about Roman legionary life, from food to paychecks and to their everyday life in the Roman army. The text is accompanied by photos and illustrations.The book also offers a short glossary and further reading, listing websites, books and places you can visit and learn about the Roman army in the UK, such as Vindolanda.(...)

YEAR: 2009

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Roman Army Vindolanda

David Almond

A Song for Ella Grey

A Song For Ella Grey is a non-linear retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice set in contemporary Newcastle, from the point of view of Claire, Ella’s best friend and lover. Claire disapproves of Ella’s relationship with Orpheus, and is gradually left behind by Ella to witness their love and subsequent deaths. Claire and Ella are seventeen, and Orpheus is described as looking in his early twenties, though it is hinted that he may be much older.Part 1 – Present DayClaire is in love with(...)

YEAR: 2014

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Eurydice Maenads Orpheus Snakes Underworld

Robert Sutherland Rattray, Maalam Shaihu

A Story about a Giant, and the Cause of Thunder

A long time ago, there lived a man and his wife. He called himself “A-Man–among-Men” (henceforth referred to here as “the pretender”) and was very confident of his strength. One day, his wife went out to draw water from a well but returned with an empty pot because the well was too deep. On her way back, she met a strange woman and her son, who were also on their way to the well. They happened to be family members of the real “A-Man-among-Men” (hencefort(...)

YEAR: 1913

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Mythologies African Storytelling African Traditions

Robert Sutherland Rattray, Maalam Shaihu

A Story about a Maiden and the Pumpkin

There was once a rich man called Alabarma, whose wife, Watapansa gave birth to a girl called Furaira; the man decided that he did not wish to raise a hand to her. One day Watapansa took Furaira to the bush to relieve herself. There, the child saw a pumpkin and asked her mother to harvest it for her to play with. Her mother refused because it was the sole pumpkin in the patch, and she did not want to disturb it. This made Furaira cry all the way home. Once there, the father asked the cause (...)

YEAR: 1913

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Mythologies African Storytelling African Traditions

Robert Sutherland Rattray, Maalam Shaihu

A Story about an Orphan Which Was the Origin of the Saying “The Orphan with a Coat of Skin is Hated, but When It Is a Metal One He Is Honoured”

There was a man who died and left two sons and their mothers, his wives. Time passed, and one of the mothers fell sick. No matter the quantity and quality of medicine that she took, there was no amelioration. Realizing that she would die, she swore in the name of God and told the other woman that she was leaving her son for her to take care of. The other woman (i.e. co-wife) accepted this agreement. One day, she died, and when the funeral was over, her son started rearing fowls with his half-bro(...)

YEAR: 1913

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Mythologies African Storytelling African Traditions

Robert Sutherland Rattray, Maalam Shaihu

A Story about Three Youths All Skilled in Certain Things, and How They Used That Skill to Circumvent a Difficulty

Three young men (known as the king of wrestlers, the king of prayer and the king of archers) went to a neighbouring village with young girls. On their way, they came across a stream, where the water was so shallow that it barely reached their ankles. They crossed with ease, arrived where the girls were, greeted them and carried off one each. On their way back, they found that the waters of the stream had risen, and it had become so deep that they could not get into it. Since none of them could s(...)

YEAR: 1913

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Mythologies African Storytelling African Traditions

Juliet Rix, Juliet Snape

A-Maze-Ing Minotaur

This picture book retells the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. Its retelling is unusual in that the text is framed on each left page, with a split-level illustration spreading across each pair of pages. In the top illustration (usually taking up two-thirds of the image) is the story of King Minos and his action; the lower illustration (one-third) reveals the Minotaur, lurking below. The style of the illustration is influenced by Minoan art, with bright colours, clothing, and wall-decorations, (...)

YEAR: 2014

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ariadne Crete Knossos Labyrinth Minoans Minos Minotaur Theseus

Talleen Hacikyan, Michael Rosen

Aesop [an introduction to Aesop by Dr J.R.C. Cousland, Univ. British Columbia]Dog and Wolf;Fox and Grapes;Crow and Fox;Lion, Fox and Wolf;Wolf and Lamb;Mouse and Lion;Frog and Bull;Cockerel, Dog and Fox;Mosquito, Lion and Spider;Fir Tree and Thornbush;The Axe and the Trees;Partridge and the Fighting Cocks;Town Mouse and Country Mouse.Each story is laid out with one page for the tale and a full-page illustration on the facing page. The myths are told in the simple, direct language (note the minim(...)

YEAR: 2013

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aesop Aesop’s Fables

Vivian French , Korky Paul

Aesop’s Funky Fables

The work is a selection of Aesop’s Fables, retold for children in verse and prose, using rap and humorous techniques. All retellings have humorous illustrations, in a mixture of watercolours and line drawings. The Fox and the Crow (8–13) is told in verse, using rap techniques of repetition and other poetic techniques: e.g., ‘Brother CrowPuffed up his feathers with pridePuffed up his feathersPuffed upPuffedAnd opened his beak wide. “CAW!” said the cr(...)

YEAR: 1997

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aesop’s Fables

The Rugby Football Union

Age Grade Rugby

This guide from the Rugby Football Union, the governing body for Rugby Union in England, provides information on children’s player progression at all levels from Under 7 to Under 18. Information on player safety is included along with an overview of the personal and social skills fostered by the sport. The guide, pitched both at players and adults involved as e.g. parents, coaches and first-aiders, mixes an emphasis on the benefits of playing rugby union with safety information. Key benefi(...)

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Temples Architecture

Jane Bingham , Robin Lawrie, Anne Millard

Alexander the Great

This title introduces young readers to biography and history, with elements of geography and politics, in a title that also encourages developing literacy through the use of fairly complex vocabulary and delivery in a relatively lengthy volume. The format is birth to death, following the traditions of biography. A map of Alexander's empire opens the work and orientates the reader, and this is followed by ten chapters on Alexander's life, in which text and image are interspersed; most pag(...)

YEAR: 2004

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Alexander the Great Architecture Egypt Gods Graeco-Persian Wars Greek History Greek Philosophy

Chris Capstick , Monika Filipina

Alexander the Great Dane

This light-hearted story is set in an ancient Egypt ruled by giant cats. The giant cats unfairly favour the normal-sized cats, leaving dogs to do all the work. This injustice has persisted for generations, until "a young pup called Alexander" left his care-free youth behind him to enter a world of toil and decided to lead the dogs in throwing off the shackles of their oppressors. True to the genre of books for young children, Alexander asks dogs of various occupations for their views o(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Alexander the Great Ancient Slavery Architecture Bible Egypt

Jamila Gavin, David Parkins

Alexander the Great. Man, Myth, or Monster?

Alexander the Great. Man, Myth, or Monster? introduces young readers to ancient history via biography. The birth to death format follows the traditions of biography, while the narrative also moves forward and backwards in parts, with the narrator recalling previous events or anticipating events that will occur later. The story is punctuated by mythic tales which are introduced as if being told to soldiers in the story. These embedded myths are well chosen to reflect what is happening in the main(...)

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Agamemnon Alexander the Great Ancient Slavery Architecture Artemis Athens Bible Caesar Daedalus Dionysus / Dionysos Divination Egypt Egyptian Mythology Gilgamesh Gods Graeco-Persian Wars Greek History Greek Philosophy Heracles Hercules Homer Icarus Iliad Immortality Midas Oracles Patroclus Trojan War Troy Zeus

Michael Townsend

Amazing Greek Myths of Wonder and Blunders: Welcome to the Wonderful World of Greek Mythology

This book contains nine mythological tales written in comic form. First there is a brief introduction of various creatures of Greek mythology, such as the Cyclops, centaurs, Satyrs, Nymphs, Pegasus but also made-for-laugh ones such as a fairy goat or Mer-Donkey. There is an emphasis on the natural world of ancient Greece, where there was no technology, and on monsters, heroes and gods. The Olympian gods are mentioned, with the exclusion of Hephaestus and Ares, although Zeus, Hera, Athena, Apollo(...)

YEAR: 2010

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Arachne Daedalus Dionysus / Dionysos Hades Hera Heracles Hercules Icarus Medusa Midas Olympians Pandora Persephone Perseus Pygmalion Pyramus Thisbe Zeus

Colin King, Stephanie Turnbull

This short book starts by introducing "An ancient land", before moving to specific sections, each covering a double spread, on: Life in Greece; Clothes and fashion; What people ate; A trip to market; Feasts and fun; Gods and goddesses; Talking to the gods; Heroes and monsters; The Olympic Games; Greek plays; Mighty warriors; Into battle; and Great Greeks. Each section comprises short sentences in a large font accompanied (...)

YEAR: 2002

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Gods Greek Theatre Hero(es) Monsters Olympic Games Pottery / Vases

Cath Senker

Ancient Greeks is an educational, introduction to ancient Greek culture aimed at children aged 7+. This title is one of several titles in the Ladybird Histories series, including Kings and Queens, Tudor and Stuarts, Ancient Egyptians, The Vikings, Romans, and Anglo-Saxons. Each is written in a similarly serious tone. Through the combination of titles, the series presents the Ancient Greeks as an important non-British historical society. Ancient Greeks focuses on the Classical period, w(...)

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aphrodite Architecture Ares Athena Athens Comedy (Ancient) Dionysus / Dionysos Divination Graeco-Persian Wars Greek Art Greek History Greek Music Greek Theatre Hades Heracles Hercules Homer Minotaur Odysseus / Ulysses Olympic Games Oracles Poseidon Roman Empire Theatre Theseus Tragedy (Ancient) Trojan Horse Trojan War Troy Twelve Labours of Heracles Zeus

Joe Lillington, Iris Volant

Ancient Warriors

Ancient Warriors is divided as follows: overview of specific armies; short biographies of military leaders; overviews of battles throughout history. The book covers the Bronze Age until the 14th Century CE and features armies such as the Mayans (pp. 12–13), the Romans (pp. 24–28), the Huns (pp. 34–35), the Vikings (pp. 42–43), and the Samurai (pp. 50–51). These armies are arranged chronologically and are described along with their respective military leaders such as(...)

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Alexander the Great Ancient Warfare Egypt Graeco-Persian Wars Greek History Greeks Legionaries Persian Empire Punic Wars Roman Army Roman Empire Roman History

Danielle Jawando

And the Stars Were Burning Brightly

Set in Wythenshawe in Manchester, And the Stars Were Burning Brightly follows fifteen-year-old Nathan as he attempts to understand his older brother Al’s death by suicide. Al, a deep thinker and talented artist, seemingly had everything to live for, but Nathan eventually learns that Al was the victim of a sustained bullying campaign on social media and in his everyday life at school and on the estate where they live.As part of his quest for information both online and offline, Nathan gets (...)

YEAR: 2020

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Atlantis Orion Pandora

Andrew Matthews, Tony Ross

Antony and Cleopatra

The book belongs to the series by Andrew Matthews, where classic plays of William Shakespeare are retold. The story about Antony and Cleopatra is told in a form of recollections of Servius, one of Antony’s loyal soldiers. Servius goes back to recall memories from the day when he was listening to Antony giving a speech over Caesar's body. Shortly afterward, Servius was appointed to be Antony’s Centurion. Since that moment, the soldier’s memories overlap with the events known(...)

YEAR: 2001

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Caesar Cleopatra VII Egypt Greek History Hellenism Hellenistic Egypt Mark Antony Octavian Ptolemaic Egypt Roman History Rome

Ash

Lyrically a very simple song, Aphrodite describes an encounter of an unidentified first-person narrator falling in love with a woman, who is referred to as the eponymous goddess. While the song is about love, the lyrics hint at a darker side to love as all consuming and weakening; the Aphrodite of the song is referred to as having a "dark power", while the narrator laments that they are "getting lost/ at such a cost/ as I fall/ I feel my heart deceiving even me" and "how(...)

YEAR: 1998

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aphrodite

Nick Roberts, Stella Tarakson

Apollo's Mystic Message (Hopeless Heroes, 5)

This is book 5 in the Hopeless Heroes series. This is series of portal-fantasy adventures in which a timid boy travels to the world of ancient myth by means of a magic vase, and learns to be brave through adventures with classical heroes. At the end of the previous book, Tim Baker was told by his mother's boyfriend (and his school teacher), Larry Green, that there is a vase at the British Museum which depicts an image of a modern boy holding a vase. At first, Tim is reluctant to believe it i(...)

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Apollo Athena Epimetheus Hera Hercules Hermes Prometheus Pythia

Nick Roberts, Stella Tarakson

Arachne Golden Gloves (Hopeless Heroes, 3)

This is book 3 in the Hopeless Heroes series. This is a series of portal-fantasy adventures in which a timid boy travels to the world of ancient myth by means of a magic vase, and learns to be brave through adventures with classical heroes. Tim Baker, the school-child hero of the book is doing the housework since his mother is busy with her jobs. He catches a spider, and is very interested in it. Yet his mother is afraid of it. Tim decides not to kill the animal but rather set it free outside. H(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Arachne Athena Hera Hercules Hermes Jason Perseus

Ron Brooks, Jenny Wagner

Aranea: A Story About A Spider

Aranea tells the story of an orb weaving spider who seeks to construct the perfect web. From her home in the "lilac bush in somebody’s garden", she works persistently and secretly at her weaving. Sometimes she herself destroys what she has created before anyone wakes up to see it; other times her webs are broken by stick-wielding schoolboys or housewives hanging out their washing. But while the people register her weaving, Aranea herself remains hidden from sight. Late in th(...)

YEAR: 1975

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

Shoo Rayner

Archimedes: the Man Who Invented the Death Ray

Archimedes: the Man Who Invented the Death Ray is an illustrated chapter book that explains the life and work of the Greek scientist (287–212 BC). Rayner explains that Archimedes lived in Sicily, in Syracuse, and his inventions (such as the Death Ray of the title) staved off the Roman conquest of Sicily for two years. The chapters describe his discovery of fundamental principles of physics and maths: levers, pulleys, pi, the screw pump, the principle named after him (Archimedes’(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Archimedes Greek Philosophy

Chinua Achebe

Arrow of God is a classic tragedy which depicts the fall of a tragic hero caused by both his hubris and outside forces beyond his understanding. The title comes from an Igbo proverb in which a person or event is said to represent the Will of GodEzeulu, the chief priest of the Umuaru clan, wields enormous power over the six federated villages that make up the clan. Part of his role is to store up twelve healthy yams in his barn which he roasts and eats without salt or palm oil immediately he sees(...)

YEAR: 1964

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Mythologies African Traditions

Simon Spence

Atalanta offers a retelling of the myths of Atalanta the huntress for a young audience. The retelling takes a biographical form, opening with Atalanta's early childhood and ending with her living out "the rest of [her] days." This retelling might be considered a feminist retelling of the myths, as the narrator encourages the reader to approve of Atalanta's skills and independence of mind and to disagree with those who wish to limit her actions because she is female. This has th(...)

YEAR: 2016

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aphrodite Architecture Argonauts Argos / Argus (Constructor of "Argo") Centaur(s) Divination Golden Fleece Greek Art Greek History Homer Jason Metamorphoses (Ovid's) Mycenae Peleus

Steve Barlow, Steve Skidmore, Andrew Tunney

Athena (EDGE: I HERO: Legends, 5)

In this choose-your-own-path book, the reader is Athena. Athena is punished by the gods because she helped Odysseus evade Hera’s traps. Hera and Poseidon would like to avenge these acts by punishing Athena and stripping her of her divine powers. Athena now becomes a mortal and must face challenges before she can confront Zeus and plead for her innocence. On her way to Mt. Olympus, Athena encounters mysterious creatures and faces real danger. She is chased by the fierce hunter Orion and his(...)

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Apollo Ares Athena Centaur(s) Chiron / Cheiron Cyclops / Cyclopes Delphi Hera Heracles Hercules Oracles Orion Pegasus Poseidon Zeus

Imogen Greenberg , Isabel Greenberg

Athena: The Story of a Goddess

This a humorous, illustrated, modern re-telling of the myths of Athena for a younger audience using elements of graphic novel storytelling. Some of the myths told are directly connected to Athena, but this expands into a re-telling of the myths around the Trojan War. This is preceded by a short introduction of each of the main characters of the book, both gods and heroes. The individual myths are not separated by headings, but flow into each other, almost like a biography of Athena. The myths co(...)

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Aphrodite Arachne Athena Hephaestus Hera Medusa Odysseus / Ulysses Paris (Trojan Prince) Perseus Poseidon Zeus

David Hair, Catherine Mayo

Athena’s Champion (Olympus, 1)

Athena’s Champion begins Hair and Mayo’s Olympus trilogy, which follows the early stages in Odysseus’ story. This novel details his discovery of his true parentage and divine lineage, and awakening to the world of the Gods as Odysseus is selected as Athena’s champion. As her champion, he is required to fight for her on earth alongside – and eventually against – Theseus, another of her celebrated servants. Odysseus begins the story as he attends a coming-of-age(...)

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Afterlife Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Athens Gods Greek History Hades Helen Hera Hittite Empire Homer Iliad Ithaca Odysseus / Ulysses Persephone Prometheus Prophecy Pythia Sisyphus Theseus Zeus

Stewart Ross

Athens is Saved!

Athens is Saved! opens with a note To the Reader from the author. The note explains that the story is based on a real event, with some invented parts added to make the story more fun. The author adds his wish that the story will encourage the reader to find out more about ancient Greece and perhaps to run their first marathon.Notes on The Story So Far are divided into three sections: Ancient Greece, The Persians, and Athens. Ancient Greece explains that "Before the time of Jesus Christ"(...)

YEAR: 1997

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Slavery Athens Divination Graeco-Persian Wars Greek History

Johnny Capps , Julian Murphy, Howard Overman

Atlantis (Series)

Jason, a twenty-first-century young man in search of his lost father, travels in a submarine through an under-ocean portal and ends up on the shores of the ancient city of Atlantis ruled by King Minos. He befriends a yet unrecognized mathematical genius/geek Pythagoras and a prizefighter past his prime, Hercules. In this version of the Minotaur myth, victims for the monster are picked from among the inhabitants of the city in a lottery. Pythagoras draws a black stone, but his friends try to save(...)

YEAR: 2013

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Admetus Aeson Alcestis Anabasis Ariadne Atalanta Baucis Campe Cassandra Circe Daedalus Destiny Furies Hecate Heracles Hercules Icarus Jason Jocasta Katabasis Laius Medea Medusa Melas Minos Minotaur Oedipus Oracle of Poseidon Oracles Orpheus Pandora’s Box Pasiphae Philemon Prophecy Pythagoras Telamon Thanatos Tiresias Underworld

Klaxons

Atlantis to Interzone

The title of the song is inspired by both the mythical city of Atlantis as described by Plato in the dialogues Timaeus and Critias and William S. Burroughs' short story collection Interzone. The title of Burroughs' collection itself was taken from one of the stories within, International Zone, referring to the Tangier International Zone that made up part of Tangier, Morocco, between 1924 and 1956 and in which Burroughs lived for a while. Burroughs explored the idea of the Interzone (...)

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Atlantis Pegasus Plato

Brett Bean , Lucy Coats

Beasts of Olympus (Series): Beasts Keeper | Hound of Hades | Steeds of the Gods | Dragon Healer | Centaur School | Zeus’s Eagle | Gods of the North | The Unicorn Emergency

Beast of Olympus (series). The most recent instalment published August 2018:Part 1, Beasts Keeper, 2015,Part 2, Hound of Hades, 2015, Part 3, Steeds of the Gods, 2015,Part 4, Dragon Healer, 2015,Part 5, Centaur School, 2016, Part 6, Zeus’s Eagle, 2016,Part 7, Gods of the North, 2017, Part 8, The Unicorn Emergency, 2018.The protagonist of the series is a young boy called Demon (his full name is Pandemonius) who was taken from his mother by the god Pan (his father) t(...)

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Cerberus Hades Monsters

Aleksei Bitskoff, Maz Evans

Beyond the Odyssey (Who Let the Dogs Out, 3)

Beyond the Odyssey is the third book in the Who Let The Gods Out series by Maz Evans, and picks up the story of Elliot and his immortal companions a short time after the end of Simply The Quest. Elliot and the gods are still living at Home Farm, but Hermes remains in a coma and Elliot's mother's illness is getting worse. On top of all that, the school has a sent another "very scary letter’", saying that they are going to conduct a welfare visit to see how everything (...)

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aphrodite Athena Charon Hades Harpies Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hypnos Immortality Nyx Pegasus Sisyphus Styx Tartarus Thanatos Underworld Zeus Zodiac

Alan Lee, Rosemary Sutcliff

Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of The Iliad

Published posthumously in the year following her death, Sutcliff’s Black Ships Before Troy purports to be a retelling of the Iliad, but in fact begins much earlier than Homer’s poem, with the story of the Golden Apple and the Judgment of Paris, and concludes with the Wooden Horse and the Fall of Troy. There are nineteen chapters, followed by a Pronunciation Guide and Bibliography. "The Golden Apple" describes the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, and Paris’ decision (...)

YEAR: 1993

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Agamemnon Amazons Andromache Aphrodite Athena Hector Helen Hera Menelaus Odysseus / Ulysses Paris (Trojan Prince) Patroclus Priam Trojan Horse Trojan War Troy Zeus

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 (...)

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Erinyes Furies

Richard Woff

Bright-Eyed Athena in the Stories of Ancient Greece

In the women’s quarters of a house in ancient Athens, a young woman learns the art of spinning from older women as they create intricate tapestries while narrating inter-related stories about deities, creatures, heroines and heroes. The stories bear especially upon Athena, the goddess whose cult the women serve as creators of the Panathenaic robe. The young woman – herself to be an initiate in the Mysteries of Athena – listens spellbound to the stories which include Athena&rsqu(...)

YEAR: 1999

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Arachne Athena Athens Cecrops Daughters of Kekrops Demeter Erichthonius Giants Gods Gorgon(s) Medusa Mysteries Panathenaia Pandora Persephone Perseus Poseidon Zeus

David Farris , Sandy Ransford

British Museum Fun Book: Ancient Greece

This short “fun book” comprises activities based on various aspects of ancient Greek history, culture and myth. The activities include “spot-the difference” puzzles, crosswords and brainteasers, all aimed to “test and perplex” (p. 4) the reader, along with games and jokes “to keep [them] chuckling” (p. 4). A checklist towards the start gives a brief explanation of the historical and mythical figures and places that appear in the book. Most of the a(...)

YEAR: 1999

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Greek Philosophy Greek Religion Olympic Games Theatre

In Caesar III, users play as a Roman governor, sent by Caesar to rule new provinces across the world. To complete each scenario, and rise in rank, they must build cities that meet the required levels of Population, Culture, Peace, Prosperity and Favour. With each success, the player is given the choice of governing either a peaceful or militaristic Province, meaning they direct whether they want to focus on cultural marvels and luxuries, or battling Rome’s enemies.Starting with nothing but(...)

YEAR: 1998

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aedile Amphitheatre Aqueducts Caesar Cursus honorum Gladiators Hannibal Legionaries Procurator Punic Wars Quaestor Roman Empire Roman History Roman Religion

Elsie Finnimore Buckley, Frank C. Papé

Children of the Dawn: Old Tales of Greece

This is a detailed, extensive retelling of eleven key Greek myths with significant attention often given to character development, and details of the character’s education and early life. Scenery, landscape and geography are also described at length. The featured stories are:The Riddle of the SphinxEros and PsycheHero and LeanderThe Sacrifice of AlcestisThe Hunting of the Calydonian BoarThe Curse of EchoThe Sculptor and the ImageThe Divine MusicianThe Flight of ArethusaThe Winning of Atala(...)

YEAR: 1908

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Admetus Alcestis Alpheus Antigone Arethusa Atalanta Echo Eros Galatea Jocasta Laius Leander Meleager Oedipus Oenone Paris (Trojan Prince) Psyche Pygmalion

Nick Roberts, Stella Tarakson

Circe's Beastly Feast (Hopeless Heroes, 7)

This is book 7 in the "Hopeless Heroes" series. This is a series of portal-fantasy adventures in which a timid boy travels to the world of ancient myth by means of a magic vase, and learns to be brave through adventures with classical heroes. At the end of the previous book, Tim Baker went to ancient Greece perhaps for the final time (since his mother plans to sell the ancient vase) and to his horror, discovered that Hercules' family has no recollection of him at all. Furthermore, (...)

YEAR: 2020

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Apollo Circe Echo Hera Hercules Narcissus Odysseus / Ulysses Perseus

Siouxsie and the Banshees

The song narrates the destruction of Pompeii in 79AD due to the eruption of Vesuvius. Pompeii is not mentioned by name, although the cover art for this single feature an image of the plaster cast of a dog, found in the House of Orpheus in Pompeii. The lyrics are direct and explicit in their treatment of the destruction and the human tragedy, through the choral lyric “your city lies in dust”, through references to hiding and choking, and in particular the final verse:Hot and burning i(...)

YEAR: 1985

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Eruption of Vesuvius Pompeii Roman History

Beverley Cross, Desmond Davis, Ray Harryhausen, Charles H. Schneer

Clash of the Titans

The film loosely follows ancient versions of the myth of Perseus and Medusa. The film opens with king Acrisius of Argos throwing his daughter Danaë and her infant son Perseus into the sea in a casket. After the credits, the scene cuts to the gods on Olympus, where Zeus swears to punish Acrisius and has Poseidon release a monster, a titan called the Kraken to destroy Argos. It is revealed that Perseus is the child of Zeus.Danaë and Perseus drift safely to the island of Seriphos, where P(...)

YEAR: 1981

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aphrodite Athena Hephaestus Hera Medusa Metamorphosis Pegasus Perseus Poseidon Tethys Underworld Zeus

Philip Reeve, Margaret Simpson

Cleopatra and Her Asp

In this book, Cleopatra’s biography takes an unusual form, a fictional diary of the Queen that uses elements of comic books. The playful form reflects its target audience of children and teenagers. It includes an introduction about the Ptolemaic dynasty and the situation in ancient Egypt at the beginning of Cleopatra's reign. All the events in the book are in chronological order - we learn what happens from the moment Cleopatra becomes Queen until her death. The author uses diar(...)

YEAR: 1999

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Alexander Helios Caesar Caesarion Charmion (Cleopatra's Handmaid) Cleopatra Selene II Cleopatra VII Egypt Iras (Handmaid) Mark Antony Octavian Roman History Rome

Adèle Geras, Mark P. Robertson

Cleopatra: Discover the World of Cleopatra through the Diary of Her Handmaiden, Nefret

Cleopatra VII, one of the greatest queens in history, lived in Greco-Roman times in Egypt. When the Queen is described at the beginning of the book, the reader can recognise an almost direct quotation from Plutarch of Chaeronea*. The narrator is a ten-year-old girl named Nefret. She goes to the Queen's palace to work as her handmaiden. This allows the reader to learn about the customs and everyday life in Hellenistic Alexandria. Nefret meets Cleopatra when she is mourning Caesar (afte(...)

YEAR: 2007

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Alexander Helios Caesar Caesarion Cleopatra Selene II Cleopatra VII Egypt Iras (Handmaid) Mark Antony Octavian Rome

Clint Twist

Cleopatra: The Last Pharaoh

This book is a heavily illustrated biography of Cleopatra. The introduction shows Cleopatra as a popular icon through the ages. A chronological description of events opens with background information about Alexander the Great, the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, and Cleopatra's death. The inclusion of a fictional diary enables the reader to imagine how Cleopatra felt. Numerous illustrations (paintings, engravings, sculptures etc.) enrich the reader's experience and provide additional (...)

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Alexander Helios Caesar Caesarion Cleopatra Selene II Cleopatra VII Egypt Iras (Handmaid) Mark Antony Octavian Rome

Gerry Bailey , Karen Foster

Cleopatra’s Coin

The book is part of the series Stories of Great People. The narration starts when Digby Platt and her sister Hannah Platt approach Mr. Rummage’s stand. They find an old coin in a pile of old items. Mr. Rummage asks the children if they know whose face is on the coin. The children don't know so Mr. Rummage begins to tell them the story of Cleopatra VII. He talks about the origins of the coin, where the queen's dynasty came from and how big her family was. In addition, the shopkeeper(...)

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Caesar Cleopatra VII Egypt Hellenistic Egypt Mark Antony Octavian Rome

Gerald Vinestock, G. William

Crib and the Labours of Hercules

Crib (short for Christabel) is a 10-year-old clever and tomboyish girl, who has gone with her parents to visit relatives in Greece. While she stays with her uncle and aunt and looks after their horses, she hears on the news that strange phenomena are occurring: all the fierce monsters whom the legendary Hercules had vanquished eons ago, have suddenly returned to life and are hurting the local people. The government is desperate for a new Hercules to save the day. Crib’s uncle, Jonathan, a (...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Augean Stables Cerberus Ceryneian Hind Cretan Bull Erymanthian Boar Geryon's Cattle Heracles Hercules Hesperides Hippolyta's Belt Hydra Nemean Lion Stymphalian Birds Twelve Labours of Heracles

Errol le Cain, Walter Pater

Cupid and Psyche

This lavish illustrated book retells the myth of Cupid and Psyche, drawing on the version best known from Apuleius’s Golden Ass, and which Pater retold in his novel, Marius the Epicurean. Beautiful Psyche is so stunning that the people neglect their worship of Aphrodite. She is removed, by her father, to a mysterious palace in the clouds, where she meets and falls in love with Cupid (Eros). At first he comes to her invisibly at night, but encouraged by her sisters, who come(...)

YEAR: 1977

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aphrodite Cerberus Charon Cupid Eros Hades Psyche

Gilly Cameron Cooper

An educational comic that retells elements from the Odyssey, focusing on the Cyclops. It begins with informational pages about The Greeks, the Gods and Myths (pp. 4–5), then provides maps for Setting the Scene (pp. 6–7), before retelling the myth in 7 short chapters: A Long Way from Home, A Promising Land, The Cyclops Comes Home, Outwitting the Cyclops, Blind Man’s Bluff, Partin Shot, Poseidon’s Revenge. A Glossary and Index complet(...)

YEAR: 2007

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Apollo Calypso Charybdis Circe Corsica Cyclops / Cyclopes Ismarus Lotus Eaters / Lotophagoi Odysseus / Ulysses Odyssey Penelope Polyphemus Poseidon Telemachus Trojan War Troy Zeus

Marcia Dorothy Williams

Daedalus and Icarus & Orpheus and Eurydice

This short book contains two stories previously published in a longer collection by the same author. Like other books in the same series, the main body of the book is taken up with one story, while around a third of the book comprises a shorter retelling. The first story, Daedalus and Icarus, is told in a series of short chapters. Daedalus is presented as a craftsman renowned for his skills who boasts about his achievements. When his nephew, Talos, turns out to be a craftsman whose skills e(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Athena Athens Crete Daedalus Eurydice Hades Icarus Metamorphosis Minos Minotaur Orpheus Persephone Talos (Perdix) Theseus

Margaret Mahy

Dangerous Spaces

In Dangerous Spaces, set on the Banks Peninsula near Christchurch, New Zealand, Margaret Mahy explores the myth of Demeter and Persephone through a story about two cousins, Flora and Anthea, who travel by means of a magical stereoscope machine to a mythical realm, called Viridian. Anthea’s parents have died in a sailing accident, and she has come to live with Flora’s family, in the old house her parents are slowly renovating. This house was built by the cousins’ grandfathe(...)

YEAR: 1986

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Amazons Antheia / Anthea Demeter Eurydice Flora Hades Orpheus Persephone Philoctetes

Edward Frederic Benson

David Blaize follows the titular David as he journeys through his preparatory school and public school before he graduates and attends Oxford University (explored in David Blaize of King’s, also titled David of King’s: Benson, E. F., David Blaize of King’s. George H. Doran Company, 1924). Throughout the novel, David has several friends, including Bags, Adams, and most importantly, Frank Maddox. Frank is David’s closest friend and the two have an intense bon(...)

YEAR: 1916

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aristophanes Oedipus Plato Sophocles

Adèle Geras

Drawing on the narrative of the first four books of Virgil’s Aeneid, Dido expands and extends the tragic story of the Queen of Carthage, who falls in love with Aeneas and kills herself after he sails away. It is told through the eyes of multiple characters – the young handmaiden Elissa, who becomes nursemaid to Aeneas’ son Ascanius, Cubby, a strong, somewhat simple servant, Iopas the bard, and Anna, Dido’s younger sister. With the exception of Anna, these characters are i(...)

YEAR: 2009

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aeneas Anna (Dido's Sister) Aphrodite Ascanius / Iulus Carthage Dido Hades Hera Hermes Troy Virgil

Russell T. Davies, Brian Minchin, James Moran, Colin Teague

Doctor Who (Series, S04E02): The Fires of Pompeii

‘The Fires of Pompeii’ was typical of the revived, 21st-century series of Doctor Who (1963–1989; 2005–present) with its abandonment of educational themes for ‘pure’ science-fiction, and pseudo-historical storytelling. Filmed using the same sets as the 2005–2007 HBO/BBC Two series Rome, the episode attempted to present the same level of historical accuracy of costuming and set-design, while taking liberties with scripting. Aspects of Roman relig(...)

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Divination Eruption of Vesuvius Latin (Language) Pompeii Roman History Roman Religion Spartacus

Lindsey Alford , Toby Haynes, Steven Moffat

Doctor Who (Series, S05E12–13): The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang

‘The Pandorica Opens’ and ‘The Big Bang’ contain numerous mash-ups of Classical myth and history. The two-part story opens with the Doctor (in his Eleventh incarnation, played by Matt Smith) and his companion, Amy Pond, arriving in Roman Britain in AD 102, where they find the Doctor’s past and future wife, River Song, impersonating the Egyptian queen, Cleopatra VII. The ‘Pandorica’ of the title is a direct reference to Pandora’s Box: an advanced pr(...)

YEAR: 2010

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Roman Britain Roman History

Bob Baker, Dave Martin , Anthony Read , Norman Stewart

Doctor Who (Series, Season 15): Underworld

‘Underworld’ was typical of mid-1970s Doctor Who (1963–1989; 2005–present), in what is still regarded as its most successful period. Scripts in the era of the Fourth Doctor (played by Tom Baker) – with his enormous, multi-coloured scarf, and the ability to switch between high comedy and serious drama – delved regularly into mythological, historical, and literary themes that were already well-known to the family audiences. These were often transposed from their(...)

YEAR: 1978

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Slavery Argonauts Heracles Hercules Jason Labyrinth Minoan Civilization Oracles Orpheus Persephone Underworld

Christopher Barry, Dennis Spooner

Doctor Who (Series, Season 2): The Romans (The Slave Traders / All Roads Lead to Rome / Conspiracy / Inferno)

‘The Romans’ is a key example of the early format of Doctor Who (1963-1989; 2005-present), which sought to mix science-fiction adventures with historically-themed storylines (as an extension of its intended educational role). A playful comedy, the story sees the crew of the TARDIS (the time/space machine) materialise in the countryside outside Ancient Rome, and take a well-earned holiday at an abandoned Roman villa. Their rest is soon disturbed, however, when Barbara Wright and (...)

YEAR: 1965

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Great Fire of Rome Nero Roman History

Donald Cotton, Michael Leeston-Smith, Donald Tosh

Doctor Who (Series, Season 3): The Myth Makers

‘The Myth Makers’ continued the early tendency of Doctor Who (1963-1989; 2005-present) to mix science-fiction adventures with historically-themed storylines (as an extension of its intended educational role). The story sees the crew of the TARDIS (the time/space machine) materialise in Bronze-Age Asia Minor, just outside the walls of Troy (at the very moment when Achilles slays the Trojan champion Hector; indeed causing the death of the Trojan prince). The Doctor (an alien &lsqu(...)

YEAR: 1965

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Homer Odysseus / Ulysses Trojan War Virgil

Gerry Davis, Geoffrey Orme, Julia Smith

Doctor Who (Series, Season 4): The Underwater Menace

‘The Underwater Menace’ was typical of mid-1960s Doctor Who (1963–1989; 2005–present) and its turn away from the strictly historical, and educational, storylines of the early ‘60s, towards purely science-fiction and adventure stories. The story sees the crew of the TARDIS (the time/space machine) materialise on an island inhabited by the survivors of the lost city of Atlantis. The Doctor (an alien ‘Time Lord’ from the Planet Gallifrey) and his companions(...)

YEAR: 1967

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

Paul Bernard, Terrance Dicks, Barry Letts, Robert Sloman

Doctor Who (Series, Season 9): The Time Monster

‘The Time Monster’ was typical of early-1970s Doctor Who (1963-1989; 2005-present) and its focus on a large regular supporting cast (the United Nations Intelligence Task Force – UNIT), Earth-bound alien invasions, and espionage themes. The story sees the Doctor (an alien ‘Time Lord’ from the Planet Gallifrey, in exile on ‘present-day’ Earth) and his companions (Jo Grant and the officers and men of UNIT) investigating strange time-travel experiments (...)

YEAR: 1972

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

Douglas Adams, Bob Baker, Nick Hurran , Peter Ling, David Maloney, Dave Martin , Kenny McBain, Steven Moffat, Anthony Read , Derrick Sherwin, Norman Stewart , Toby Whithouse

Doctor Who's Labyrinth Themed Episodes (Series, Seasons 6,15,17): The Mind Robber / Underworld / The Horns of Nimon / The God Complex

The myth of the Labyrinth and the Minotaur has been a fixture of the children’s TV sci-fi/drama series Doctor Who since the 1960s. The familiarity of school-aged children with this myth was doubly-ensured by the persistent emphasis on the Classics in British education (particularly in the middle-class context) well into the last decades of the 20th century. As well as featuring in ‘The Time Monster’ (1972) – starring Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor – the theme (...)

YEAR: 1968

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Argonauts Golden Fleece Heracles Hercules Jason Labyrinth Minoan Civilization Minotaur Orpheus Persephone Talos (Automaton) Theseus

Ingri and Edggar, Per Ola and Nils M. P. D’Aulaires

D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths

This is a revised edition of a 1962 book. The writing and illustrations appear to be the same as in the original. The book covers mainly the genealogy and myths related to the Olympian gods, adapted for children (Gaia “falls in love with Uranus”, Zeus “marries” mortals etc.). It is a very detailed book that covers a large and varied range of stories, relating to the gods and mortals. It gives a description of the different traits of the gods as well as individual myths ab(...)

YEAR: 1962

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Argonauts Heracles Hercules Olympias Titans Trojan War

Victor Ambrus, Rosemary Sutcliff

The story begins with Quintus recounting to his grandchildren how as young man he was posted to Eburacum (York) as the standard-bearer for the Ninth Legion. There, at a well next to the Temple of Sulis, Quintus had encountered Cordaella, who had come from Lindum (Lincoln) with her brother Vedrix after he had been hired to lay a new mosaic floor in the town council chamber. As time passed, Quintus and Cordaella had fallen in love, but because Quintus was below the rank of centurion they could not(...)

YEAR: 1981

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Agricola Calgacus Eboracum Roman Army Roman Art Roman Britain

Efua Theodora Sutherland

In her three-act play, Efua Sutherland, depicts the life of a traditional and influential Ghanaian man, Edufa, whose pride and stubbornness results in the death of his wife, Ampoma. Set in a little Ghanaian community, the story begins with a prologue that introduces characters and the dramatic events that will ensue. In the prologue, Edufa’s sister, Abena, patiently sits in the courtyard, gathering dew in a black pot. As the prologue reveals, the dew she collects, along the water that she (...)

YEAR: 1967

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Traditions

Sarah Young

Endless Odyssey: A Mythic Storytelling Game

Endless Odyssey comprises a set of 20 storytelling cards, each depicting a character or object from the world of ancient Greek myth each depicted in a landscape including mountains and with the sea often visible in the distance. Whichever order the cards are placed in, they create what the accompanying “Guide to the Games” calls a “seamless scene” which stretches to over five feet if all the cards are used. The cards, following the order listed in the accompanying sh(...)

YEAR: 2019

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Bacchanal Centaur(s) Cerberus Charioteer Cyclops / Cyclopes Hero(es) Labyrinth Medusa Minotaur Nymphs Pegasus Vulcan

Christina Balit

Escape from Pompeii

The story follows young Tranio and Livia, and their happy life in Pompeii. However, one August day the land quakes and Vesuvius erupts. The children initially do not grasp the full danger of the situation, but soon they realize it and witness the damage. They run to the harbour and hide on a Greek cargo ship. When they wake up the ship is already sailing away from the city. The children are saved. The text is accompanied by colourful and large illustrations. On the last page there is a brie(...)

YEAR: 2003

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Eruption of Vesuvius Pompeii Vesuvius

Shoo Rayner

Euclid: the Man Who Invented Geometry

Euclid: The Man Who Invented Geometry is an illustrated chapter book that explains the life of the Greek mathematician Euclid, who lived around 300 BC. The focus is on his discoveries in geometry. In ten chapters he is shown explaining his concepts and system to a group of friends. He talks them through his definitions and method, step by step, from “point” to “polygon.” The chapters advance from point and axiom (ch. 1) to angle and parallel (ch. 2). Then kinds of angle a(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Euclid Greek Philosophy

Ian Jenkins, Kate Morton

Explore the Parthenon: An Ancient Greek Temple and Its Sculptures

This book provides a thorough overview of the sculptures of the Parthenon along with contextual details including on ancient Athenian politics, mythology, deities and festivals. The book is divided into clear sections, each of which starts with a brief introduction in bold type, followed by an overview of the topic under discussion. Ian Jenkins’s text is complemented with photos of the sculptures and illustrations by Kate Morton. Morton’s illustrations support and clarify to some of (...)

YEAR: 2009

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Temples Athens Deities Greek Religion Panathenaia Parthenon

J. K. Rowling

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

The author plays with the tradition of bestiaries in this book and introduces the audience to "Wizard–Magical Creatures Studies." Her name does not appear on the book's cover, and the work is credited to "Newt Scamander" who, in the Harry Potter universe, wrote this textbook – we see it on Harry’s supply list for his first year. It contains the history of Magizoology and describes 85 magical species from all around the world. In the edition from 20(...)

YEAR: 2001

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Centaur(s) Cerberus Phoenix (Bird) Sirens

J. K. Rowling, David Yates

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Although the movie has the same title as the book [see the entry] written in 2001, it is a completely separate “prequel” story about the fictional author of the said text, Newt Scamander. The story starts in 1926, when the not-yet-famous magizoologist comes to New York with a mysterious suitcase which, as we learn later, contains various magical creatures. The main purpose is to release one of them to its natural habitat in Arizona, however along the way things get complicated. (...)

YEAR: 2016

COUNTRY: United Kingdom United States of America

TAGS: Latin (Language) Magic

Rosemary Sutcliff

Frontier Wolf is the third book 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 the Dolphin Ring saga is an age-range of 11–16*.At the opening of Frontier Wolf, set in the early 340s, the twenty-three-year-old centurion Alexios Flavius Aqu(...)

YEAR: 1980

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Christianity Hadrian Mithras Roman Army Roman Britain Roman Empire Roman History

Kate McMullan , Denis Zilber

Get Lost, Odysseus! (Myth-O-Mania, 10)

This is the tenth book in the Myth-O-Mania series. In this series, Hades is the narrator who promises to tell the whole truth about the Greek myth; he claims that his brother Zeus, is a myth-o-maniac (that is, a liar) and that he fabricated the myths and wrote his version so that he and his children will appear noble and praiseworthy. In this book, Hades narrates Odysseus’ voyage. Hades claims that Zeus wrote down that it was he who helped Odysseus get home after the Trojan War. Hades(...)

YEAR: 2014

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Athena Calypso Cerberus Circe Hades Hermes Odysseus / Ulysses Penelope Persephone Polyphemus Poseidon Telemachus Zeus

Kate McMullan , Denis Zilber

Get to Work, Hercules! (Myth-O-Mania, 7)

This is the seventh book in the Myth-O-Mania series, which offer alternative versions of the Greek myths, narrated by Hades. Hades, who is a self-professed shy and serious god, promises to tell the whole truth about the Greek myth; he claims that his brother Zeus, is a myth-o-maniac (that is, a liar) and that he fabricated the myths and wrote his version so that he and his children will appear noble and praiseworthy. Hades’ versions offer the “true” story of the myths.In this b(...)

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United Kingdom United States of America

TAGS: Alcmene Artemis Athena Augean Stables Hades Hera Hercules Hippolyta Hydra Persephone Stymphalian Birds Twelve Labours of Heracles Zeus

Kate McMullan , Denis Zilber

Go for the Gold, Atalanta! (Myth-O-Mania, 8)

This is the eights book in the Myth-O-Mania series, which offer alternative versions of the Greek myths, narrated by Hades. Hades, who is a self-professed shy and serious god, promises to tell the whole truth about the Greek myth; he claims that his brother Zeus, is a myth-o-maniac (that is, a liar) and that he fabricated the myths and wrote his version so that he and his children will appear noble and praiseworthy. Hades’ versions offer the “true” story of the myths.In this bo(...)

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United Kingdom United States of America

TAGS: Aphrodite Artemis Atalanta Atropos Calydonian Boar Castor Clotho Hades Hera Hercules Lachesis Melanion / Milanion Meleager Peleus Persephone Polydeuces Theseus

Stella Caldwell

Gods, Heroes and Monsters: Discover the Wonders of the Ancient Greek Myths

This book explains the core Greek myths. Its cover features a sepia-toned image of the Minotaur and Theseus. It has a frame narrative, in which "Selene Nicolaides," the daughter of a museum director, explains that she found a mysterious box belonging to her father, one which held objects of value from the Ancient Greeks, objects that had been smuggled out of Ancient Greece. Knowing they must be returned, she arranged for them to be sent to the Athens Museum; they appear in the pages of(...)

YEAR: 2016

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Creation Myths Gods Hero(es) Pantheon Titans

Giovanni Caselli, Michael Gibson

Gods, Men and Monsters from the Greek Myths

This is a collection of a select number of Greek myths retold for older children, with accompanying line drawings and bright colour illustrations of varied sizes depicting key scenes. The stories focus on detailed characterisation, particularly in the hero myths, and often bring up lesser known versions. The book opens with labelled line drawings of the major gods and a map of Greece. A section at the back explains the line drawing symbols that appear at the start of each chapter, e.g. a fennel (...)

YEAR: 1977

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Aphrodite Ares Ariadne Athena Bellerophon Demeter Dionysus / Dionysos Echo Hades Hera Jason Medea Midas Narcissus Odysseus / Ulysses Orpheus Pan Pandora Persephone Perseus Phaethon Theseus Zeus

Chris Riddell

Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse

Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse is the first in a series of Goth Girl books by Chris Riddell which uses intertextual play with Gothic writers and literary conventions as well as other literary characters and mythology.Ada Goth is the only child of Lord Goth. The two live together in Ghastly-Gorm Hall. Ada is a lonely child, her father believing that children should be heard and not seen, therefore making her wear a pair of heavy boots so he can always hear her coming. A series of unsuccessful(...)

YEAR: 2013

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Eurydice Harpies Minotaur Odyssey Orpheus Pegasus Persephone Sirens Zeus

Charles Front , James Mason

Greek Heroes and Monsters

The book starts off with an introduction to ‘the Greeks’ which explains why people now visit Greece, namely because they are drawn to its holiday places. This leads into a discussion of a key aspect of life in ancient Greece: storytelling. Among the illustrations in this section is an ancient Greek vase-painting showing a storyteller saying words that translate as "once upon a time…" (p. 3). These words become the opening of the first of two stories narrated in the b(...)

YEAR: 1991

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aegeus Ariadne Crete Cyclops / Cyclopes Medusa Minoan Civilization Minos Minotaur Odysseus / Ulysses Penelope Perseus Sirens Theseus

Ann Turnbull, Sarah Young

This is a collection of a select number of Greek myths retold for children, with accompanying illustrations and artwork that visually dominates the page, often changing the colour of the page to match the art. The illustrations are lavish, to the point this is almost a presentation book. The stories primarily focus on myths about nature and nature spirits. In contrast to the twenty-first century trend towards more anachronistic and humorous retellings, these retellings stick closely to ancient s(...)

YEAR: 2010

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Alpheus Arachne Arethusa Ariadne Atalanta Bellerophon Demeter Echo Hades Hippomenes Midas Narcissus Orpheus Pan Pandora Persephone Perseus Phaethon Theseus

Heather Amery, Linda Edwards

Greek Myths for Young Children

This is a highly illustrated volume of myths retold for children. Contents:About the Greek MythsThe Gift of FirePandora's BoxPersephone and the SeasonsThe Story of ArachneThe Many Tasks of Heracles (Intro, plus 12 Labours)Echo and NarcissusDaedalus and IcarusBellerophon and the Flying HorseJason and the Golden Fleece (Intro, Argo Sets Sail, The Harpies, The Clashing Rocks, Fire-Breathing Bulls and Dragon's Teeth, The Golden Fleece).King MidasThe Adventures of Perseus (Intro, Medusa,(...)

YEAR: 2000

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Andromeda Aphrodite Apollo Arachne Ariadne Artemis Atalanta Athena Atlas Bellerophon Centaur(s) Cerberus Charon Chimera / Chimaera Chiron / Cheiron Circe Cupid Cyclops / Cyclopes Daedalus Demeter Dionysus / Dionysos Echo Eros Greek Art Hades Harpies Hera Heracles Hercules Hermes Icarus Jason Medea Medusa Midas Minos Minotaur Narcissus Odysseus / Ulysses Olympus Pandora Pandora’s Box Pegasus Penelope Persephone Perseus Phaethon Polyphemus Poseidon Prometheus Psyche Pygmalion Telemachus Theseus Trojan Horse Trojan War Twelve Labours of Heracles Zeus

Carole Hénaff, Hugh Lupton, Daniel Morden

Greek Myths: Three Heroic Tales

Greek Myths: Three Heroic Tales is a highly illustrated retelling of the myths of Demeter and Persephone, Theseus and the Minotaur, and Orpheus and Eurydice. There is at least one illustration on almost every facing pair of pages with the illustrations setting the events in antiquity. Each myth is divided into chapters in the manner of a novel.Demeter and Persephone begins by prompting the reader to imagine a tri-part world, Olympus above, the world of mortals, and the realm of the dead below. P(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Afterlife Architecture Ariadne Athena Athens Crete Daedalus Demeter Dionysus / Dionysos Eleusinian Mysteries Fate Gods Greek Music Hades Hermes Icarus Immortality Katabasis Labyrinth Maze Minos Minotaur Nymphs Olympus Orpheus Pasiphae Persephone Pluto / Plouton Proserpina Theseus Underworld Zeus

Nick Roberts, Stella Tarakson

Hades' Pet Hellhound (Hopeless Heroes, 9)

This is book 9 in the "Hopeless Heroes" series. This is a series of portal-fantasy adventures in which a timid boy travels to the world of ancient myth by means of a magic vase, and learns to be brave through adventures with classical heroes. At the end of the previous book, Tim Baker was caught in a fight over the magical vase with his class bully, Leo. The two were then transported to ancient Greece. While each tried to control the vase (Leo wanting to proceed, Tim wishing to return (...)

YEAR: 2019

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ares Cerberus Charon Eurydice Hades Hephaestus Hera Heracles Hermes Hippocrates Orpheus Pegasus Phoenix (Bird)

Alison Murray

Hare and Tortoise. The Favourite Aesop's Fable

This is a retelling of the traditional myth of the Hare and the Tortoise, accompanied by lavish, charming, full-page illustrations. When the characters are introduced, the narrative pauses for two pages of semi-humorous pseudo-scientific / betting form style profiles of Hare then Tortoise. This includes one page of labelled diagram (e.g. Head – perhaps a little bit big... Whiskers – extra twitchy), and one page listing key attributes (e.g. Hare can't stay still, but can run throu(...)

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aesop Aesop’s Fables

J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, 2)

The Chamber of Secrets is the second novel of the Harry Potter series. As in the first one, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the story begins on Harry’s birthday. Staying for the summer with his uncle and aunt – the Dursleys – the now twelve year old boy dreams of going back to Hogwarts School of Magic and Wizardry. His plans might change due to an unexpected visit. One evening Harry finds a strange creature in his room – a house-elf named Dobby. Tradi(...)

YEAR: 1998

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Basilisk Hades Persephone Phoenix (Bird)

J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, 7)

The seventh and final book in the “Harry Potter” series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, completes the story of the protagonist's struggle with his lifelong enemy, Lord Voldemort. Harry, Ron and Hermione set off on a journey to find the remaining horcruxes (special objects containing parts of Voldemort's soul and ensuring his immortality). The three friends must constantly hide, pursued by the Dark Lord's followers. The headmaster of Hogwarts is now Snape, a suppose(...)

YEAR: 2007

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aeschylus Basilisk Latin (Language) Oresteia

J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, 4)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth book in the series by J. K. Rowling about a young wizard, learning magic at Hogwarts and, in almost every book, battling the antagonist of the series, Lord Voldemort. In the previous part of the series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry learns about the prophecy concerning Voldemort, until now considered dead or missing. According to the prediction: "The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more ter(...)

YEAR: 2000

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Labyrinth Sirens Sphinx

J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, 6)

The sixth part of the Harry Potter adventures is centered on the relationship between the title character and his mentor, Albus Dumbledore. Together they try to solve the mystery of the indestructibility of Voldemort, the main antagonist of the series, who has returned and once again threatens the magical community. In the magical world in general and at Hogwarts in particular, we can sense an atmosphere of unease – the Dark Lord is once again recruiting Death Eaters and it is not clear wh(...)

YEAR: 2005

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Basilisk Latin (Language)

J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, 5)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the continuation of the adventures of the young wizard, Harry Potter (now 15) and his friends attending the Hogwarts school for witches and wizards. In this part, Harry has to deal with false accusations. The authorities of the magical world and the magical community refuse to believe in the return of Voldemort, even though Harry has witnessed it. The Dark Lord once again tries to take control of the wizarding world, and the only (secret) organis(...)

YEAR: 2003

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Centaur(s) Latin (Language)

J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Harry Potter, 1)

Harry Potter, the main character of the series, is an orphan living with his uncle and aunt, who treat him like, to put it delicately, a spare wheel. One day, on his 11th birthday, he gets an extraordinary letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (delivered by Hagrid, half-giant, later, one of his best friends), with an invitation to start his year as a student wizard. He also learns (mainly from Hagrid) about his past and his greatest enemy – Lord Voldemort, dark and evil wi(...)

YEAR: 1997

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Centaur(s) Cerberus Giants

J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, 3)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third book in J.K. Rowling’s series. As every summer, Harry Potter stays with his cousins, the Dursleys, struggling with life in the Muggle world. When the summer is almost over, and he is about to come back to Hogwarts (the school where he learns magic), Aunt Marge, an embittered sister of Vernon Dursley (Harry’s uncle and guardian) comes to visit. She pushes the young wizard’s boundaries to the point when Harry lets go and uses (...)

YEAR: 1999

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Lycaon Thanatos

Tony Ross , Francesca Simon

Helping Hercules

Helping Hercules tells the story of a young girl named Susan who does not want to help or do chores at home. She finds a magic coin that takes her back to Ancient Greece where she becomes entangled in scenarios from Greek mythology – she has to help Hercules clean out Augean stables, help Orpheus get Eurydice back from Hades, help Paris choose between the goddesses, help Bellerophon capture Pegasus to find the chimera, fight Medusa, deal with Midas, and help Hercules get the apples from th(...)

YEAR: 1999

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Alpheus Andromeda Aphrodite Apollo Aristaeus Athena Atlas Augeas Bellerophon Cassiopeia Cepheus Cerberus Chimera / Chimaera Eris Erymanthian Boar Eurydice Eurystheus Furies Gorgon(s) Greece Hades Helen Hera Heracles Hercules Hesperides Ida (Mount) Ladon Medusa Menelaus Midas Nymphs Orpheus Pan Paris (Trojan Prince) Pegasus Peleus Peneus Perseus Polydectes Poseidon Satyr(s) Styx Taenarum Tantalus Thetis Tmolus Troy

Nick Roberts, Stella Tarakson

Hera’s Terrible Trap! (Hopeless Heroes, 2)

This is book 2 in the Hopeless Heroes series. This is series of portal-fantasy adventures in which a timid boy travels to the world of ancient myth by means of a magic vase, and learns to be brave through adventures with classical heroes. In the first book of the series, Tim Baker, our hero, discovered the mythological Hercules was trapped in an old vase Tim had at home. He also discovered that it was Hera, who locked Hercules there since she was jealous of his beautiful mother. In this book, Ti(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Hera Heracles Hercules Hermes Medusa Perseus Stheno Theseus

Geraldine McCaughrean

The book narrates the life of Hercules, from his early youth to his tragic death and following deification (or rather becoming a constellation). Due to the subject matter and the mentions of murder and tragic deaths the book is more suitable for older children. (...)

YEAR: 2003

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Admete Alcmene Amphitryon Apollo Artemis Athena Atlas Cerberus Chiron / Cheiron Deianeira Eurystheus Hebe Hera Heracles Hercules Hermes Hippolyta Hydra Iole Linus Megara Minos Nemean Lion Nessus Pluto / Plouton Poseidon Prometheus Stymphalian Birds Twelve Labours of Heracles Zeus

Steve Barlow, Steve Skidmore, Andrew Tunney

Hercules (EDGE: I HERO: Legends, 3)

In this choose-your-own-path book, the reader is Hercules. Hercules joins the voyage of the Argo and needs to help Jason to make decision and later find his lost friend, Hylas, while facing various adventures and overcoming obstacles.(...)

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Arachne Argonauts Centaur(s) Ceto Chiron / Cheiron Harpies Hera Heracles Hercules Hylas Jason Poseidon

Tony Bradman , Steve May

Hercules the Hero

In five illustrated chapters, Bradman tells the story of Hercules the Hero. In Chapter One, Trouble with a goddess, we learn of Hercules’ unusual powers and Hera’s enmity towards him. In Chapter Two, Some interesting little jobs, Hercules tackles the Nemean Lion and the Hydra. In Chapter Three, A few busy weeks, Hercules captures the Deer with the Golden Horns and the Brutal Board and cleanses the Augean stables. He shoots down the Bronze Birds of Stymphalos, wrestles with the Great (...)

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Amazons Atlas Cerberus Charon Eurystheus Geryon Greece Hades Hera Heracles Hercules Thebes Zeus

Bob Dewar, Matthew Fitt

Hercules: Bampots and Heroes

Hercules: Bambots and Heroes is a comedic account of the twelve labours of Hercules by Matthew Fitt written in Scots, one of the two indigenous languages to Scotland recognised by the UN. While Scottish Gaelic developed in the highlands, Scots originated in the lowlands of Scotland. Although Scots is still commonly used throughout the lowlands it is often blended with English by native speakers. The book itself is a product of Itchy Coo, an imprint of Black & White publishing founded in 2002(...)

YEAR: 2005

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Amazons Augeas Cerberus Cretan Bull Diomedes (of Thrace) Erymanthian Boar Eurystheus Geryon Hera Hercules Hesperides Hippolyta Hydra Nemean Lion Stymphalian Birds Zeus

Linda Cavallini, Alex Frith

Hercules: The World's Strongest Man

This book is a retelling of the story of Hercules aimed to encourage reading; the story was developed at the University of Roehampton with the consultation of Alison Kelly, Senior Lecturer. The story follows Hercules after he has killed his family and is performing his 12 labours until the gods forgive him. At the end, the story of how Hera tried to kill Hercules as an infant and how he joined the Argonauts is briefly summarized.(...)

YEAR: 2014

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Atlas Augean Stables Cerberus Ceryneian Hind Chiron / Cheiron Cretan Bull Diomedes’ Mares Erymanthian Boar Eurystheus Geryon Hades Helios Hera Heracles Hercules Hesperides Hippolyta Hydra Iolaus Nemean Lion Persephone Prometheus Stymphalian Birds Zeus

The Hercules Project , Emma Stafford

Hercules’ Twelve Labours Today

This webpage concerns a family-friendly exhibition, organised by the University of Leeds-based Hercules Project as part of the University’s 2019 public engagement "Be Curious" festival. The exhibition presented representations of the Labours of Hercules in ancient and postclassical art, culminating in recent appropriations of the hero as a coloniser and a world leader. After looking at how others have depicted Hercules, visitors were invited to become creators of their own recept(...)

YEAR: 2019

COUNTRY: Ireland United Kingdom

TAGS: Heracles Hydra Nemean Lion Twelve Labours of Heracles

Nick Roberts, Stella Tarakson

Here Comes Hercules! (Hopeless Heroes, 1)

This is book 1 in the Hopeless Heroes series. This is series of portal-fantasy adventures in which a timid boy travels to the world of ancient myth by means of a magic vase, and learns to be brave through adventures with classical heroes. In this book we meet our protagonist, Tim Baker. We are initially informed that Tim’s mother works long hours to provide for her family, so he needs to help with the housework. While cleaning, Tim accidentally breaks a large Greek vase, decorated with a s(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Cerberus Hera Hercules Hermes Zeus

James Reeves, Sara Silcock

Heroes and Monsters: Legends of Ancient Greece

This is an anthology book for children which presents the key figures and stories from classical mythology. The chapters are lightly illustrated, with one or two line drawings per chapter. Introduction.Pronunciation Guide (and map of Ancient Greece).The Beginning of Man: Prometheus and Pandora. Winter and Summer: Demeter and Persephone. Daedalus and Icarus.Phaeton’s Journey.King Midas (divided into ‘The Golden Touch’ and ‘A Pair of Ass’s Ears&rsq(...)

YEAR: 1969

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Andromeda Apollo Ariadne Daedalus Eros Hades Heracles Jason Medea Medusa Midas Odysseus / Ulysses Pandora Persephone Perseus Prometheus Psyche Theseus Zeus

Tom Kindley

Heroes of the Night Sky. The Greek Myths Behind the Constellations

This is a collection of myths told for teenagers, with emphasis on stylised illustration, constellation name aetiologies, and some moral lessons. The myths included are:Ursa Major (The Great Bear)PegasusAndromedaHerculesLyre (The Lyre)Corona Borealis (Northern Crown)Orion and ScorpiusCorvus (The Crow)Centaurus (The Centaur)Ophiucus (The Serpent Bearer)(...)

YEAR: 2016

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aetiology Afterlife Andromeda Aphrodite Apollo Architecture Ariadne Artemis Asclepius Bellerophon Callisto Centaur(s) Cerberus Charon Chimera / Chimaera Chiron / Cheiron Dionysus / Dionysos Gods Hades Heracles Hercules Hermes Hydra Immortality Katabasis Labyrinth Maze Medusa Minotaur Orion Orpheus Pegasus Perseus Poseidon Prometheus Stymphalian Birds Theseus Twelve Labours of Heracles Underworld Zeus

Julia Bereciartu, Vita Murrow

High-Five to the Hero

High-Five to the Hero was written after the success of Murrow’s first published collection of subverted fairy tales, Power to the Princess, in which she addresses gendered stereotypes of femininity for young girls. Likewise, this book is collection of retold myths, fairy tales and folklore that subvert traditional representations of gender and sex, but here she disrupts traditional representations of masculinity. Murrow writes well known male literary characters, traditional champions of c(...)

YEAR: 2019

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Cerberus Hera Heracles Hercules Hydra Midas Twelve Labours of Heracles

Kate McMullan , Denis Zilber

Hit the Road, Helen! (Myth-O-Mania, 9)

This is the ninth book in the Myth-O-Mania series. In this series, Hades is the narrator who promises to tell the whole truth about the Greek myth; he claims that his brother, Zeus, is a myth-o-maniac (that is, a liar) and that he fabricated the myths and wrote his version so that he and his children will appear noble and praiseworthy. In this book, Hades tells the story of Helen of Troy. Hades claims that in his version, Zeus put the blame for the Trojan War on Helen. Yet Hades claims, tha(...)

YEAR: 2013

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Agamemnon Aphrodite Apollo Athena Cassandra Cupid Hades Hector Helen Hephaestus Hera Paris (Trojan Prince) Poseidon Priam Trojan War Zeus

Dominic Brigstocke, Steve Connelly, William Terence Deary, Chloë Thomas

Horrible Histories (Series)

A sketch show based on the books of the same name by Terry Deary, focussing on many aspects of history not just the Classical areas. Each episode includes parodic songs teaching children about aspects of history, with both live-action and animated sections often working in conjecture to form the full picture of the sketch. Each sketch is accompanied by the narrative character Rattus Rattus who is used as an accuracy marker for the jokes within the series. The show takes a non-linear format (...)

YEAR: 2009

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Aeschylus Aesop Aesop’s Fables Alexander the Great Antoninus Pius Aphrodite Archimedes Ares Aristotle Artemis Asclepius Athena Athens Avaricum Caesar Caesarion Caligula Cato the Elder Cerberus Claudius (Emperor) Cleopatra VII Constantine Cronus / Kronos Delphic Oracle Diana Diogenes Egypt Gallic Wars Gladiators Graeco-Persian Wars Greek History Hadrian Hannibal Hector Helen Hippocrates Janus Jupiter Marathon Mark Antony Mars Menelaus Mercury Minerva Mithras Neptune Nero Octavian Olympic Games Ouranos / Uranus Paris (Trojan Prince) Plato Pliny the Elder Pluto / Plouton Praetorian Guard Punic Wars Pyrrhus of Epirus Pythagoras Roman Baths Roman History Saturn Scipio Africanus Socrates Sparta Syracuse Theagenes of Thasos Thebes Tiberius Trojan Horse Trojan War Venus Vercingetorix Vesuvius Xerxes Zeus

Martin Brown , William Terence Deary

Horrible Histories. The Groovy Greeks

A humorous overview of the mythology and history of Ancient Greece. After an introduction to Greek "gruesome gods" and "petrifying plays and electrifying epics", Deary zooms in on the "savage Spartans" and the "odd Athenians". He then summarises the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars, before giving an entertaining account of the life and deeds of "Alexander the Great-er". The following chapters describe how Ancient Greeks thought, lived, and died, wi(...)

YEAR: 1995

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Alexander the Great Archimedes Charidemus Clytemnestra Greek History Greek Medicine Pericles Themistocles Xerxes

Robert Sutherland Rattray, Maalam Shaihu

How the Whip and the “Maara” Spoon (a Broken Bit of Calabash) Came to the Haunts of Men

A man had two wives: one of whom had children and the other who did not but stayed with an adopted child. The man despised the wife with whom he had children. Whenever there was hunger, he went to the bush and brought food for the childless wife. One day, he went to the bush, found twenty guinea-fowl eggs, and gave the largest to the wife with children. She boiled it and gave it to her children. Another day arrived, and the woman with children went to the bush and brought corn, which she stirred(...)

YEAR: 1913

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Mythologies African Storytelling African Traditions

The British Museum

How to Write a Myth

This webpage, which forms part of a series of activities for “Young Explorers” created by the British Museum, provides various facts and ideas to enable children to write, and then potentially perform, their own myth. Information is provided on particular features of myths along with suggestions of figures to research for ideas: from ancient Greece (Herakles) West Africa (Anansi) and Central America (Huracán). The webpage is illustrated with a depiction of Theseus killing the Minota(...)

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Heracles Minotaur Theseus

Anthony McGowan

I Am a Minotaur

I Am the Minotaur is a children's novel about Matthew (also known as Stinky Mog), his struggles with isolation and bullying at school, and his worries about his mother who is suffering from depression and addiction. Because of his mother's problems, Matthew is a young carer, trying to look after his mother and himself, and having difficulties with nutrition and hygiene. He becomes isolated at school when children pick on him for his appearance and smell. Referring to himself as the Minot(...)

YEAR: 2021

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ariadne Labyrinth Minotaur Theseus

David Lopez, Barrie Wade

Icarus, the Boy Who Flew

This simple illustrated text for beginning readers, with copious illustrations and short sentences, retells the myth of Icarus, showing Icarus living with his father, Daedalus, a "great inventor" (p. 5). After the king asks Daedalus to build a maze to hide a "terrible secret," (p. 7) he imprisons Daedalus and Icarus in a high tower. "They knew the king’s secret, so they could never leave." (p. 8). They collect the feathers left by the birds who come to pick up(...)

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Daedalus Labyrinth

Simona Bursi, Linda Cavallini, Susanna Davidson, Alex Frith , Anne Millard, Matteo Pincelli, Russell Punter, Lesley Sims , Louie Stowell

Illustrated Stories From the Greek Myths

Illustrated Stories From the Greek Myths is a highly illustrated collection of short stories for children or young teens.Contents:The Wooden Horse: Russell Punter (Author) and Matteo Pincelli (Illustrator),The Minotaur: Russell Punter (Author) and Linda Cavallini (Illustrator),Bellerophon and Pegasus: Susanna Davidson (Author) and Simona Bursi (Illustrator),The Twelve Tasks of Heracles: Alex Frith (Author) and Matteo Pincelli (Illustrator),Perseus and the Gorgon: Lesley Sims (Author) a(...)

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Aetiology Afterlife Andromeda Aphrodite Apples of the Hesperides Architecture Argo Argonauts Ariadne Athena Atlas Bellerophon Cerberus Charon Chimera / Chimaera Circe Crete Cyclops / Cyclopes Daedalus Demeter Dionysus / Dionysos Graeae / Graiai Hades Hera Heracles Hercules Hermes Icarus Jason Labyrinth Medusa Metamorphosis Minos Odysseus / Ulysses Olympus Pandora Pandora’s Box Pegasus Penelope Persephone Perseus Polyphemus Poseidon Prometheus Sirens Telemachus Trojan Horse Trojan War Twelve Labours of Heracles Zeus

Ian Andrews, Penelope Lively

In Search of a Homeland

This is a retelling of the post-homeric story of the Aeneid and of the origins of Rome.(...)

YEAR: 2001

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Carthage Charybdis Crete Cyclops / Cyclopes Greek History Harpies Juno Jupiter Mercury Neptune Odysseus / Ulysses Oracles Polyphemus Roman History Trojan Horse Trojan War Troy Venus Vulcan

Thereza Rowe

In the Woods is, as the back cover says, “a collection of tales about a group of friends who use creativity and kindness to help each other through life’s adventures.” However, from the narrative point of view, it is actually one tale divided into three chapters: Olly’s Wings, Lionel’s Mane, and Red’s Wedding. Even though the mythological content is to be found only in the first story (which is summarized here in greater detail), the summary covers all three p(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Icarus Pegasus Unicorn (hippos monokeras)

Blair Drawson, Sheldon Oberman

Island of the Minotaur. Greek Myths of Ancient Crete

This is an interesting take on the myth of the Minotaur which places it within a wide context by telling a selection of myths that build up to the Minotaur's demise. This creates a multi-generational story which arcs from the days of Cronos until Phaedra's departure from Crete as the last queen of Knossos. The myths of Medea and Ariadne are told in contrast to each other. The work begins and ends with historicising interpretations of the myths, relating the myths' connections to Mino(...)

YEAR: 2003

COUNTRY: Canada United Kingdom

TAGS: Afterlife Apollo Architecture Argo Argonauts Ariadne Athens Atlantis Centaur(s) Cerberus Crete Cronus / Kronos Cyclops / Cyclopes Daedalus Dionysus / Dionysos Europa Fate Gods Golden Fleece Greek Art Greek History Heracles Hercules Jason Katabasis Labyrinth Maze Medea Metamorphoses (Ovid's) Metis Minos Minotaur Pan Pasiphae Poseidon Theseus Twelve Labours of Heracles Underworld Zeus

Klaxons

The song is inspired by an episode in the novel Exploits and Opinions of Doctor Faustroll, Pataphysician by French absurdist and Symbolist Alfred Jarry, entitled "Concerning the Isle of Her, the Cyclops, and the Great Swan which is of Crystal", which is made clear in the lyrics, some of which are drawn directly from this passage.The song describes a journey to the "Isle of Her", with a choral refrain of "Row! There’s only seven more miles to go" being repeated(...)

YEAR: 2007

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Circe Cyclops / Cyclopes Homer Odyssey

Adèle Geras

Just as her novel Troy imagines new stories playing out within the final days of the Trojan War, in this text Geras locates her tale on Ithaca during the long years of Odysseus’ absence. The story centres on the teenager Klymene, granddaughter of the old nurse Eurycleia. Orphaned as a baby, she and her twin brother Ikarios have grown up in the royal palace alongside Telemachus. The trio have always been friends, but Klymene is beginning to have other feelings for the Prince. Tel(...)

YEAR: 2005

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Amphimedon Antinoos (Penelope's Suitor) Argos (Dog) Athena Eurycleia Homer Ithaca Melantho Odysseus / Ulysses Odyssey Penelope Poseidon Telemachus Trojan War

David Antram, John Malam, David Salariya

Jason and the Argonauts

In this straight-forward retelling of the myth of the Argonauts, the story begins with the prophecy by the oracle who proclaims that Pelias, king of the city-state of Iolcus, should pay attention to his family, because they will deprive him of power. So Pelias decides to kill everyone, showing mercy only to his brother Aeson, whom he throws into the dungeon. When he arrives to kill Jason, his brother's son, he is tricked by Alcimede the boy's mother, into believing that the young man had(...)

YEAR: 2004

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aeëtes Aeson Alcimede Argo Argonauts Argos / Argus (Constructor of "Argo") Athena Centaur(s) Chiron / Cheiron Colchis Corfu / Kerkyra Golden Fleece Harpies Hera Jason Medea Oracles Orpheus Pelias Poseidon Sirens

Nick Roberts, Stella Tarakson

Jason's Wild Winds (Hopeless Heroes, 6)

This is book 6 in the "Hopeless Heroes" series. This is a series of portal-fantasy adventures in which a timid boy travels to the world of ancient myth by means of a magic vase, and learns to be brave through adventures with classical heroes. At the end of the previous book, Tim Baker was prepared to sacrifice himself so that the evil Hera would not harm his friends. For this deed he was named a hero by Athena who helped him return to his home.In this story we find Tim puzzled over a s(...)

YEAR: 2019

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Athena Hera Hercules Hippocrates Jason Medea

Gary Northfield

Julius Zebra: Bundle with the Britons!

Julius Zebra: Bundle with the Britons! is the second of the Julius Zebra series of comic novels. Told through a combination of images and text, they feature the adventures of Julius, a kind-hearted but dim-witted zebra, who is taken from Africa to Rome, and becomes a gladiator. The story follows on from the action in Julius Zebra: Rumble with the Romans!. Having defeated the champion gladiators at a circus to celebrate Emperor Hadrian’s birthday, Julius is now famous throughout Rome and is(...)

YEAR: 2016

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Boudicca Circus Maximus Colosseum Gladiator Games Gladiators Hadrian Ostia Roman Britain Roman Empire Rome Spartacus

Gary Northfield

Julius Zebra: Entangled with the Egyptians!

Julius Zebra: Entangled with the Egyptians! is the third in the series of the Julius Zebra comic novels. It follows on from Julius Zebra: Bundle with the Britons!. Julius Zebra and his animal friends have travelled across Europe, freeing enslaved animals from the amphitheatres of the Roman Empire, and pursuing their old trainer, Septimus, across the Mediterranean, when suddenly they are blown off-course by a huge storm, and are tossed up on an Egyptian beach. Celebrating their return (...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Cleopatra VII Egypt Hadrian Mark Antony Roman Egypt Roman Empire

Gary Northfield

Julius Zebra: Rumble with the Romans!

Julius Zebra: Rumble with the Romans! is the first of the Julius Zebra series of comic novels. Told through a combination of images and text, they feature the adventures of Julius, a kind-hearted but dim-witted zebra, who is captured by the Romans at his home near the “stinky lake” in north-east Africa, and along with a group of other wild animals, is taken to Rome to feature in the Circus. Some of these animals become his friends and appear in later adventures: they include a c(...)

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Circus Maximus Colosseum Gladiator Games Gladiators Hadrian Spartacus

Sarah McIntyre, Philip Reeve

Kevin’s Great Escape

This is the second in the “Roly Poly Flying Pony” adventures, featuring Kevin, a chubby winged pony who nests in a tree in the wilds of Dartmoor, in Devon, England. Kevin becomes friends with a boy named Max, in The Legend of Kevin, and helps save the town of Bumbleford from flooding following a storm. In this volume, famous pop star, Misty Twiglet, moves into Gloomsbury Grange, a mansion near Bumbleford. Her wicked agent, Baz Gumption, tricks Max’s sister, Daisy (w(...)

YEAR: 2019

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Centaur(s) Faun Gorgon(s) Satyr(s) Sirens

Eric A. Kimmel , Pep Montserrat

King Midas & Other Greek Myths

This book provides retelling of various myths, adapted for young readers. The myths are: Prometheus and Epimetheus’ gifts to the animals, Prometheus’ stealing of fire, Pandora’s box, Persephone and her abduction by Hades, Echo and Narcissus, Arachne’s contest with Athena, Pygmalion and Galatea, King Midas and the golden touch, Orpheus and Eurydice including Orpheus’ murder by a tribe of wild maidens, Jason and the golden fleece including how Medea helped him an dhow(...)

YEAR: 2016

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Arachne Echo Epimetheus Hades Icarus Jason Midas Narcissus Orpheus Pandora Perseus Prometheus

Alex Frith , Simona Sanfilippo

King Midas and the Gold

King Midas and the Gold is a children's storybook written with deliberately simple language for those learning to read. It is part of a series that contains many examples of traditional myths and simplified versions of classical literature.The Midas myth is told in an extremely simplified form as the paramount focus is telling a story with very basic vocabulary. There is more emphasis on Midas' kindness than his foolishness or greed. The text states 'he was kind', accompanying a (...)

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Apollo Architecture Dionysus / Dionysos Gods Laurel Wreath Metamorphoses (Ovid's) Midas Ovid

Julia Jarman, Claudia Venturini

King Midas’s Golden Touch

This charming children's picture book introduces the young reader to King Midas, who we are told is rich, kind, and somewhat foolish. The King and his daughter, Zoe live in a palace surrounded by a lush and famous rose garden. During one of their daily walks in the garden, they come across Silenus the satyr, hungover and sleeping among the rose bushes. Zoe and King Midas help Silenus who is a friend of the god, Dionysus. Suddenly, Dionysus descends from the sky, luxuriating in a fluffy, shim(...)

YEAR: 2009

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Dionysus / Dionysos Golden Touch Metamorphosis Midas Satyr(s) Silens

Alice Werner

Kwege and Bahati

A long time ago, a man got married to Mulamuwingu of the Uwingu* clan. Mulamuwingu’s new home was a two-day journey away from her brother’s (Muwingu) home. The man and Mulamuwingu had a son and named him Kwege. When the man dies, Mulamuwingu inherits a slave called Bahati. The society she lives in is riddled with taboos. One taboo is that Mulamuwingu should never allow rainwater to touch her because she is an off-spring of the sky God. If it does touch her, she will die immedia(...)

YEAR: 1933

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Mythologies African Storytelling African Traditions

The LEGO Company

Lego Minifigures (Series)

LEGO’s permeation into popular culture is evident through its release of thematic sets to coincide with the release of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in 1999, and through its collaboration with Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and The Simpsons. As of 2010, LEGO began to release themed collectible minifigures that were based on fantasy, sports, history, and popular culture. A minifigure is defined as a small posable person with ‘rotating arms, legs, hands, and heads… (with) connectors (...)

YEAR: 2010

COUNTRY: United Kingdom United States of America

TAGS: Amazons Athena Caesar Cyclops / Cyclopes Emperor Faun Gladiators Medusa Minotaur Neptune Odyssey Pan Perseus Poseidon Roman Empire Spartans Theseus

Katie Daynes, Marie-Eve Tremblay

Lift-the-Flap Questions and Answers about Art

This beautifully-illustrated book immerses young people in the world of art. It belongs to an extensive series which introduces children to a variety of subjects. Young people are introduced to art via a question and answer format focused on the sorts of questions that people might have about art and the sorts of questions that can be asked to explore art beyond the surface – in that sense the book is about helping young people to engage with art rather than simply presenting them with art(...)

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aphrodite Egypt Gods Greek Art Olympic Games Venus

Katie Daynes, Peter Donnelly

Lift-the-Flap Questions and Answers about Long Ago

This beautifully-illustrated book offers young readers an interactive immersion in history. The histories of many periods and peoples are covered, with the book divided into sections based on the sorts of questions that people might ask about the past: Where? Who? Why? What? How? When? and Which? There is an illustrated “What happened when?” timeline at the end of the book which places items from throughout the book in chronological order. The ancient world plays an important ro(...)

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Slavery Architecture Cleopatra VII Colosseum Egypt Gladiator Games Roman Empire Roman History Roman Religion Roman Republic Rome Sphinx

Alice Werner

The myth of Liongo Fumo* is about a Swahili poet, warrior, and hero who braved diverse barriers till his death. He was a tall and brave man whose younger brother, Shah Daudi Mringwari, the Sultan of Pate, hated him. Their polygamous father, Shaka Mashah, favoured the latter because the former’s mother was more miserable. However, Liongo’s extraordinary stature, fighting and poetic skills gained the attention of many. His brother’s jealousy leads him to plot to get rid of (...)

YEAR: 1933

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Mythologies African Storytelling African Traditions

Colin Thompson

Looking for Atlantis

Looking for Atlantis is a picturebook featuring a boy and his grandfather. As he is dying, Grandfather tells his grandson that he must look for Atlantis, a reference to the famous lost city of antiquity. Rather than being a story or a faraway place, Atlantis is all around you, or so Grandfather says. When Grandfather dies, the boy searches through his wooden chest and finds a door to Atlantis, pictured here as a surreal, magical seascape. The boy then tries to see the world with his grandfather&(...)

YEAR: 1993

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Arcadia Atlantis Styx Titans Underworld

Iain Ashman

Make this Roman Amphitheatre

This is a cut out, stiff card model of a Roman Amphitheatre that one can create using only glue and scissors. The model includes cut-out figures of gladiators, crowed and ships.(...)

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Amphitheatre Architecture Gladiators

Ollie Cuthbertson, Gary Smailes

Marathon (EDGE: Battle Books, 4)

This is a choose-your-own-adventure story in which the basic premise is established and the reader then makes choices that determine the development and out-come of the story. In Marathon the reader plays as Miltiades the general. Based on the choices made, the reader will then receive a ranking on their performance as general, poor, ok, good, or great, and the outcome of the battle will be either death, partial victory, or complete victory. The reader will be prompted to consider many aspects o(...)

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ares Athens Divination Gods Graeco-Persian Wars Greek History

Charles Keeping, Rosemary Sutcliff

Mark of the Horse Lord

Former gladiator Phaedrus is bailed out of Corstopitum’s (Corbridge) jail by the merchant Sinnoch, who introduces Phaedrus to the northern tribesmen Gault the Strong and Midir. Midir had once been a prince of the Dalriadain, but was secretly blinded and banished by his father’s half-sister Liadhan who now rules as queen of the tribe. However, Gault, Sinnoch and various co-conspirators wish to remove Liadhan, and given that the Dalriadain believe Midir died as a child and Phaedrus bea(...)

YEAR: 1965

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Gladiators Roman Britain Roman Empire Roman History

Athina Bali

Match and Learn the Greek Gods

This book contains colourful stickers and illustrations. Each page shows a description of a Greek god for whom the child needs to find the corresponding sticker. Furthermore, there are several stories in the book containing moral lessons on teamwork, winning and losing, respecting nature etc.(...)

YEAR: 2016

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Demeter Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hestia Poseidon Zeus

Alex Woolf

Meet The Ancient Romans

This book is a combination of a guidebook of ancient Rome and a time traveling adventure book. It combines information about ancient Roman institutions (the senate, arena, baths, temples, shops and draftsmen) with everyday life, such as food, clothing etc. The reader participates in the Roman daily life and also receives additional information on the origin of certain institutions or positions in the Empire. The plot take “you” a school boy/girl through a mysterious wooden door to th(...)

YEAR: 2014

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Roman Baths Rome

Margaret Mahy

In Memory, nineteen-year-old Jonny Dart is a dancer suffering from the post-traumatic stress disorder. Some years before, his sister Janine, also a dancer, had fallen from a cliff while playing a game with Jonny and their friend, Bonny Benedicta, in which Jonny was the "wolfman," and Bonny the "pythoness," or the "oracle." Jonny, who resented his family’s favouritism towards his sister, is haunted by the thought that he might have pushed Janine and develops a (...)

YEAR: 1987

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Dionysus / Dionysos Oracles Pythia Sibyl

Roy Knipe, Geoffrey Trease

Mission to Marathon

Mission to Marathon immerses the young reader in the tense events of the Battle of Marathon campaign in 490BCE. The story follows a fictional protagonist, Philip, the young son of an Athenian sculptor. When Philip's father hears in the Assembly that the Persians have reached Euboea he anticipates that they will land at Marathon to make their invasion. Philip is tasked with hurrying to the village of Marathon to warn their extended family and urge them to seek safety. Philip's elder broth(...)

YEAR: 1997

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Slavery Athens Divination Graeco-Persian Wars Greek History Pan

Yaël Farber

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(...)

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aegisthus Aeschylus African Traditions Agamemnon Clytemnestra Electra Orestes Sophocles

Shoo Rayner

Monster Boy. Minotaur Maze (Monster Boy, 8)

Monster Boy: Minotaur Maze is the 8th in a series of chapter books for early readers, in which the protagonist, Connor, is the Ministry of Monster’s number one secret agent, helping keep peace in the forest where they all live. Connor’s mother is a gargoyle, and his father is a human. In Minotaur Maze, while Connor’s parents talk with farmer Maisie whose produce shop lacks customers, Connor is called to his latest Monster Mission when Mino the Minotaur goes missing in the Tangl(...)

YEAR: 2010

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Labyrinth Minotaur

Philip Reeve

SETTINGThree thousand years after Sixty Minute War, a short yet disastrous conflict that caused mass extinction of humans and major geological shifts, a part of the surviving civilization lives in the so-called traction cities, following the laws of Municipal Darwinism. These monstrous tank-like cities roam the arid lands of Europe, called the Great Hunting Ground, ravishing soil by gathering whatever they deem necessary not only for survival, but also for prosperity. There is a saying – &(...)

YEAR: 2001

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Medusa Pandora Pandora’s Box

Saviour Pirotta

My Cousin the Minotaur: A Greek Myth Retold

This book was originally an interactive e-book, written for Fiction Express website, which allows readers to determine the plot of a story.The story follows princess Chloe who discovers that her cousin, Alexander from Axos, was cursed by the gods (as a punishment for his father’s offence to them) and turned into a hideous Minotaur. In order to save him, Chloe must travel to Mount Olympus and gather the necessary ingredients for an antidote. In the end, she succeeds, together with a servant(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Minotaur Theseus

Amos Tutuola

My Life in the Bush of Ghosts

Just like his first novel, The Palm-wine Drinkard, Amos Tutuola’s second novel, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts has its roots in the folkloric oral tradition of the Yoruba tribe of the Southwest of Nigeria. The author uses the first person narrative technique to tell his story set in the jungle inhabited by goblins and other weird and fantastic monsters acting in the spiritual realm. As common in folklores, the basic themes of the novel are focussed around didactic instructions to (...)

YEAR: 1954

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Storytelling African Traditions Archetype Metamorphosis

Thiago de Moraes

Myth Atlas: maps and monsters, heroes and gods from twelve mythological worlds

With its high quality production values, including lavish, detailed illustrations, a hardback cover and generous 33 cm tall pages, de Moraes’ Myth Atlas has the dimensions and desirability of a coffee table book. The title page "The Worlds of Myth" uses a map of the world to introduce and geographically locate the twelve cultures which are showcased in the text: the Native North Americans, the Aztecs, the Irish, the South American Yanomami, the Yoruba of Western Africa, the (...)

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Gods Golden Fleece Hades Heracles Hero(es) Jason Monsters Odysseus / Ulysses Olympians Olympus Oracles Pegasus Theogony Titans Underworld Zeus

The British Museum

Mythical Top Trumps

This webpage, available via the British Museum’s online “Young Explorers” resources, shows how to create a “top-trumps” game involving fantastic creatures from several cultures using easy to obtain materials: ruler, blank paper, pencil and colouring pencils/crayons. Users are told how to get started by drawing out a template left blank at the top and with several ruled lines beneath. Those creating the game are free to select any mythological figure for each card th(...)

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Cyclops / Cyclopes Monsters

Nick Harris, Nicki Palin, David Wyatt

Mythology Code Writing Kit (Ology Stationary Kit)

This is an attractive set. The purpose is for the players to create their own secret messages using the different codes. On the inside cover there is a note from John, who hopes that whoever finds this kit writes down their own adventures, and not succumb to greed as he did. The players are encouraged to use various forms of expressions for their secret messages. For example, the use of vase painting to convey ideas (there are stickers of such vases), or writing their names in the Greek alphabet(...)

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Argonauts Constellations Harpies Heracles Hercules Medusa Minotaur Olympians Theseus Trojan Horse

Sandra Lawrence , Emma Trithart

Myths and Legends

Sandra Lawrence's Myths and Legends is relatively unusual amongst children's myth books in that it places more emphasis on comparative mythology than on story-telling. The book's five sections are arranged to stress features shared in common across myths, such as journeys, creation, trees, tricksters, and solar chariots. Some myths are told in summary form to demonstrate the story types that are being introduced (King Arthur: The Once and Future King and Theseus: The Highly-Strung He(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Alcmene Apples of the Hesperides Argo Argonauts Ariadne Athena Atlantis Bellerophon Chimera / Chimaera Creation Myths Crete Cupid Demeter Egypt Egyptian Mythology Eurystheus Golden Fleece Gorgon(s) Hades Harpies Helios Hera Heracles Hermes Hero(es) Hestia Hydra Jason Labyrinth Medusa Mercury Minos Minotaur Olympus Pandora Pandora’s Box Pegasus Persephone Poseidon Psyche Stymphalian Birds Theseus Twelve Labours of Heracles Venus Zeus

Geraldine McCaughrean, Bee Willey

Myths and Legends of the World: The Bronze Cauldron

The book offers a retelling of myths from around the world, suitable for children of all ages. (Among the myths we have stories from Mayan culture, Papua New Guinea, Inuit tale, Japanese and more).(...)

YEAR: 1997

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Cupid Hades Jupiter Psyche Sisyphus Typhon / Typhoeus / Typhaon Venus Zephyrus Zeus

José Daniel Cabrera Peña, Neil Smith

Myths and Legends: Jason and the Argonauts

The book describes the quest of Jason and the Argonauts in great detail, accompanied by original paintings by the illustrator as well as maps and photos from other sources. The main story is narrated in the middle, yet there are excerpts in several chapters which illuminate other key points of the story, such as the Golden Fleece, the list of Argonauts, Jason in movies etc. This is not a fiction but rather a narration of the myth aimed at older readership. The book includes an introduction on th(...)

YEAR: 2013

COUNTRY: United Kingdom United States of America

TAGS: Aphrodite Ares Argonauts Athena Circe Golden Fleece Harpies Hera Heracles Hercules Jason Medea Pelias Talos (Automaton)

José Daniel Cabrera Peña, Graeme Davis

Myths and Legends: Theseus and the Minotaur

This book, part of the Myths and Legends series, surveys the myths attributed to Theseus: his eraly life and journey to Athens, the myth of the minotaur including the events preceding the creation of the labyrinth and king Minos, the desertion of Ariadne and the death of Aegeus, (the vents of the labyrinth take up 25 pp), Theseus as the king of Athens, Theseus and Pirithous, the Lapiths and Centaurs, Helen and Persephone, the Amazons, Phaedra and Hippolytus Theseus’ death and decedents, re(...)

YEAR: 2007

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aegeus Ariadne Heracles Hercules Hippolytus Labyrinth Minos Minotaur Theseus

Neil Gaiman

Richard Mayhew is a young businessman recently moved to London where his job is almost as dull as his fiancé, a demanding and over-bearing social climber. One night he stumbles over a girl lying injured on the sidewalk. When he stops to help her, he inadvertently opens himself up to a second fantastical world – London Below, an underworld city that shadows the real London. Neverwhere involves a character descending into the Underworld, Odysseus-like, to see what lies beyond the ever(...)

YEAR: 1996

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Cerberus Labyrinth Lamia Minotaur Mithras Odyssey Underworld

Kate McMullan , Denis Zilber

Nice Shot, Cupid! (Myth-O-Mania, 4)

This is the fourth book in the Myth-O-Mania series, which offer alternative versions of the Greek myths, narrated by Hades. Hades, who is a self-professed shy and serious god, promises to tell the whole truth about the Greek myth; he claims that his brother Zeus, is a myth-o-maniac (that is, a liar) and that he fabricated the myths and wrote his version so that he and his children will appear noble and praiseworthy. Hades’ versions offer the “true” story of the myths.In this bo(...)

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United Kingdom United States of America

TAGS: Aphrodite Cupid Furies Hades Persephone Psyche Zephyrus Zeus

Malorie Blackman

Noughts & Crosses

Sephy Hadley and Callum McGregor are best friends as children, but they live in a world where dark-skinned Crosses like Sephy dominate every aspect of society while the pale-skinned Noughts like Callum are oppressed. The history behind this oppression hints at an inversion of the power dynamics of classical history. Meanwhile, both Sephy (‘Persephone’) and her sister, Minerva, have classically-inspired names, recalling the Ancient Greek queen of the Underworld and the goddess of wisd(...)

YEAR: 2001

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Carthage Demeter Hades Katabasis Minerva Minotaur Pasiphae Persephone Punic Wars Rome

Simon Spence

This is a retelling of Homer's Odyssey with myths based on the Epic Cycle used for additional material. The narrative order of the Odyssey is rejected in favour of a chronological approach. Most of the gods are helpful in this retelling. The "sea-god" alone persecutes Odysseus, and as Odysseus is not shown to be responsible for what incurred the sea-god's wrath, Odysseus appears a highly sympathetic figure. The story includes violence, but extreme violence and sex are avoided t(...)

YEAR: 2016

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Afterlife Architecture Athena Charybdis Cyclops / Cyclopes Gods Hades Helen Hermes Homer Iliad Ithaca Katabasis Minerva Odysseus / Ulysses Penelope Polyphemus Scylla Sirens Telemachus Trojan War Troy Underworld Zeus

Cari Meister, Nadine Takvorian

Odysseus and the Cyclops

This book illustrates the encounter between Odysseus and his crew and the Cyclops Polyphemus. The book briefly introduces Odysseus and his return from Troy, prior to his meeting with the Cyclops. In the end, due to Odysseus’ ingenuity, the Greeks manage to escape the cave and the Cyclops is shunned by his peers.(...)

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Cyclops / Cyclopes Odysseus / Ulysses

Nick Roberts, Stella Tarakson

Odysseus' Trojan Trick (Hopeless Heroes, 8)

This is book 8 in the "Hopeless Heroes" series. This is a series of portal-fantasy adventures in which a timid boy travels to the world of ancient myth by means of a magic vase, and learns to be brave through adventures with classical heroes. At the end of the previous book, Tim Baker went to ancient Greece to try and say farewell to his friends, since his mother decided to sell the ancient vase, and found out that, due to one of Hera's machinations, they have no memories of him. A(...)

YEAR: 2020

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Hephaestus Hera Hercules Hermes Jason Odysseus / Ulysses

Alexandra Sheppard

Oh My Gods is set in a fictional modern day in which the Greek Gods continue to exist although they are no longer worshipped. Zeus, and a host of other deities including Eros, Aphrodite and Apollo, have chosen to abandon the tedium of with Mount Olympus in favour of living a near-mortal life on Earth, incognito. In the spirit of mythological tradition Zeus has continued to procreate with mortal women into the 21st century. In this novel we follow his 14 years old, half-mortal daughter Helen whos(...)

YEAR: 2019

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aphrodite Apollo Athena Eros Hades Hermes Olympus Zeus

Frank Albert Farrar

Old Greek Nature Stories

This is a collection of Greek myths that relate to nature. Often, this ends up being myths about characters who are turned into nature, meaning Ovid’s Metamorphoses is a major source. The chapters are divided thematically, and within these each myth encompasses a few paragraphs. At the beginning of each chapter, there is a title page with a series of subheadings, which I have copied over onto the bullet points below. However, these subheadings do not appear in the main body of th(...)

YEAR: 1910

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aeolus Apollo Arachne Asclepius Athena Boreas Demeter Dionysus / Dionysos Echo Eos Hades Heracles Medusa Odysseus / Ulysses Oedipus Pan Persephone Perseus Syrinx

Shoo Rayner

Olympia. Deadly Target (Olympia, 8)

Deadly Target is the eighth in author-illustrator Shoo Rayner’s Olympia series of chapter books, which show what life was like for ordinary children in Ancient Greece. It features Olly, whose father runs the gymnasium where the great athletes train, and who dreams of being an Olympic champion, if only he can beat his arch-enemy, Spiro. The story opens with ‘Eggy,’ the Olympic champion training Olly and Spiro to throw spears and javelins. They have to throw t(...)

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Artemis Cephalus Cerberus Olympia Olympic Games Procris Zeus

Shoo Rayner

Olympia. Jump for Glory (Olympia, 3)

Jump for Glory is the third in author-illustrator Shoo Rayner’s Olympia series of chapter books, which show what life was like for ordinary children in Ancient Greece. It features a boy named Olly, whose father runs the gymnasium where the great athletes train, and who dreams of being an Olympic champion. In Jump for Glory, Olly and Spiro (his ‘arch-enemy’) watch the athlete Makedon practising the long-jump: he runs, holding a large stone in each hand, then as he(...)

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Olympia Sinis Theseus

Shoo Rayner

Olympia. On the Ball (Olympia, 7)

On the Ball is the seventh in author-illustrator Shoo Rayner’s Olympia series of chapter books, which show what life was like for ordinary children in Ancient Greece. It features Olly, whose father runs the gymnasium where the great athletes train, and who dreams of being an Olympic champion. In On the Ball, the athletes are having a break from their training, and playing a Spartan ball game called episkyros, for a bit of fun. Olly watches excitedly as they play, and the rul(...)

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Sacrifice Episkyros Eurydice Olympia Olympic Games Orpheus

Shoo Rayner

Olympia. Race for the Stars (Olympia, 6)

Race for the Stars is the sixth in author-illustrator Shoo Rayner’s Olympia series of chapter books which show what life was like for ordinary children in Ancient Greece. It features Olly, whose father runs the gymnasium where the great athletes train, and who dreams of being an Olympic champion. In Race for the Stars, Olly’s sister Chloe, who has an affinity with animals, wants to enter the Junior chariot race. Though women and girls are not allowed to race, horse and(...)

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Artemis Cerberus Chariot Racing Olympia Olympic Games Orion

Shoo Rayner

Olympia. Run Like the Wind (Olympia, 1)

Run Like the Wind is the first in author-illustrator Shoo Rayner’s Olympia series of chapter books, which show what life was like for ordinary children in Ancient Greece. It features Olly, whose father runs the gymnasium where the great athletes train, and who dreams of being an Olympic champion, if only he can beat his arch-enemy, Spiro. The story opens with Olly being chased through the streets of Athens by Spiro’s dog, Kerberos, who hates Olly even more than his own(...)

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Cerberus Hermes Olympia Olympic Games

Shoo Rayner

Olympia. Swim for Your Life (Olympia, 5)

Swim for Your Life is the fifth in author-illustrator Shoo Rayner’s Olympia series of chapter books, which show what life was like for ordinary children in Ancient Greece. It features a boy named Olly, whose father runs the gymnasium where the great athletes train, and who dreams of being an Olympic champion. In Swim for Your Life, the athletes are preparing for a swimming race, and making sacrifices to the river god, Alfeios (Alpheus). Olly and Spiro, his rival, have the mo(...)

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Alpheus Ancient Sacrifice Artemis Cerberus Olympia Olympic Games Orion

Shoo Rayner

Olympia. Throw for Gold (Olympia, 4)

Throw for Gold is the fourth in author-illustrator Shoo Rayner’s Olympia series of chapter books, which show what life was like for ordinary children in Ancient Greece. It features Olly, whose father runs the gymnasium where the great athletes train, and who dreams of being an Olympic champion, if only he can beat his arch-enemy, Spiro. The story opens with Olly and Spiro learning to throw the discus. Spiro is stronger than Olly, and hurls his discus further. His dog pounces on the di(...)

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Acrisius / Akrisios Eurus / Euros Olympia Olympic Games Perseus Zephyrus

Shoo Rayner

Olympia. Wrestle to Victory (Olympia, 2)

Wrestle to Victory is the second in author-illustrator Shoo Rayner’s Olympia series of chapter books, which show what life was like for ordinary children in Ancient Greece. It features Olly, whose father runs the gymnasium where the great athletes train, and who dreams of being an Olympic champion, if only he can beat his arch-enemy, Spiro. Olly has to give in to Spiro this time, and promises to do his errands for a week. The first errand involves taking a parcel to Simonede(...)

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Archimedes Heracles Olympia Olympic Games

Nick Willing

In a strange world where gods have been banished and jailed in the Underworld and their gigantic statues lie shattered on the ground in the realm of the living, a young man tries to find his destiny with the help of, or in spite of hindrance, deception and manipulation by, people he meets who try to use him for their own purposes. Against all odds he manages to conquer even the inexorable Time and unexpectedly frees Zeus from captivity in the depths of Hades: Zeus who has the young man’s f(...)

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: Canada United Kingdom

TAGS: Aegeus Anagnorisis Ariadne Chronos Circe Cyclops / Cyclopes Daedalus Dionysus / Dionysos Gaia / Gaea Hades Hero(es) Medea Minos Nymphs Olympians Oracle of Gaia Oracles Pandora Zeus

Caroline Bruce Cooney

On the Seas to Troy / Goddess of Yesterday: A Tale of Troy

Six-year-old Anaxandra is abducted from her family’s humble island by a pirate king named Nicander. After inadvertently revealing the location of her father’s hidden treasure hoard, she loses all value as a hostage, but remains in the household of Nicander, who turns out to be a kind man. Anaxandra grows up as a playmate for his sickly daughter Callisto. But when she is twelve, another band of pirates attacks Siphnos, slaughter Nicander and lay waste to his kingdom. Miraculously, Ana(...)

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Euneus Hector Helen Hermione Medusa Menelaus Paris (Trojan Prince) Trojan War Troy

Emma Chichester Clark, Geraldine McCaughrean

Orchard Book of Roman Myths

This is a retelling of Roman myths, meant for ages 9–12, that takes the readers through a fantastic journey of cultural transition, from Troy to Rome. It combines some tales of Greek mythology with Roman myths (Romulus and Remus, the Sibylline prophecies, Tages, Camillus, Lara, the Sabine Women, Aeneas). The chapters of the book are as follows:Introduction: explains how the Romans translated the Greek gods, creating their own mythology where the main concept was "duty". 1) T(...)

YEAR: 1999

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aeneas Apollo Baucis Camillus Carthage Ceres Diana Dido Endymion Erysichthon Falernus Ganymede Gaul Italia Juno Jupiter Lara Lares Liber Mars Mercury Nymphs Olympians Orion Philemon Pleiades Remus Rhea Silvia Rome Romulus Sabine Women She-wolf Sibylline Books Sirius Tages Tarchon Tarquin the Proud Tiber Troy Veii Venus Vesta Vulcan

Ash

This song was written by Wheeler after he did a screen test for the role of Christian in Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 Moulin Rouge! (Ryan, 2019), itself based on the myth of Orpheus. The lyrics are narrated by an Orpheus-character and take place after the loss of Eurydice: ‘ever since I lost her’; ‘hit me without warning, I was left out on my own’. The song ultimately deals with the process of recovery after lost love, underlined by the chorus: ‘I need the sunshine in (...)

YEAR: 1998

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Eurydice Orpheus

Richard Kennedy, Rosemary Sutcliff

Outcast is a young adult novel that tells the story of a teenager named Beric, a Roman by birth who is adopted, but subsequently cast out, by a British tribe. Sometime in the mid-second century CE, on the south coast of modern Devon, Cunori of the Dumnonii tribe finds a baby boy washed ashore following a shipwreck. The boy's deceased parents are Romans, but despite the warnings of the local Druid Merddyn, Cunori adopts the boy and convinces his clan, with the help of the blind harpist Rhiada(...)

YEAR: 1955

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Slavery Pan Roman Britain Roman Empire

Joseph Coelho

Overheard in a Tower Block

Overheard in a Tower Block is a collection of forty-nine children’s poems. Most of the poems are told from the perspective of a young boy growing up in a London tower block. They explore various aspects of the boy’s life such as playing with other children, listening to his parents arguing, exploring the school library, and wondering why his father has left. It is a contemporary collection about modern childhood but on occasion it draws on mythological or fairy-tale stories and (...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aeschylus Aethon / Ethon (Eagle) Heracles Prometheus

John Pepper Clark

In Ozidi, J. P. Clark depicts a series of crises in the state of Orua. The play begins with the Story-Teller, who reminiscences the death of six kings in four years in the state of Orua. The Story-Teller also relates the need for a new king on the vacant throne. The council of elders of the land (Ofe, The Short, Azezabife, The Skeleton, Agbogidi, The Nude and Oguaran, The Giant) do not listen to the elders’ plea that time be taken to select a new king. On their own decision, they proceed w(...)

YEAR: 1966

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Storytelling African Traditions

Victoria Turnbull

Pandora is the story of a lonely she-fox living in complete isolation in the land of broken things. As she has no one to talk to or spend time with, she keeps busy gathering and fixing all the broken things that she finds outside (we see a broken bicycle, a tv set, furniture, etc.). For example, she tries to bring a teddy bear "back to life" by mending his ripped back. But even the cosiest home that Pandora managed to make for herself does not bring life to the land of broken things.&n(...)

YEAR: 2016

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

Shoo Rayner

This is the story of a very curious girl named Pandora. Pandora is curious and always asks many questions about the world. She enters a room she is not allowed and then opens a box which she should never open. Evil creatures fly out from the box but also benevolent hope. Since the book is aimed at young readers, certain words are emphasized randomly, like sound effects (such as tickety, clank, bump) or words like miracle, very etc.(...)

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

Carla Faraldo, Diana Nemesu

Pandora and Earl: A Christmas Tale

It is Christmastime, and there is a box with Pandora's name on it waiting under the tree. Earl, Pandora's stuffed owl, wonders what is in the box. Pandora shakes it, trying to figure out what is inside. Finally, Earl convinces Pandora to open it before Christmas. There is a note inside telling Pandora to put the box back, or she would get nothing. The next morning, on Christmas day, Pandora opens her gift, assuming it would be empty because she had peeked, but instead, finds a blue(...)

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

Sally Grindley, Nilesh Mistry

Pandora and The Mystery Box

This is a retelling of the myth of Pandora’s box. The story briefly narrates the creation of the primordial world, then the emergence of the Titans and their war with the gods. Men are then created by Prometheus and Athena. Next, after Epimetheus gives all of Mother Earth’s gifts to the animals, Prometheus sets out to steal the fire for mankind. Zeus is angry with mankind for their use of fire and decides to punish them. Zeus creates the female Pandora and the other gods grant her gi(...)

YEAR: 1999

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Athena Epimetheus Pandora Prometheus Zeus

Julia Golding, J. Solomon

This is a retelling of the tale of Pandora’s Box. The uniqueness of this book is that Pandora is the first-person narrator who tells her own story from the moment she was created and was taught from the gods, to the time she married Epimetheus and opened the cursed box. The book is aimed at advanced readers and in the last pages there are suggestions for reading comprehension and exercises provided by Dr. Clare Dowdall, lecturer and primary literacy consultant from the University of Plymou(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aphrodite Athena Epimetheus Hephaestus Hermes Pandora Prometheus Zeus

Natalie Haynes

Pandora's Jar: Women in Greek Myths

This book is not fiction nor a retelling of myths. It offers a literary and scholarly analysis by a well-known classicist of various female characters from Greek myth. As the author explains, "I decided I would choose ten women whose stories have been told and retold – in paintings, plays, films, operas, musicals and more – and I would show how differently they were viewed in the ancient world." [location 67].The author chose the following mythological women: Pandora, Jocas(...)

YEAR: 2020

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Alcestis Amazons Athena Clytemnestra Euripides Eurydice Helen Hesiod Homer Jason Jocasta Medea Medusa Oedipus Orpheus Pandora Penelope Phaedra

Peter Bailey, Rose Impey

Pandora’s Box

This is a retelling of Pandora’s box myths. The story narrates the creation of men by Prometheus and his stealing of the fire. It then narrates the story of Pandora. It begins with the creation myth of Prometheus and also of Pandora.(...)

YEAR: 2007

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Epimetheus Pandora Prometheus Zeus

Thorsten Opper, Nick Saunders

Pandora’s Box

This comic book narrates the tale of Pandora. The illustration are colourful and can cover a page or at times there are several smaller pictures per page. There are titles caption which offers a shot narrative and the characters speak to each other. It opens with a brief explanation on the Olympian gods and the stealing of fire by Prometheus. The creation of Pandora follows, as the punishment of humankind is explained and then her life with Epimetheus and her opening of the box. The end continue(...)

YEAR: 2007

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Epimetheus Hephaestus Hera Hermes Olympians Pandora Prometheus Pyrrha Zeus

Marcia Dorothy Williams

Pandora’s Box and Perseus and the Gorgon’s Head

This book offers an adapted retelling of myths for children. The stories included are the creation of humanity by Prometheus, Prometheus and the sacrifice to Zeus, Prometheus and the gift of fire, Pandora’s box, Perseus and the slaying of Medusa. There are little illustrations (cartoonish in style) which accompany the short stories (about 4 pages per story). The illustrations appear on almost every page.(...)

YEAR: 1991

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Danae Epimetheus Medusa Pandora Perseus Prometheus Zeus

Christos Kondeatis, Sara Maitland

Pandora’s Box: A 3-Dimensional Celebration of Greek Mythology

"Open this box…and enter a world of marvels" invites the blurb of Maitland and Kondeatis’ Pandora’s Box. Fastened with a golden ribbon, the book/box opens to reveal hidden compartments, pop up pages, and other interactive elements alongside a textual commentary of the myths, culture and history of the ancient Greek world. It includes a labelled portrait of the major Olympians with their symbols and accoutrements and a map of Odysseus’ wanderings. On one page lo(...)

YEAR: 1995

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Temples Aphrodite Apollo Argonauts Artemis Athena Athens Daedalus Delphi Demeter Dionysus / Dionysos Hephaestus Hera Heracles Hercules Hermes Labyrinth Masks Medusa Minotaur Odysseus / Ulysses Olympians Olympic Games Pandora Pandora’s Box Parthenon Poseidon Theatre Trojan Horse Trojan War Zeus

Gary Renison

Pandora’s Socks

Pandora Johnson receives a new chest of drawers with a secret locked inside. She and her friend, Lucy, learn that sometimes it’s better to leave things alone after they open the drawer and enchanted socks escape, wreaking havoc all around.(...)

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

McLean Kendree, Cari Meister

Pandora’s Vase

A retelling of the story of Pandora’s vase is accompanied by illustrations. It includes a cast of characters and glossary page of important words. It begins with a bit of background about the Olympians fighting the Titans and winning, continuing with how, after the war, Zeus had Prometheus and Epimetheus create animals and men to populate earth. Prometheus then stole fire from Olympus to keep the men warm. Zeus, in response, said that Prometheus and mankind would suffer. He then bound Prom(...)

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Epimetheus Hephaestus Hope Olympians Pandora Prometheus Titans Zeus

Robin McKinley

Pegasus (Pegasus, 1)

The story is set in a fantasy land called Balsinland. In this land, humans and Pegasi share a unique 1000-year-old alliance. The Pegasi in this book share a civilized society, with artisans and other artists; they have produce paper and fabrics. When Princess Sylviianel, King Corone IV’s fourth child and only daughter becomes 12 years old, she receives a Pegasus named Ebon. She is ceremonially bound to him, as is the ancient custom in her kingdom. All members of the royal family are bound (...)

YEAR: 2010

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

Kate O’Hearn

Pegasus and the End of Olympus (Pegasus, 6)

This is the sixth and final book in the Pegasus series, which follows the adventures of Emily, a mortal girl from New York who one day discovers a wounded Pegasus on her rooftop. In the previous book, Emily and her friends went to Hawaii and later Emily and the Xan Riza who lived inside of her were separated into two different bodies. Lorin, the Titan who also inherited part of Riza’s Xan powers returned to Olympus with them and Emily must teach her how to control her powers with comp(...)

YEAR: 2016

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Cupid Diana Hyperion Jupiter Pegasus Saturn Urania Vulcan

Kate O’Hearn

Pegasus and the Fight for Olympus (Pegasus, 2)

This is the second installment in the Pegasus series. For more on this series, see the entry on Pegasus and the Flame.After saving Olympus, our heroes, Emily, Paelen and Joel, together with Pegasus, are still nonetheless facing constant threats from the Nirads. They need to return to earth to save Emily’s father, who is being held by CRU. They are also being assisted by the charming Cupid, who causes some tension within the group. Cupid relies on his charm, yet he is an aloof Olympian(...)

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Apollo Cupid Diana Euryale Gorgon(s) Heracles Hercules Jupiter Medusa Neptune Pegasus Perseus Stheno Venus Vesta

Kate O’Hearn

Pegasus and the Flame (Pegasus, 1)

This is the first installment in the Pegasus series. While the main protagonist, Emily Jacobs, is not a descendant of the gods, she is nonetheless a special Olympian deity, called “the daughter of Vesta” and “the flame of Olympus”.The main characters are Emily, a thirteen years old girl who recently lost her mother and whose police officer father works long hours; the class bully, Joel, who is interested in myths; and an Olympian thief named Paelen, who tried to ste(...)

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Apollo Diana Heracles Hercules Juno Jupiter Mars Mercury Pegasus

Kate O’Hearn

Pegasus and the New Olympians (Pegasus, 3)

The story begins with an Olympian football match, suggested by the mortal Joel. During the game, when Joel is kissed by the mischievous Sphinx, Emily realizes she is jealous yet is reluctant to acknowledge her growing affection for Joel. Meanwhile Emily continues her struggle with her power. She discovers that besides the power of the flame, she might possess more mysterious powers which could make objects disappear. That is why she is afraid she might hurt her friends. Meanwhile her father acts(...)

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Diana Hercules Jupiter Neptune Pegasus Pluto / Plouton Sphinx Vesta

Kate O’Hearn

Pegasus and the Origins of Olympus (Pegasus, 4)

This is the fourth book in the Pegasus series, which follows the adventures of Emily, a mortal girl from New York who one day discovers wounded Pegasus on her rooftop. Via various adventures, Emily travels from Earth to Olympus and discovers that she is not mortal, but a divinity known as the flame of Olympus. With the help of her mortal and Olympian friends, Emily tries to maintain peace in both worlds.In the last book, while threatened by government secret agents named CRU (Central Research Un(...)

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Apollo Castalian Spring Chiron / Cheiron Diana Jupiter Mars Neptune Pegasus Pluto / Plouton Prometheus Saturn Venus Vesta Vulcan

Kate O’Hearn

Pegasus and the Rise of the Titans (Pegasus, 5)

This is the fifth book in the Pegasus series, which follows the adventures of Emily, a mortal girl from New York who one day discovers wounded Pegasus on her rooftop. Via various adventures, Emily travels from Earth to Olympus and discovers that she is not mortal, but a divinity known as the flame of Olympus. With the help of her mortal and Olympian friends, Emily tries to maintain peace in both worlds. In the last book, Emily discovered she is actually a remnant of an ancient and wise race name(...)

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Chiron / Cheiron Diana Hyperion Jupiter Neptune Pegasus Pluto / Plouton Saturn Venus Vesta

Jan Lewis, Saviour Pirotta

Pegasus the Flying Horse

This book is part of an Easy-to Read series accompanied by colorful illustrations (Orchard Colour Crunchies). It is part of a ten-book series on Greek myths.This story narrates the fight of Bellerophon and Pegasus against the Chimera. The story begins with a description of the monstrous Chimera and the king’s request to Bellerophon to neutralize it. Bellerophon consults a magician who advises him to catch the flying horse, Pegasus, in order to vanquish the Chimera. Bellerophon waits for Pe(...)

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Bellerophon Chimera / Chimaera Pegasus

Russ Daff

Perseus and Andromeda (Mini Myth, 2)

This is the second book in Russ Daff’s Mini Myth series, which retells myths in comic form for children. The first book introduced Perseus and his quest to slay Medusa. This book continues the adventures of Perseus. At the end of the previous book, Perseus was rewarded by Zeus with Pegasus, the flying horse. In this book, Perseus arrives at Joppa and saves Princess Andromeda. Andromeda’s mother vainly boasts that her daughter is more beautiful than the sea nymphs. The nymphs are angr(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Andromeda Aphrodite Athena Cassiopeia Danae Hera Pegasus Perseus Poseidon Zeus

Russ Daff

Perseus and Medusa (Mini Myth, 1)

The story begins with King Acrisius locking his daughter Danae in a tower to prevent the fulfillment of a prophecy that she will conceive a child who will kill him. Meanwhile Zeus decides to teach him a lesson. He sends her energy (which appears like bright light) and she conceives a baby. As a result, she is cast away on the sea by her father, but Poseidon helps them arrive safely at the shore of Seriphos. When Perseus grows up, the King of Seriphos grows jealous of the brave Perseus and become(...)

YEAR: 2016

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Athena Danae Medusa Pegasus Perseus Zeus

James Matthew Barrie, Francis Donkin Bedford

Peter and Wendy

Peter Pan meets the Darling children, Wendy, John and Michael, when he flies into their nursery through the window one evening to retrieve his lost shadow. Mr. and Mrs. Darling are out at a nearby party, and the children’s nursemaid, a Newfoundland dog named Nana, has been dismissed from the house to a post in the backyard. The Darling children are enchanted by the mercurial Peter and by the fairy named Tinker Bell, and Peter entreats them to join him at his home in the Neverland. Captivat(...)

YEAR: 1911

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Adonis Diana Dionysus / Dionysos Hermes Icarus Narcissus Pan Persephone

Kate McMullan , Denis Zilber

Phone Home, Persephone! (Myth-O-Mania, 2)

This is the second book in the Myth-O-Mania series, which offer alternative versions of the Greek myths, narrated by Hades. Hades, who is a self-professed shy and serious god, promises to tell the whole truth about the Greek myth; he claims that his brother Zeus, is a myth-o-maniac (that is, a liar) and that he fabricated the myths and wrote his version so that he and his children will appear noble and praiseworthy. Hades’ versions offer the “true” story of the myths.This book (...)

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Cerberus Charon Demeter Furies Hades Hera Hypnos Minos Persephone Zeus

Bastille

The song describes the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD and its aftermath from the perspective of the inhabitants of nearby Pompeii, although this inferred only from the title and not referenced directly in the song. The lyrics are imagined as a conversation between two people who were victims of the eruption. The song is mostly formed of repetitions of the following refrain and chorus, the first part which directly references the eruption and the second part of which reflects the idea of the conve(...)

YEAR: 2013

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Eruption of Vesuvius Pompeii Roman History

Pauline Baynes, Clive Staples (C.S.) Lewis

Prince Caspian (The Chronicles of Narnia, 2)

Prince Caspian is the second book published in the Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis. In this sequel to The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, the Pevensie children – Lucy, Peter, Edmund, and Susan – sit at a railway station waiting to start their new term at boarding school. Suddenly, they are unexpectedly catapulted to a desert island. After some exploration of the island, they discover that they have in fact returned to Narnia – a magical land that they discover(...)

YEAR: 1951

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Bacchus Centaur(s) Dryades Faun Maenads Metamorphosis

Nick Roberts, Stella Tarakson

Problem with Pythagoras (Hopeless Heroes, 4)

This is book 4 in the Hopeless Heroes series. This is a series of portal-fantasy adventures in which a timid boy travels to the world of ancient myth by means of a magic vase, and learns to be brave through adventures with classical heroes. Our hero, Tim Baker, faces two difficult problems. The first – a failing math test. The other – his mother's new boyfriend who happens to be a teacher from his school, Larry Green. Tim is dumbfounded and is not sure how to react to this awkwar(...)

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Hera Hercules Pythagoras Socrates Theseus

Terence (Terry) David John Pratchett

Pyramids (Discworld, 7)

Pyramids is set in the fictional Djelibeybi (or the Djel), the tiny, powerless remains of an empire whose only importance is as a strategic block between its neighbours, Tsort and Ephebe. Pteppic/Teppic, the crown prince, has been training at the Assassin’s Guild in Ankh-Morpork. Returning to the kingdom following his father’s death, Teppic discovers that he has no real power, and the real ruler is Dios, the ancient high priest. After an unfortunate series of misunderstandings in whi(...)

YEAR: 1989

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aesop Ancient Religious Practices Ancient Sacrifice Ancient Warfare Aristophanes Aristotle Athens Cleopatra VII Democracy Egypt Egyptian Mythology Founding Legends Greek Philosophy Homer Plato Ptolemaic Egypt Pythagoras Sparta Sphinx Symposium Thermopylae Trojan Horse Trojan War Zeno of Elea

Alan Garner

Red Shift tells the stories of three men, connected by place and separated by time. These three characters are connected by place, particularly Mow Cop, a hill in Cheshire. The twentieth-century narrative focuses on the tense relationship and regular meetings between teenager Tom and his girlfriend Jan. Tom lives in a caravan with his overbearing parents and is studying in preparation for university; meanwhile Jan is moving to London for her own studies The novel concludes with Tom beh(...)

YEAR: 1973

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Orion Plautus

Joseph Rudyard Kipling

An introductory note preceding the story explains that the Roman general Regulus, about whom Horace wrote the Ode 3, 5, was captured by Carthaginians and then sent to Rome to negotiate on their behalf. Regulus convinced the Senate not to negotiate with his captors, knowing well that in retaliation, they would torture and kill him. At United Services College in Westward Ho!, the Latin teacher Mr. King asks Fifth Form students to prepare for the entry exam to military colleges to translate th(...)

YEAR: 1917

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Horace Latin (Language) Patriotism Regulus Roman Virtues

Vicky Arrowsmith, Leonie Pratt

Roman Things to Make and Do

This is an activity book which offers 18 Roman-themed activities for children: standing soldier paperchain, racing chariot painting, Roman sword, soldier’s shield, city collage, gladiator fight, senate picture, scroll, sticker pages, emperor’s wreath, Pop-up Roman god card (Neptune, Diana and Jupiter) coins and money bags, printed mosaics, catapult, cuffs and bangles, Roman feast picture, actor’s masks, how to wear a toga. There are short information bubbles for each activity.(...)

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Diana Emperor Gladiators Gods Neptune Roman Senate

Simon Adams

This work is a non-humorous introduction to ancient Roman society aimed at children aged 7+.Table of Contents:Who were the Romans?The Founding of RomeThe Roman RepublicFighting CarthageThe Roman ArmyRoman RoadsJulius CaesarCreating the EmpireConquering BritainFortificationsImperial RomeThe ColosseumA Day at the RacesLife in the CityWonderful WaterLife in the CountryThe Roman FamilyRoman ChildrenFood and LifestyleRoman ReligionPompeiiUp in ArmsDecline and FallWhat the Romans Did for UsFamous Roma(...)

YEAR: 2014

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aeneas Ancient Slavery Architecture Caesar Cleopatra VII Colosseum Comedy (Ancient) Gladiator Games Juno Jupiter Latin (Language) Mark Antony Mars Minerva Octavian Punic Wars Remus Roman Empire Roman History Roman Republic Roman Theatre Rome Romulus

Neil Gaiman , Louise Hooper

Sandman (Series, S01E11): Calliope

Calliope is a self-contained story within the series, broadcast as episode 11.2, preceded by the animated Dream of a Thousand Cats (11.1).Richard Madoc (Arthur Darvill), a promising one-novel author, needs help finding the inspiration to write a new book. He visits Erasmus Fry (Derek Jacobi), an older writer. Erasmus tells a story from his past, when he visited Mt Helicon for inspiration for a book based on Greek mythology. Instead, he found an ancient text about the Muses and how to control the(...)

YEAR: 2022

COUNTRY: United Kingdom United States of America Worldwide

TAGS: Calliope Fates Moirai Morpheus Orpheus Zeus

Steve Cole

Secret Agent Mummy: Hieroglyphs of Horror (Secret Agent Mummy, 3)

The Secret Agent Mummy texts are based on the premise that the gods of ancient Egypt are in fact aliens from the planet KaBa. Along with a retinue of other creatures, both good and evil, they came to Earth to be worshipped, and some are still around today. The mummified Sam (an acronym of Secret Agent Mummy) protected the Pharaohs in antiquity, and has remained on Earth to combat the monsters from KaBa, who seek world domination. He is assisted by his unique pets, Mumbum, a mummified dog eq(...)

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Egypt Egyptian Mythology Hieroglyphs

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(...)

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Pegasus Sea Monsters Sirens Unicorn (hippos monokeras)

Julia Green, Teresa Murfin

In this book, Persephone (or Sephy) narrates how she was kidnapped by Pluto and ended up in the underworld. After she was tricked by Pluto into eating six pomegranate seeds, she has to live half the year with Pluto and half with her mother. In the end, Sephy comes to terms with her condition, and says that she even has started to care for the lonely Pluto, yet she also anticipates her return to earth and she celebrates spring and the rejuvenation of life.The book feature small illustrations in a(...)

YEAR: 2007

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Demeter Hermes Persephone Pluto / Plouton

Alan Gibbons

Shadow of the Minotaur (The Legendeer Trilogy, 1)

Fourteen year old Phoenix is the only son of John and Christina Graves. His father is a talented computer programmer, and has been headhunted by a shadowy company to be involved in the development of a radical new computer game. The Legendeer game features state of the art virtual reality technology that provides a fully immersive sensory experience, enabling players to smell, eat and drink and feel pain. John has drawn upon the legends told to him by his wife and son, who are passion(...)

YEAR: 2000

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ariadne Daedalus Danae Labyrinth Medea Medusa Minos Minotaur Pan Perseus Polydectes Theseus

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(...)

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Agamemnon Andromache Hector Odysseus / Ulysses Penelope Priam Troy

Elle McNicoll

Show Us Who You Are

Show Us Who You Are tells the story of Cora Byers, an autistic twelve-year-old mourning the loss of her mother and dealing with bullies – both classmates and teachers – at school. Through her brother’s work at the mysterious Pomegranate Institute she meets Adrien, son of Pomegranate’s wealthy owner Magnus Hawkins. Cora and Adrien, who has ADHD, quickly become best friends. Meanwhile, Cora learns more about the work that is being done at Pomegranate to create hologram(...)

YEAR: 2021

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Cerberus Demeter Hades Kore (Persephone) Odyssey Orpheus Penelope Persephone

Aleksei Bitskoff, Maz Evans

Simply the Quest (Who Let the Gods Out?, 2)

Simply The Quest picks up the story of Elliot and his mortal and immortal companions, a few months after the end of Who Let The Gods Out. In this instalment, the English boy Elliot Hooper’s troubles seem to haunt him still. Thanatos reawakens and wishes to get the Earth stone Elliot managed to take a hold off last time. Elliot’s mother is still sick, his history teacher is still out to get him and a mysterious incident on Christmas Eve has left the gods on house arrest. The Olym(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aphrodite Ariadne Athena Cerberus Charon Erebus Hades Harpies Hephaestus Hera Heracles Hercules Hermes Hestia Hypnos Immortality Jason Nyx Pegasus Persephone Sisyphus Styx Tartarus Thanatos Theseus Underworld Virgo Zeus Zodiac

Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl, Sandra Van Doorn

Sing to the Moon

The narrator, a young boy, expresses his wish to venture to the Moon, to Zanzibar to gaze at an old spice market, to traverse the forest and encounter the mythical beast and eat a monstrous feast upon return. He is disappointed as he wakes up to reality on a rainy day and finds Jjajja (grandfather) who has been waiting for him for breakfast, after which they clean the house while the former recounts his childhood stories. Among the stories Jjajja tells are: adventures with his best friend Kirabo(...)

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Storytelling African Traditions

Anthea Davies, Errol le Cain

Sir Orfeo retells a medieval English poem, based on the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. Sir Orfeo is a harper-king, whose wife, Herodys, is carried off by a "grim king" of the underworld by magical means. Sir Orfeo leaves his kingdom in charge of his oldest counsellor, and sets out barefoot, wearing ragged clothes and carrying his harp. He lives in the wilderness (the "bare heath") with only small animals for company. One day, a train of ladies in white goes by, riding white (...)

YEAR: 1970

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Eurydice Hades Orpheus

Giles Andreae, Korky Paul

Sir Scallywag (Series): Sir Scallywag and the Golden Underpants / Sir Scallywag and the Deadly Dragon Poo / Sir Scallywag and the Battle of Stinky Bottom

The Sir Scallywag series is set in a Northern European fantasy medieval environment, focused on the inept King Colin and his best knight, six-year old Sir Scallywag. In Sir Scallywag and the Golden Underpants, Scallywag ventures to retrieve the king's underwear from a thieving giant. In Sir Scallywag and the Deadly Dragon Poo, Scallywag leads the defence of the kingdom when it is attacked by Baron Greedyguts. In Sir Scallywag and the Battle of Stinky Bottom, the king discovers a book which p(...)

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Architecture

David Almond

Skellig opens the day after 10-year-old Michael has moved house. His new-born sister is very ill and may not live. He finds what seems to be a homeless man – Skellig – hiding in the dilapidated garage at the new house. Filthy, hungry and in constant pain because of his arthritis, Skellig slowly regains strength as Michael brings him food, beer, painkillers, and companionship. Michael spends less and less time at school and befriends a neighbour, Mina, who is home-schooled. Micha(...)

YEAR: 1998

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Daedalus Hades Icarus Odysseus / Ulysses Persephone

Takayo Akiyama, Georgia Amson-Bradshaw

So You Want to Be a Roman Soldier?

Inspired by the book, Legionary: The Roman Soldier's (Unofficial) Manual by Philip Matyszak, So You Want to be a Roman Soldier? is an adventurous comic book that follows child characters Eddie, Kate and Angus as they explore what it takes to be a Roman solider. Their adventure begins in the Ancient Rome 100 CE wing at the history museum, where the children observe artifacts of various figures from ancient Rome: a stern image of Junia on a plaque; statues of Leontius and Metella; and a painti(...)

YEAR: 2019

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Caesar Jupiter Latin (Language) Laurel Wreath Roman Empire

Rosemary Sutcliff

Song for a Dark Queen

The novel recounts the events of the Boudiccan Revolt (60/61 CE) from the perspective of the Icenian harpist Cadwan. Cadwan describes his relationship with Boudicca, from when she was a headstrong but amiable child, through to her arranged marriage to Prasutagus of the Parisi and premature elevation to the queenship, and finally Boudicca's revolt against Roman rule. Boudicca is initially resistant towards the marriage with Prasutagus, but their mutual affection grows, especially after he ris(...)

YEAR: 1978

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Roman Britain Roman Empire Roman History

Peter Bull Art Studio , Sarah Kahn

Spot the Mummy in the Museum

Each volume in the Spot the... series presents children with an environment to explore. Greco-Roman culture forms a prominent part of the environment in this edition, which is set in a museum. Each double-page spread in the books in this series depicts a scene from the specified environment which children search to find the themed object; in this case they search for the mummy in each room of the museum. Each double-page also picks out approximately five objects that are specific to that scene f(...)

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Architecture Artemis Asclepius Comedy (Ancient) Egypt Gladiator Games Gods Greek Art Greek History Greek Music Greek Philosophy Greek Theatre Laurel Wreath Mycenae Pegasus Roman History Tragedy (Ancient)

Lisa Jane Gillespie , Emi Ordas

Sticker Greek Myths

Each 1 or 2-page section of Sticker Greek Myths presents a scene of figures within an ancient environment, accompanied by approximately fifty words of explanatory text. The child reader/viewer is invited to use stickers that are specific to that section to build-up the scene. The stickers typically feature clothing and accessories such as weapons and ropes, and scene-specific items such as Heracles' lion-skin cloak and the Chimera's heads.1. Mount Olympus: This section introduces th(...)

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Afterlife Apollo Architecture Argo Argonauts Ariadne Artemis Atalanta Athena Athens Bellerophon Chimera / Chimaera Crete Cyclops / Cyclopes Daedalus Demeter Diana Dionysus / Dionysos Gods Golden Fleece Hades Hera Heracles Hercules Hermes Hippolyta Icarus Jason Juno Jupiter Katabasis Labyrinth Laurel Wreath Maze Medusa Mercury Midas Minerva Minos Minotaur Neptune Odysseus / Ulysses Odyssey Olympus Orpheus Pegasus Persephone Perseus Pluto / Plouton Polyphemus Poseidon Proserpina Sirens Theseus Twelve Labours of Heracles Underworld Zeus

Jean-Sébastien Deheeger , Louie Stowell

Sticker Romans is part of the Dress-up Sticker Books for the Usborne Activities Series. Similar to the Sticker Greek Myths book, also catalogued in this database, the book features a number of inhabitants of Ancient Rome in their underwear who can be dressed in clothing facilitated by the single purpose stickers located in the last ten pages of the book. Each double-page represents a particular scene from Rome, like the forum or a villa, so that a variety of characters – from gladiators an(...)

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Fashion Ancient Slavery Ancient Warfare Gladiators Roman Army Roman Senate Rome

Kate McMullan , Denis Zilber

Stop that Bull, Theseus! (Myth-O-Mania, 5)

This is the fifth book in the Myth-O-Mania series. In this series, Hades is the narrator who promises to tell the whole truth about the Greek myth; he claims that his brother Zeus is a myth-o-maniac (that is, a liar) and that he fabricated the myths and wrote his version so that he and his children will appear noble and praiseworthy. In this book, Hades reveals the truth behind the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Hades claims that the Minotaur was actually Zeus’ grandson (Pasiphae w(...)

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aegeus Aethra Ariadne Cupid Daedalus Dionysus / Dionysos Furies Hades Icarus Labyrinth Medea Minos Minotaur Poseidon Procrustes Sciron Sinis Zephyrus Zeus

Shahrukh Husain , Bee Willey

Stories from Ancient Civilisations: Greece

This retelling of a selection of classical myths begins with a section on the importance of myth for ancient peoples, including as a means to explain aspects of the world and to explain concepts such as deities, who, Husain writes, were taken as "seriously" (p. 4) in antiquity as they are by religious people today. The author states that these stories were transmitted orally until they came to be written down, notably by Hesiod (dated here to c. 700 BCE), Homer (dated to 750–725 (...)

YEAR: 2004

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Apollo Athena Bellerophon Demeter Eurynome Gaia / Gaea Hades Hercules Judgement of Paris Persephone Poseidon Theseus Zeus

Enid Blyton, Chris Price

Tales of Ancient Greece

This is a short collection of Greek myths retold for children. They are related in fairly simple language, mostly adapted closely from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The illustrations take the form of black and white line drawings depicting key moments in the chapters.Pandora and the Whispering Box.Phaeton and the Sun-Horses.Proserpina and the King of the Underworld.The Maiden of the Laurel Tree (Daphne and Apollo)The Watchman with a Hundred Eyes (Io and Argus).The Story of Echo and Narcissus.The K(...)

YEAR: 1930

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Apollo Arachne Arion (Poet) Baucis Ceres Clytie Cupid Daphne Echo Epimetheus Hyacinth Io Juno Jupiter Minerva Narcissus Pandora Phaethon Philemon Pluto / Plouton Proserpina Psyche Zephyrus

Enid Blyton, Anne Johnstone, Janet Johnstone

Tales of Long Ago

This is a collection of short stories "retold by Enid Blyton" for children. Half are drawn from Greek mythology, half from Arabian Nights.Tales from Ancient Greece:Pandora and the Whispering BoxPhaeton and the Sun-HorsesProserpina and the King of the UnderworldThe Maiden and the Laurel TreeThe Watchman with a Hundred EyesThe Story of Echo and NarcissusThe King with the Golden TouchThe Story of Orpheus and EurydiceClytie, the Sunflower MaidenThe Story of Baucis and PhilemonThe Statue th(...)

YEAR: 1965

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aetiology Aphrodite Apollo Arachne Athena Cupid Daedalus Daphne Demeter Echo Eros Hades Hera Hermes Hyacinth Icarus Juno Laurel Wreath Mercury Metamorphosis Midas Narcissus Orpheus Pandora Pandora’s Box Persephone Phaethon Pluto / Plouton Proserpina Psyche Pygmalion

William Terence Deary, Dave Smith, Michael Tickner

Terry Deary's Best Ever Greek Legends / Top Ten Greek Legends

This is a collection of humorous retellings of myths for children designed to introduce them to Greek mythology and to ancient culture more broadly. Many of the stories are told from unusual perspectives and they are delivered in a variety of literary forms and fonts.Contents:Introduction.Legend 1: Zeus. Hera's Tale. The myth of Io told with Hera narrating events from her perspective.Fantastic Facts 1: 10 Best Victims. Summaries of myths of: Semele, Aphrodite, Echo, Nemesis, Europa, Danae, T(...)

YEAR: 1998

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Aetiology Agamemnon Ancient Slavery Andromeda Aphrodite Apollo Apples of the Hesperides Arachne Ares Ariadne Artemis Athena Athens Atlas Centaur(s) Cerberus Chiron / Cheiron Cyclops / Cyclopes Daedalus Demeter Diomedes’ Mares Dionysus / Dionysos Erinyes Eurydice Furies Golden Fleece Hades Harpies Hector Hephaestus Hera Heracles Hercules Hermes Icarus Jason Katabasis Medea Medusa Midas Minos Minotaur Narcissus Odysseus / Ulysses Orpheus Pandora Pandora’s Box Perseus Phaethon Polyphemus Poseidon Prometheus Sirens Sphinx Telemachus Theatre Tragedy (Ancient) Trojan Horse Trojan War Twelve Labours of Heracles Zeus

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 (...)

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

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

Mark Bergin, Peter Hepplewhite, David Salariya

The Adventures of Perseus

The story begins at the birth of Perseus, from the prophecy of the death of King Acrisius of Argos by the hand of his daughter Danae’s son. Zeus falls on Danae in the form of a golden shower, and their son Perseus is born. Acrisius puts his daughter and grandson into a wooden chest and throws them into the sea. The unfortunate pair are rescued by Zeus, Poseidon, and the fisherman Dictys. The King of Seriphos, Polydectes, brother of Dictys, falls in love with Perseus's mother. He (...)

YEAR: 2004

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Acrisius / Akrisios Agenor Apollo Athena Atlas Danae Delphic Oracle Gorgon(s) Graeae / Graiai Hermes Medusa Perseus Polydectes Poseidon Titans Zeus

Stephen Cartwright, Claudia Zeff

The Amazing Adventures of Hercules

This illustrated storybook is written with deliberately simple language for those learning to read. It belongs to a series that contains many examples of traditional myths and simplified versions of classic literature. The books tells the story of Hercules' youth and the famous Twelve Labours, divided into chapters as follows:Chapter 1. The Jealous Goddess. Chapter 2. The Tasks Begin. Chapter 3. A Stag and a Boar. Chapter 4. Rivers and Birds. Chapter 5. Bulls and Hor(...)

YEAR: 1982

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Apples of the Hesperides Architecture Artemis Athena Atlas Centaur(s) Cerberus Charon Crete Diana Gods Hades Hera Heracles Hercules Hermes Hydra Juno Katabasis Laurel Wreath Minerva Minos Persephone Proserpina Twelve Labours of Heracles Underworld Zeus

Stuart Hill, Sandra Lawrence

The Atlas of Heroes. A World of Heroes from Myth and Legend

This atlas is large in scale (at 28x34 cm) and sumptuously illustrated with hand-drawn maps decorated with numerous heroes associated with each location. The figures on the maps are numbered, and these correspond to a companion page which features summaries of each hero. The maps are double-framed within an introductory story communicated via text and illustration; a young girl discovers the atlas as part of a stash of items in an attic, and the atlas features notes added by her as she uncovers (...)

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Aeneas Aeneid Aesop Agamemnon Argo Argonauts Ariadne Athena Athens Atlas Bellerophon Bible Cassandra Cleopatra VII Crete Egypt Gilgamesh Golden Fleece Hector Hecuba Helen Heracles Hercules Homer Iliad Jason Labyrinth Mark Antony Medea Menelaus Minos Minotaur Odysseus / Ulysses Odyssey Pegasus Penelope Priam Roman History Theseus Trojan Horse Trojan War Troy Twelve Labours of Heracles Virgil

Carson Ellis, Cynthia Rylant

The Beautiful Stories of Life: Six Greek Myths, Retold

Attractively presented as a small, square hardback book, The Beautiful Stories of Life is a compendium of six well known classical myths: the stories of Pandora, Persephone, Orpheus, Pygmalion, Narcissus, and Psyche. The stories are lyrically told, with an alternating pattern of longer descriptive passages followed by single sentences that underscore the important messages of each story. Aphorisms feature throughout the book, presented as "the stories of life" in the book’s title(...)

YEAR: 2009

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aphrodite Apuleius Cerberus Demeter Echo Epimetheus Eros Eurydice Golden Ass Hades Metamorphosis Narcissus Ovid Pandora Pandora’s Box Persephone Prometheus Psyche Pygmalion Underworld Zeus

John Wyndham

Narrated in blank verse, a style appropriate for legends, as the author claims, the myth relates the life of origin of Ífè*, originally told by the highest authorities of the Yoruba land to a stranger. At the beginning there was Arámfè the God of Thunder and Father of the Gods, who reigned in the realm of heaven. He summoned his sons and narrated to them how he created all the bounties in heaven and gave them eternal peace. His sons questioned him about their ab(...)

YEAR: 1921

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Creation Myths Gods

Dean Atta

The Black Flamingo

The Black Flamingo tells the story of Michael, from the moment of his birth in London in 1999 up until his debut drag performance as the Black Flamingo whilst at university. Written in verse, the novel traces key moments in Michael’s coming-of-age: his wish for a Barbie for his sixth birthday, forming friendships, exploring his Greek-Cypriot and Jamaican heritage, coming out as gay, and fighting for self-definition and freedom under the weight of other people’s perceptions and expect(...)

YEAR: 2019

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aphrodite Charites Gladiators Gorgon(s) Graces Medusa Orion Pegasus Perseus

Samantha Shannon

The Bone Season (The Bone Season, 1)

In an alternate, dystopian reality, England in 2059 is under the semi-military control of an organization called Scion whose task and mission is to identify and eliminate "unnaturals", people with psychic powers. There are various categories of "unnatural" skills: communicating with ghosts, predicting future, mind-reading, etc. Paige Mahoney, a nineteen-year old girl, is the main character of the novel, and an exceptionally gifted clairvoyant, a "dreamwalker" who ca(...)

YEAR: 2013

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Adonis Aphrodite Arcturus Ares Zeus

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 (...)

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United Kingdom United States of America

TAGS: Harpies Manius Aquillius Mithridates VI Roman Empire Scylla

Ciara Lendino

The Box: The Story of a Girl Named Pandora

This book retells the myth of Pandora as a poem. Pandora inhabits a quasi paradise, where she happily lives with her friends. The book does not make any connection to Greek mythology- the gods or Epimetheus. Pandora receives a mysterious golden box form Hermes, the king’s messenger on the promise that she would never open it. Pandora becomes curious and opens the box. Immediately various monsters spring from the box and they whisper evil things to people and bring chaos. Pandora is sorry f(...)

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Hermes Pandora

Carl Gordon, Mike Gordon, Mairi Mackinnon

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

This retelling of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, a traditional Aesop's Fable, is written in deliberately simple language for those learning to read. The series contains many examples of myths from around the world and simplified versions of classic literature, including those which suggest moral lessons for children to consider.The "boy"' protagonist is called "Sam". He survives the final wolf attack. The story is told through a combination of main narrative and direct speec(...)

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aesop Aesop’s Fables

Charlie Mackesy

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse is not a traditional book but rather a collection of illustrated aphorisms concerning the titled boy’s dreams, fears, thoughts, plans. The first interlocutor of the child is the mole, who is very wise and loves cakes. He teaches the boy the importance of loving oneself, as well as others, and especially, of friends who will help the boy whenever he needs them. The fox they meet later is a rather silent companion; however, he rescues the mole from th(...)

YEAR: 2019

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

Charles Keeping, Rosemary Sutcliff

The Capricorn Bracelet

The Capricorn Bracelet was originally written as a series of scripts for the series "Stories from Scottish History", broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland. However, frustrated by the limitations imposed by the twenty minutes allocated to each episode, Sutcliff subsequently rewrote them as series of short stories. Each episode focussed on a member of the Calpurnii family, the first of whom, Lucius Calpurnius, fled London during the Boudiccan revolt and joined the Roman army. Lucius' desce(...)

YEAR: 1973

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Boudicca Hadrian Roman Britain Roman Empire Roman History

Margaret Mahy

The Catalogue of the Universe

In The Catalogue of the Universe, eighteen-year-old Christchurch teenagers Angela May and Tycho Potter have finished high school and are considering their futures. Angela lives in an isolated cottage on the hills near the city, with her single mother, Dido. Believing the stories Dido had told her about a doomed romance, Angela tracks down her absent father, Roland Chase, and confronts him, hoping to reunite them. She finds him to be a self-absorbed businessman, for whom his youthful affair with (...)

YEAR: 1985

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Anaxagoras Anaximander Aristarchus of Samos Dido Heraclitus (of Ephesus) Parmenides Virgil

Margaret Mahy

The Changeover: A Supernatural Romance

In The Changeover, 14-year old Laura Chant is the child of divorced parents who are finding new partners. Babysitting her 3-year old brother, Jacko, she goes into the shop of Carmody Braque, an antique dealer who is a lemure, an Ancient Roman vampire. The lemure stamps his image on Jacko’s hand, and takes possession of him, draining him of his life-blood. To defeat the lemure and save her brother, Laura seeks the help of a boy at school whom she knows is interested in her, 17-year-old Sore(...)

YEAR: 1984

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Charon Eleusinian Mysteries Katabasis Lemures Orpheus Persephone Underworld

Julia Golding

The Chimera's Curse (The Companions Quartet, 4)

In the final volume of The Companions Quartet, the threat to Connie, the universal companion, from the evil shapeshifter, Kullervo, continues. This time, he is using a permanently conflicted mythological creature, Chimera, a potential companion to Connie's younger brother, Simon, who now joins her and her aunt Evelyn but dislikes anything connected to the Society for Protection of Mythological Creatures. Chimera is an evil, three-part (snake-goat-lion) hybrid violently hostile to humans. The(...)

YEAR: 2007

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Chimera / Chimaera Minotaur Pegasus

Eliza Raine

The Demon Demigod (Olympus Academy, 2)

In the second installment of the series, four months have passed and Pandora must face the consequence of opening the mysterious Oceanus box. In the previous book, Pandora, a sixteen year old American mortal girl discovers that she is in fact a Titan, a descendent of Oceanus. She moves to the underwater Olympus Academy where she learns to discover as well as control her powers, while also finding our more on the mysterious Olympus. She is befriended by Zali and Tak, and also falls in love with t(...)

YEAR: 2019

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aphrodite Ares Hermes Icarus Keres Manticore Oceanus / Okeanos Pandora Pegasus Phoenix (Bird) Prometheus Zeus

Eva Ibbotson

The Dragonfly Pool

Motherless Talitha (Tally) is raised by her overworked doctor father and his adoring sisters in London, when she is offered a place at Delderton Hall School, a free-thinking school in Devon (and a version of her own school, Dartington Hall). There, she makes friends with the other students (such as Julia who pines for her absent film-star mother, and who hides her own acting talent), and teachers (Clemmy who poses for Modernist painters; Matteo a naturalist with a hidden past). When Tally goes w(...)

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Demeter Persephone

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(...)

YEAR: 1954

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

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

Michael Simpson

The Eagle of the Ninth

The action takes place at the beginning of Hadrian’s reign, in Roman Britain. In 117 CE, twelve years after the unexplained disappearance of the Ninth Hispana Legion, an elite unit of the Roman army composed of experienced soldiers are attacked by the Brigantes whose upraising they were preparing to prevent. A young centurion of the 4th auxiliary Gallic cohort, Marcus Flavius Aquila, is posted to Britain where he hopes to discover what happened to the Ninth. His missing father was the seco(...)

YEAR: 1977

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Slavery Ancient Warfare Iceni Legionaries Mithras Roman Army Roman Britain

Harold Robert Millar, Edith Nesbit

The Enchanted Castle

The Enchanted Castle is the story of three children, Gerald, Jimmy, and Kathleen who while exploring in their school holidays discover a hidden entrance to the gardens of Yalding Manor. These elaborate gardens include a statue of Diana and Hermes and a Temple of Phoebus, which convince the children that the grounds are enchanted. They find a fairy-tale sleeping princess, who is the housekeeper’s niece, in the middle of the maze in the rose garden. The princess joins them in their game of p(...)

YEAR: 1907

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aphrodite Demeter Dionysus / Dionysos Eros Ganymede Hebe Hera Hermes Ouranos / Uranus Phoebus Psyche Zeus

Faith Jaques, Kathleen Lines

The Faber Book of Greek Legends

This is a collection of Greek myths retold for children by a range of authors, with accompanying line drawings depicting key scenes. The second half of the book deals with stories relating to the Trojan War. At the back, Lines lists other children’s retellings she recommends and provides an index of names and subjects. The foreword and list of recommended retellings are clearly aimed at parents and teachers, not children.In her foreword, Lines tells us her interest in myth was originally c(...)

YEAR: 1973

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Aeneas Agamemnon Antigone Chronos Comatas Creon Cronus / Kronos Demeter Dionysus / Dionysos Echo Erigone Gaia / Gaea Hades Hector Helen Melampus Narcissus Odysseus / Ulysses Pandora Paris (Trojan Prince) Persephone Priam Thetis Zeus

Ben Okri

The Famished Road

The Famished Road is about the life of an abiku (spirit child), Azaro, in the ghetto of an unnamed city. At the beginning of the novel, Azaro is a spirit child who lives in the spirit world also called the land of the beginning. It is a land of happiness and joy, where all unborn spirits live before they are incarnated into human bodies. In this land, exists a group called the spirit companions (Abikus), who, in order to enjoy the privileges of the spirit world forever, make a pact never to live(...)

YEAR: 1991

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Traditions Afterlife

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(...)

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

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

Robert Sutherland Rattray, Maalam Shaihu

The Gaawoo-tree and the Maiden, and the First Person Who Ever Went Mad

A man named Umaru possessed two wives: Mowa and Baura, who both had girls. Mowa always swept the compound and gave her daughter the dirt to throw away, which she always did, where the gawo-tree was located. There was a part of the tree that looked like a human navel. This awakened the girl’s curiosity every time she went to throw dirt there. She would always stand there and say, "The gawo-tree with the navel." One day, she struck a mark on the tree, and it started followin(...)

YEAR: 1913

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Mythologies African Storytelling African Traditions

Diana Wynne Jones

Orphan Hayley Foss lives with her grandparents on the outskirts of London. Homeschooled under the strict control of her grandmother, she lives a lonely and isolated existence. She is not allowed to play with other children, and is only permitted to leave the house to accompany the maid on errands. When he is at home, her grandfather shows her amazing things in his study; from computers and televisions that monitor the daily news, to maps of the world and the solar system. He tells her about the (...)

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Atlas Harmonia Hermes Jupiter Maenads Merope Pleiades Sisyphus Titans Trojan War Troy

Alice Werner

The Girl Who Married a Lion

Werner narrates the union between a were-lion (sisimwe) and a human. A lion, who appeared as a man, arrived in the village and married a young girl. After some time, they had a child and the husband proposed that they go and see his parents. The girl’s brother accompanied them. As they journeyed the first day, the man used thorn-bush to build a kraal (mutanda) for them to rest. After the building, he told them he was going fishing. In his absence, the bride’s brother mocked the(...)

YEAR: 1933

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Mythologies African Storytelling African Traditions

Alice Werner

The Girls Who Wanted New Teeth

This myth narrates the life of a girl whose mother dies and is left to be cared for by her stepmother. However, she is mistreatment by this stepmother. It is an illusion for her to measure up to her friends who had the freedom to go out and get new teeth*. Envious of her friends who returned with their sparkling new teeth, she decides to go for hers. She completes her house chores, and without anyone noticing her, leaves. On her way, she meets a hyena and a lion who admire her beauty and name he(...)

YEAR: 1933

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Mythologies African Storytelling African Traditions

Ola Rotimi

The Gods Are Not to Blame

A first baby, male, is born to king Adetusa and Queen Ojuola of Kutuje. As tradition demands, they take him to the shrine of Ogun for blessings and for the divination of his future. Baba Fakunle, a purblind great seer who is called in for the divination pronounces: “This boy, he will kill his father and then marry his mother”. To avoid these evil events in the land, and with the consent of the parents, the priest of Ogun ties the boy’s legs with a string of cowries and hands hi(...)

YEAR: 1971

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Traditions Oedipus Sophocles

Philippe Béha, Glen Huser

The Golden Touch. A Retelling of the Legend of King Midas

The Golden Touch. A Retelling of the Legend of King Midas is a book and CD version of an opera staged in Canada in which over 200 school children performed alongside a Chroma Musika cast accompanied by The Orchestre Symphonique Pop Montréal, with narration from UK comedian Terry Jones. The opera was composed by Greek national Giannis Georgantelis, and was run as a community project under the auspices of the Government of Canada, the Government of Quebec, and the city of Laval. This w(...)

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: Canada United Kingdom

TAGS: Apollo Architecture Bible Charybdis Cyclops / Cyclopes Dionysus / Dionysos Faun Gods Greek Music Helen Metamorphoses (Ovid's) Midas Ovid Pan

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.(...)

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Cassandra Gorgon(s) Pegasus

Lou Kuenzler , Jill Newton

The Grasshopper and the Ants (Aesop’s Awesome Rhymes, 7)

This story for young readers uses rhyme, illustration, and inset speeches to deliver a comic version of Aesop’s fable, The Grasshopper and the Ants. It is told in iambic tetrameter, and opens with a brief explanation of who Aesop was, showing an image of him sitting on a log talking to a group of girls and boys, then explaining: "This fable warns you not to shirk/ while other people do the work!" (p. 5).The fable begins, setting the scene, showing the ants working, and Jim, the g(...)

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aesop’s Fables

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(...)

YEAR: 1954

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Faun Gods

Rosemary Sutcliff

The Hundredth Feather

In this short story set in a Roman province (likely Britain), Andros, a mosaic-maker, has been hired by a merchant named Cornelius Kaeso to install a mosaic depicting the goddess Juno and her peacock in his dining room. To make the ‘eyes’ on the peacock’s tail, Andros has fashioned 100 pieces from the fragments of a glass vessel that had been accidentally broken by a household slave. As he works on the mosaic, Andros reflects on the aspirations he had to craft mosaics for the w(...)

YEAR: 1984

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Roman Art Roman Britain Roman Empire Roman History

Helen Oyeyemi

The Icarus Girl

The Icarus Girl tells the story of eight-year-old Jessamy Harrison (Jess). She is a mulatto from an English father and a Nigerian mother. When the novel opens, the Harrisons live in England. Jess lives a solitary life and has no friends. After she has shut herself in a cupboard for almost half a day, her mother is puzzled and proposes that they visit their Nigerian relatives, thinking that this may permit Jess to open-up a little and make friends. Jess is particularly excited about visiting Nige(...)

YEAR: 2005

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Icarus

Sally Christie

The Icarus Show

Alex Meadows has just started Year 7 at Lambourn High School. His best friend Phil has moved away, and he is also missing his elderly next door neighbour Maisy, who has had to move into an aged care facility following the death of her husband, Don. Alex’s family have sold their house and moved next door into Maisy and Don’s place, which has a bigger and better garden, and Alex is spending a lot of time in Don’s shed, which abuts their old garden shed next door. Guided by his ch(...)

YEAR: 2016

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Daedalus Icarus Labyrinth

Gillian Cross, Neil Packer

Gillian Cross' The Iliad opens with events prior to the Trojan War, starting with the three goddesses arguing over the apple. The text then moves on to a retelling of Homer's Iliad itself, before concluding with an "Afterwards" chapter relating Achilles' death, the quarrel over his armour, the wooden horse, Cassandra's insight (Virgil, Aeneid, 2.246), the fall of Troy, Diomedes' and Odysseus' post-Troy journeys, and Agamemnon's murder (see esp. Aeschylus, Ag(...)

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Aeneas Agamemnon Aphrodite Apollo Architecture Ares Artemis Asclepius Athena Cassandra Eris Gods Greek History Hector Helen Hera Hermes Homer Iliad Juno Katabasis Menelaus Minerva Odysseus / Ulysses Odyssey Paris (Trojan Prince) Penelope Thetis Trojan Horse Trojan War Troy Underworld Zeus

Athol Lannigan Fugard, John Kani, Winston Ntshona

The play begins with two prisoners, John and Winston, prisoners in a cell on an Island. They undergo torture and mutilation every day, while in chains. However, they resolve to practice camaraderie as a source of relief. John caters for Winston, while the latter takes care of the former’s wounds. As they languish in misery within the confines of the cell, they take a trip down memory lane to their blissful boyish days; the time they spent at the beach, and their early incineration days in (...)

YEAR: 1974

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Traditions Antigone Sophocles

Eliza Raine

The Jinxed Journey (Olympus Academy, 3)

In the third and final installment of the series, the group (Icarus, Zali, Thom, Arketa, Vronti) led by Pandora is headed to find Oceanus on the flyting Tethys, Oceanus’ ship. They soon discover that Pandora’s mum, the sea nymph Kallianassa (a Nereid), also secretly boarded the ship. The journey takes them to a few of Olympus realms: Gemini market’s place (Hermes’ realm) and Aries (Ares’ realm) where they consult the god and also must race in a vicious air-chariot r(...)

YEAR: 2019

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aphrodite Ares Artemis Crius Hermes Icarus Keres Manticore Oceanus / Okeanos Olympus Pandora Phoenix (Bird) Prometheus Zeus

Elphinstone Dayrell

The King and the Ju Ju Tree

King Udo Ubok Udom, a very popular king, lived in the land of Itam and ruled over an inland town that had no river. He was a very committed husband and father to his wife and daughter, the latter of whom was now a full-grown and a pleasant-looking girl. King Udo was so fond of her that he considered her the apple of his eye. Having been away for two years, the king realized that the spring behind his house where he usually had his bath had been occupied by a gigantic tree. Consequently, he no lo(...)

YEAR: 1910

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Mythologies African Storytelling African Traditions

Anthony Horowitz , Tim Stevens

The Kingfisher Book of Myths and Legends

This is a collection of myths and legends from around the world, with a large Greek section near the beginning, told with a heavy dose of cynical humour. The Greek myths in particular seem to be aimed at an audience which has probably encountered the basics of the myth already at a younger age. Their focus is generally on human characters, with enough introductory information about the gods to understand their presence in the earlier chapters. The chapters are lightly illustrated with line drawi(...)

YEAR: 1985

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Actaeon Arachne Ariadne Athena Demeter Hades Heracles Medusa Narcissus Odysseus / Ulysses Oedipus Orpheus Pan Pandora Persephone Perseus Pyramus Syrinx Theseus

Charles Keeping, Rosemary Sutcliff

The Lantern Bearers

In the Lantern Bearers is the fourth book 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 has an age-range of 11–16 (Meek 1962, p. 39).In the Lantern Bearers, which is set in the mid-fifth century, Aquila, an eighteen-year-old Romano-British s(...)

YEAR: 1959

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Christianity Odysseus / Ulysses Roman Army Roman Empire Roman History

Pauline Baynes, Clive Staples (C.S.) Lewis

The Last Battle (The Chronicles of Narnia, 7)

The Last Battle is the final book in the Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. It serves as a culmination of all the events of the series. The reader is introduced to Shift, a bully of a gorilla who convinces Puzzle the donkey to wear a lion’s skin and pretend to be Aslan, the Golden ‘father’ of Narnia. King Tirian, with his unicorn, Jewel, hears news of Aslan’s return. Much death and destruction occurs in Narnia, supposedly at Aslan’s command. Calormene men who(...)

YEAR: 1956

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aesop’s Fables Bible Centaur(s) Faun Gods Nymphs Phoenix (Bird) Plato

Sarah McIntyre, Philip Reeve

The Legend of Kevin

A flying pony named Kevin, who has a sweet tooth and a round tummy, is blown away from his nest in the Outermost West, across the Outermost Sea, where the mermaids and cheeky sea monkeys live, and into the small town of Bumbleford. He crash-lands on the balcony of the top floor flat of a tall building, where a boy named Max lives with his mother, father and sister, Daisy (who wears black and likes the gloomy side of things). Max has always wanted an animal to look after. He brings Kevin into his(...)

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Pegasus Sirens

Margaret McAlister

The Lion Classic Aesop's Fables

Fables attributed to Aesop were collated in antiquity by Demetrius of Phaleron, c. 300BCE (Diogenes Laertius, 5.80), and passed on through various retellings in antiquity and the medieval, early modern, and modern periods. In this collection of retellings by Margaret McAllister, it is explicitly stated in the inside cover that the stories "provide a cautionary moral to help young listeners grow clever and wise." This emphasis on morality and personal development is in-keeping with the (...)

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aesop Aesop’s Fables Greek History

Mary Renault

The Lion in the Gateway. The Heroic Battles of the Greeks and Persians at Marathon, Salamis, and Thermopylae

Ch. I. The Arrow of Ormuz. The Lion opens with a description of the mountainous Greek landscape. We hear of boys guarding flocks from wolves and the presence of many more dangers from pirates and raiders. Many Greeks seek land through colonisation, with many going east to settle Ionia. The ancient Greek disposition is described – an independent spirit that rejects kings in favour of oligarchies and democracies, inquiring minds which ask questions and seek answers about all manner of things(...)

YEAR: 1964

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Alexander the Great Ancient Slavery Architecture Ares Artemis Athena Athens Bible Divination Eleusinian Mysteries Gods Graeco-Persian Wars Greek History Greek Philosophy Olympic Games Sparta

Rachel Bright, Jim Field

The Lion Inside

The Lion Inside is a reworked retelling of the Aesop's Fable, The Lion and the Mouse. It is a highly illustrated work in rhyming couplets. The tale opens by introducing both characters; the Lion lives atop a large rock formation, the Mouse in a "tinyful house" underneath. Mouse is small; other animals barely notice that he is there, which makes him sad. Lion, on the other hand, is very loud and ensures that all the animals know how loudly he can roar, how tough he is, how strong he(...)

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aesop Aesop’s Fables Fable Phaedrus

Pauline Baynes, Clive Staples (C.S.) Lewis

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia, 1)

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the first of seven-fantasy tales in C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia. The Pevensie children, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are living with Professor Digory Kirke in his large house in the English countryside. They have been evacuated from London in 1940 to escape from the Blitz. The house is run by the strict housekeeper, Mrs. Macready. During a game of hide and seek Lucy discovers a wardrobe in one of the rooms of the house. Finding that(...)

YEAR: 1950

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Bacchus Centaur(s) Dragons Faun Nymphs Pegasus Satyr(s)

Margery Jean Gill, Roger Lancelyn Green

The Luck of Troy

The Luck of Troy transforms the Trojan War saga into an original story focalised through the character of the twelve year old boy Nicostratus, the son of Menelaus and Helen. Having been brought to Troy by his mother when he was a baby, Nico grows up in the besieged city, with only hazy memories of Greece and his father, and a deeply conflicted sense of identity and loyalty. As the war’s impact intensifies, most of the Trojans reject and persecute him as a traitor, but he finds some comfort(...)

YEAR: 1961

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Agamemnon Antenor Cassandra Deiphobus Electra Hector Hecuba Helen Hermione Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Menelaus Mycenae Nicostratus Odysseus / Ulysses Palamedes Palladium Paris (Trojan Prince) Polyxena Priam Sparta Theano Trojan Horse Trojan War Troy

Nick Cave

The Lyre of Orpheus

Attention: age restriction 18+With a discordant, seesawing melody and four-line verses organised into an ABCB rhyming scheme, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds perform a grim and grisly retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in The Lyre of Orpheus. Orpheus is a depressive figure, sitting ‘gloomy in his garden shed’ when by chance he arranges ‘a lump of wood, and a piece of wire’ into a musical instrument. But while his rudimentary lyre sounds beautiful to him, it is abho(...)

YEAR: 2004

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Eurydice Gods Hades Katabasis Orpheus Underworld

Pauline Baynes, Clive Staples (C.S.) Lewis

The Magician's Nephew (The Chronicles of Narnia, 6)

Polly and Diggory are neighbours in row houses in London. Diggory lives with his aunt and uncle. His father is away in India and, sadly, his mother is dying. While playing together one day, Polly and Diggory discover a long tunnel running through the roofs of the adjoining houses on their street. They open a door with a latch and enter an attic room, discovering the room that Diggory’s Uncle Andrew has forbidden anyone from entering. Uncle Andrew is in the room, snarling, and is immediatel(...)

YEAR: 1955

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Bible Creation Myths Olympus Pegasus

Efua Theodora Sutherland

The Marriage of Anansewa

The Marriage of Anansewa, a reworking of Ghanaian folk-theatre presented through story-telling, brings into limelight the story of Anansewa, a beautiful Akan girl, whose father, Kwaku Ananse, intends to give her away to different suitors for his personal gain. Set in Ananse’s house, the four-act play begins with Ananse who writes letters to his daughter’s suitors. These letters are addressed to Chief Sapaase, Chief Akata (Togbe Klu IV), Chief of the Mines and Chief-who-is-chief. The (...)

YEAR: 1975

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Traditions

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(...)

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Minotaur Pegasus

Russell Punter

This book is a retelling of the traditional myth of Theseus and the Minotaur (for which see e.g. Diodorus of Sicily, Library, book 4; Plutarch, Theseus; Apollodorus, Epitome, 1.7; Apollodorus, Library, 3; Ovid, Metamorphoses, 8.155–182). It opens with Aegeus receiving a letter from Minos, and closes with Theseus back in Athens having completed his mission but having lost his father in the process. The primary function of this retelling of ancient myth. is to provide children with read(...)

YEAR: 2009

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Architecture Ariadne Athens Crete Dionysus / Dionysos Gods Labyrinth Maze Minos Minotaur Pasiphae Theseus

Theresa Tomlinson

The Moon Riders

This novel follows over a decade in the life of the Moon Riders, a group of warrior priestesses from various tribes who serve the moon goddess Maa and travel across Asia Minor. They are called “Amazons” by outsiders. In particular, the novel focuses on a young Mazagardi Moon Rider named Myrina, and her friendship with the Trojan princess Cassandra. Tomlinson looks at gender politics and freedom from the point of view of a protagonist from an egalitarian society. Told in third person,(...)

YEAR: 2002

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Aethra Amazons Cassandra Chryseis Clytemnestra Hecuba Helen Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Odysseus / Ulysses Paris (Trojan Prince) Penthesilea Priam Theseus

DK

The Mythology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

The book presents eighty references from world mythology. The text is accompanied by graphics and photos. The mythologies included in the book are ancient Greek, ancient Roman, Northern Europe, Asia, The Americas, Ancient Egypt and Africa, and Oceania. The book includes a directory and index. Before the actual myth, a short introduction to the relevant culture is given,, as well as an “in brief" section, a short table which contains the theme of the myth, its ancient sources, the(...)

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aeneid Argonauts Atlantis Cupid Daedalus Golden Touch Heracles Hercules Icarus Iliad Medusa Metamorphosis Midas Minotaur Mithras Odyssey Oedipus Olympians Oresteia Orpheus Pandora Prometheus Psyche Romulus Titans Trojan War

Neil Gaiman

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

The Ocean at the End of a Lane is narrated in first person by an unnamed protagonist who, as an adult, comes back to his hometown to attend a funeral. Initially unable to find anything which would bring back his memories about childhood, he involuntarily visits the Hempstock farm, where three women lived in the past: a little girl who used to be his friend, her mother and grandmother. There, he meets one of them – here the readers may be confused, for the woman might be Ginnie (the mother)(...)

YEAR: 2013

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Atropos Clotho Egyptian Mythology Fates Lachesis Moirai Narcissus Norse Mythology Parcae

Gillian Cross, Neil Packer

Gillian Cross' Odyssey is an abridged retelling of Homer's Odyssey, set in Greek antiquity. It is a retelling of ancient myth with an emphasis on striking visualisation. Chapter headings:The WarTravelling into DisasterThe Giant in the CaveAeolus and CirceGhosts and MonstersStranded on Calypso's IslandNausicaaOdysseus the BeggarA Husband for PenelopeHomer's Odyssey is retold, rearranged into more chronological order. The introduction explains the Trojan War briefly by way of (...)

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Afterlife Agamemnon Aphrodite Apollo Architecture Ares Artemis Asclepius Athena Charybdis Circe Cyclops / Cyclopes Gods Greek History Hades Hermes Homer Iliad Ithaca Katabasis Menelaus Odyssey Penelope Polyphemus Poseidon Scylla Sirens Telemachus Trojan Horse Trojan War Troy Underworld Zeus

Emma Chichester Clark, Michael Morpurgo

The Orchard Book of Aesop's Fables

Fables attributed to Aesop were collated in antiquity by Demetrius of Phaleron, c. 300 BCE (Diogenes Laertius, 5.80), and passed on through various retellings in antiquity and the medieval, early modern, and modern periods. This highly illustrated story-book contains retellings of a selection of Aesop's Fables for a young audience. Contents:For Mr Aesop from Mr Morpurgo, a Thank-You (An introduction to the collection).The Lion and the MouseThe Hare and the TortoiseThe Dog and his BoneThe Cro(...)

YEAR: 2004

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aesop Aesop’s Fables

Jan Lewis, Saviour Pirotta

The Orchard Book of First Greek Myths

This is a very popular collection of ten retellings of ancient myths, attractively laid-out and well-written for a young audience. There is an illustrated Table of Contents at the start, which enables pre-literate children to participate in choosing the story that will be read, as well as teaching them how to use a ToC.Each story begins with an elaborate fronts-piece full of details from the story, and each story concludes with a small image that contains a key element of the myth. Both elements(...)

YEAR: 2003

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Arachne Architecture Argo Argonauts Ariadne Athena Athens Bellerophon Chimera / Chimaera Crete Daedalus Dionysus / Dionysos Epimetheus Gods Golden Fleece Graeae / Graiai Helen Homer Icarus Jason Labyrinth Maze Medea Medusa Menelaus Metamorphoses (Ovid's) Midas Minerva Minos Minotaur Odysseus / Ulysses Odyssey Ovid Pan Pandora Pandora’s Box Paris (Trojan Prince) Pegasus Perseus Theseus Trojan Horse Trojan War Troy

Tony Bradman , Tony Ross

The Orchard Book of Swords Sorcerers and Superheroes

Chapter 1. Voyage to the Edge of the World. The Story of Jason and the Golden Fleece.Chapter 2. The Magical Sword. The Story of King Arthur.Chapter 3. The Fabulous Genie. The Story of Aladdin and his Magical Lamp.Chapter 4. An Apple for Freedom. The Story of William Tell.Chapter 5. Superhero. The Story of Hercules and the Monstrous Cacus.Chapter 6. The Fantastic Voyage of Sinbad. The Story of Sinbad the Sailor and The Roc.Chapter 7. The Fearsome Dragon from the Lake. The Story of George and the (...)

YEAR: 2003

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Slavery Architecture Argo Argonauts Ariadne Athena Athens Crete Eurystheus Golden Fleece Graeae / Graiai Harpies Heracles Jason Labyrinth Maze Medea Minos Minotaur Roman History Roman Religion Rome Theseus Twelve Labours of Heracles

Margaret Mahy

The Other Side of Silence

Twelve-year-old Hero is an elective mute. She is the third child (of four) in a talkative family of high-achievers. At the point where the story starts, Ginevra, the eldest daughter of the family has just returned home after she fell out with their mother four years ago, throwing the family into further turmoil. She is pregnant and has the teenager Sammy in tow. In order to have some power in her family, Hero has stopped speaking, except sometimes to her older brother Athol. She thinks of her or(...)

YEAR: 1995

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Hero(es) Metamorphosis

Margaret Atwood

The Penelopiad is part of the Canongate Myths Series, which ‘brings together some of the world’s finest writers, each of whom have retold a myth in a contemporary and memorable way.’ Though marketed for adults, the text is accessible to mature teenage readers, and features on secondary school reading lists.Atwood allows Penelope to tell her own story, drawing upon Homer’s Odyssey but also on material from beyond this dominant source. Penelope, who has been in Ha(...)

YEAR: 2005

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Antinoos (Penelope's Suitor) Helen Homer Ithaca Melantho Odysseus / Ulysses Odyssey Penelope Telemachus Trojan War Underworld

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(...)

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

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

Caroline Lawrence

The Pirates of Pompeii (The Roman Mysteries, 3)

After the events of The Secrets of Vesuvius, and the eruption of the volcano, the children are staying in a refugee camp. Jonathan, one of the main characters of the series – a Jewish child who is part of the new Christian faith – is in a coma from his asthma and his father is treating the sick and injured in the spa to which the camp is adjacent. Soon the children discover that children are being stolen from the refugee camp. They discover that it is probably the man known as the Sp(...)

YEAR: 2002

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Slavery Cerberus Dionysus / Dionysos Roman Empire

Russell T. Davies, Phil Ford, Alice Troughton

The Sarah Jane Adventures (Series, S01E03–04): The Eye of the Gorgon

Part OneThe adult protagonist of the series, and previous companion of Doctor Who, the journalist Sarah Jane Smith, is investigating the story that a ghostly nun has been sighted at an old people’s home. Accompanied by her adopted son Luke and his friend Clyde, she interviews residents and staff about the sighting. Bea, an elderly resident and Alzheimer sufferer, gives Luke a piece of jewellery she calls a "talisman" and asks him to keep it safe. This is found to be an alien arte(...)

YEAR: 2007

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Gorgon(s) Medusa Perseus

Phil Ford

The Sarah Jane Adventures: Eye of the Gorgon

[See episodes summary]A primary difference from the episodes is how information about the Gorgon is introduced. In the episode,s Sarah Jane and Maria read a book about Greek mythology from Sarah Jane’s bookshelf, but in the novelization they first discuss this in the car (without the aid of a book) and then Sarah Jane reads from "an elaborate volume on Greek Mythology" which she finds when she is locked in in the Abbey library by the nuns. This allows more information to be provi(...)

YEAR: 2007

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Gorgon(s) Medusa Perseus

Victoria Turnbull

One of the two main characters, and also the narrator of the story is the Sea Tiger. Even though he is drawn by Turnbull as a ‘real’ tiger that normally would not live in the sea, he does not seem to have any problems with breathing under water (real tigers are very good swimmers, but they would not survive under water for long). Sea Tiger is best friends with Oscar – a child merman. Oscar is depicted as a sensitive boy who loves to daydream and explore beautiful things hidden (...)

YEAR: 2014

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Sirens

Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Garden

The Secret Garden concerns Mary Lennox, a 10-year-old girl born in India to wealthy British parents. Spoiled by the native servants and neglected by her parents Mary is selfish, rude, and self-centred. She is orphaned after the death of her parents during a cholera epidemic. She finds temporary refuge in the home of a British clergyman. Mary is then sent to Britain, to her uncle, Archibald Craven, who resides in Misselthwaite Manor, a large English country house situated on the Yorkshire moors. (...)

YEAR: 1911

COUNTRY: United Kingdom United States of America

TAGS: Pan

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(...)

YEAR: 1994

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Harpies Monsters Sirens

Caroline Lawrence

The Secrets of Vesuvius (The Roman Mysteries, 2)

In this second volume in the Roman Mysteries Series, after the danger experienced by the children in The Thieves of Ostia, Flavius father decides to send Flavia and Nubia to his brother’s farm near Pompeii. He invites Lupus and Jonathan as well as Jonathan’s sister and father to join them. Whilst swimming one day, the children save the life of Pliny, and in thanks he gives them a riddle and sends them looking for a blacksmith named Vulcan. By solving the riddle the four friends disco(...)

YEAR: 2001

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Slavery Cerberus Pliny the Elder Pliny the Younger Pompeii Roman Empire Vulcan

Joan Aiken

The Shadow Guests

Following the death of his mother and brother in the outback, Cosmo Curtoys is sent to Oxford from Australia, to live with his aunt, Eunice Doom, a Professor of Mathematics. During the week he attends a boarding school in Oxford; at weekends, he returns with Eunice to the family home at Curtoys Mill. He learns that his family is cursed. In the days of the Roman occupation of Britain, a Roman soldier killed the son of a priestess of a British forest deity, for neglecting the worship of Mithras, a(...)

YEAR: 1980

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Gladiators Roman Britain

Charles Keeping, Rosemary Sutcliff

The Silver Branch

The Silver Branch is the second 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 has an age range of 11–16 (Meek 1962, p. 39).Two cousins from the Aquilii family, Tiberius Lucius Justinianus (Justin) and Marcelus Flavius Aquila, serve under Car(...)

YEAR: 1957

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Roman Britain Roman Empire Roman History

Pauline Baynes, Clive Staples (C.S.) Lewis

The Silver Chair (The Chronicles of Narnia, 4)

The Silver Chair, the fourth book published in the Narnia Chronicles by C. S. Lewis, introduces us to Jill Pole, a girl who attends Experiment House. She is cruelly bullied by some of the children there. At the beginning of the book she is found crying behind the gym by Eustace Scrubb. Eustace – who had appeared in the previous installment of the Narnia Chronicles, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – comforts Jill and confides in her about his adventures in Narnia. As they flee fro(...)

YEAR: 1953

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Afterlife Bible Centaur(s) Faun Immortality Underworld

Hilary McKay

The Skylarks’ War

The Skylarks’ War by Hilary McKay is a historical fiction novel set just before the outbreak and during WW1 (the title relates to skylarks, appearing both in memories of childhood and of the war, connecting both experiences). The main characters are siblings, Clarry and Peter Penrose, their cousin Rupert and several family friends. The story opens with carefree moments spent in fabulous Cornwall, where all three live with their grandparents, making the most of their childhood: pl(...)

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ithaca Odysseus / Ulysses Odyssey Troy

Rachel Bright, Jim Field

The Squirrels Who Squabbled

The Squirrels who Squabbled is a reworked retelling of the Aesop's Fable, The Ants and the Grasshopper. It is a highly illustrated work in rhyming couplets. The tale opens with the arrival of Autumn and news that all the animals are getting ready "for bed", i.e. for hibernation and Winter. The only exception, pictured blithely playing on a swing, is "Spontaneous Cyril", the squirrel. The reader learns that all the other animals have been busy gathering supplies to see the(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aesop Aesop’s Fables Fable Phaedrus

George McCall Theal

The Story of Five Heads

There once lived a man who was blessed with two daughters. The eldest was called Mpunzikazi, while the youngest was Mpunzanyana. Both had attained marriageable ages. One day, he travelled to another village and was told the chief of the land was looking for a wife. He took it as an opportunity for his daughter and when he arrived home later that evening, he summoned both girls and broke the good news to them. Without any hesitation the eldest opted to become the unknown chief’s wife, in th(...)

YEAR: 1882

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Mythologies African Storytelling African Traditions

Simona Bursi, Susanna Davidson

The Story of Pegasus

This book retells the story of Bellerophon and Pegasus and how they fought the Chimera. At the end of the story, Bellerophon rides Pegasus to Olympus. Zeus, angry at this audacity, sends an insect to sting Pegasus and makes Bellerophon fall to the ground. Pegasus then remains with the gods while Bellerophon becomes a lone wanderer. After Pegasus' death he is placed among the stars.The short text is accompanied by full-page colourful illustrations. On the back page it is written that the stor(...)

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Athena Bellerophon Medusa Pegasus Zeus

Jim Henson’s Creature Shop , Jim Henson , Duncan Kenworthy, OBE, Anthony Minghella, Nigel Williams

The Storyteller (Series): Greek Myths

Hiding in Minos’ labyrinth, the Storyteller and his dog come across four different objects that inspire him to relate their myths. First, he recounts the tale of Theseus and the Minotaur, recalling the beast once housed in the very maze they’re hiding in.Upon learning that his father is Aegeus, King of Athens, Theseus hurries to that city, slaying many bandits on the way. The king’s wife Medea, fearful of what threat this stranger poses to her own sons, attempts to poison him, (...)

YEAR: 1991

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ariadne Daedalus Eurydice Graeae / Graiai Hades Icarus Labyrinth Medusa Minos Minotaur Orpheus Persephone Perseus Talos (Perdix) Theseus

Alice Werner

The Swallowing Monster

The summary refers to the legend Khodumodumo, or Kammapa, a version of the Swallowing Monster myth according to the Basuto people (pp. 208–209)*.The swallowing monster is a South African myth that tells the story of a huge amorphous monster called Khodumodumo or Kammapa**, that swallows a whole village and is killed by a heroic little boy. According to the myth, the monster appeared in numerous villages and swallowed everything and everyone that stood in its way: cattle, goats, fowls and h(...)

YEAR: 1933

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Mythologies African Storytelling African Traditions Monsters

Roger Lancelyn Green, Betty Middleton-Sandford

The Tale of Troy

Roger Lancelyn Green’s The Tale of Troy stresses that the origins of the Trojan War go right back to the beginning of Zeus’ reign, when Prometheus prophesised that the sea nymph Thetis would give birth to a son who would grow up to be greater than his father. In order to preserve his power, Zeus changed his mind about being Thetis’ consort, and instead arranged for her to be married to the minor hero Peleus. All the Olympians attended the celebration, except for Eris, the godde(...)

YEAR: 1958

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Aeneas Aeneid Agamemnon Ajax / Aias Andromache Antenor Aphrodite Apollo Athena Calchas Circe Clytemnestra Cyclops / Cyclopes Diomedes (Son of Tydeus) Epic Cycle Eris Hector Hecuba Helen Hera Heracles Hercules Hermes Hermione Homer Iliad Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Laocoon Menelaus Neoptolemus Nestor Odysseus / Ulysses Palamedes Paris (Trojan Prince) Patroclus Peleus Philoctetes Priam Prometheus Sinon Sirens Thetis Tiresias Trojan Horse Trojan War Troy Zeus

Caroline Lawrence

The Thieves of Ostia (The Roman Mysteries, 1)

In this, the first book in Lawrence’s Roman Mysteries series we meet Flavia Gemini, the central character of the series. She is the daughter of a merchant sailor whose mother died in childbirth. Flavia has discovered that someone is killing the dogs in Ostia, and she is determined to find out who is responsible. We are soon introduced to the three other important characters in the Roman Mysteries series, Lupus, Nubia and Jonathan. Jonathan lives next door with his father, who is a doc(...)

YEAR: 2001

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Slavery Cerberus Pliny the Elder Pliny the Younger Roman Empire

Eliza Raine

The Titan's Treasure (Olympus Academy, 1)

Pandora is a sixteen year old American girl who lives with her father and her adopted sister, Mandy. She was deserted by her mother upon birth with a promise she would return on her sixteen’s birthday. When Pandora was ten, her father told her that her mother was a sea nymph from another world who was not allowed to see her. Pandora is not sure whether to believe him or not. When her mother fails to appear on her birthday, Pandora feels betrayed and abandoned. When she confronts her father(...)

YEAR: 2019

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aphrodite Ares Athena Hermes Icarus Oceanus / Okeanos Pandora Pegasus Prometheus Zeus

Margaret Mahy

In The Tricksters, 17 year old Ariadne ("Harry") Hamilton’s family makes their Christmas annual visit to "Carnival’s Hide," their family holiday house, on the Banks Peninsula, formed by the eruption of an ancient volcano, near Christchurch. The house is comparatively old for New Zealand, being built in the nineteenth century, and it is haunted by Teddy Carnival, who was accidentally killed by his father, the builder of the house. While she is swimming in the bay, (...)

YEAR: 1986

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ariadne Athena Labyrinth Metamorphoses (Ovid's) Minerva Minotaur Oceanus / Okeanos Ovid Theseus

Christina Balit, James Riordan

The Twelve Labours of Hercules

A picture book retelling of the story of Hercules’ life and the twelve labors he performed, aimed at younger readers and readers interested in visual storytelling. Text is accompanied by opulent pictures.(...)

YEAR: 1997

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Admete Alcmene Alpheus Amazons Argonauts Artemis Athena Atlas Augean Stables Augeas Cacus Castor Centaur(s) Cerberus Ceryneian Hind Charon Chiron / Cheiron Colchis Deianeira Delphic Oracle Diomedes’ Mares Dionysus / Dionysos Erymanthian Boar Eurystheus Eurytos Geryon Geryon's Cattle Golden Fleece Hades Hebe Hera Heracles Hercules Hippolyta's Belt Hydra Hyllus Iolaus Iole Iphitos of Oechalia Jason Ladon Linus Minos Minotaur Mycenae Nemean Lion Nereid(s) Nereus Nessus Nymphs Olympus Omphale Peneus Perseus Pollux Poseidon Stymphalian Birds Styx Titans Twelve Labours of Heracles Underworld White Bull Zeus

Marcia Dorothy Williams

The Twelve Tasks of Heracles & Arion and the Dolphins

The main body of this short book is taken up with the labours of Heracles. Williams starts off with his origins as the child of Alcmene and Zeus, and the jealousy of Zeus’s wife, Hera, at her husband’s infidelity. Williams tells how, having failed to kill the baby Heracles by sending snakes to his cot, she turns the adult Heracles mad so that he kills his many children by an unnamed wife. After his wife sends him away due to his actions, he consults with a priestess who tells him tha(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Arion (Poet) Cerberus Corinth Dolphins of Poseidon Erymanthian Boar Eurystheus Hera Heracles Hydra Mycenae Nemean Lion Periander Snakes Twelve Labours of Heracles Zeus

Margaret I. Ogumefu (Baumann)

The Twin Brothers

King Ajaka, a Yoruba King had twins with his wife and he refused to kill the kids and their mother, though their tradition prohibited the keeping of twins. Rather, he sent one of his nobles to keep them in the forest. The twins grew up in the forest. They were identical in a way that when one started a phrase, the other completed it. Years passed by and their mother grew old. Before she died, she revealed their history to them. This angered the twins and they wished that the laws of their c(...)

YEAR: 1929

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Mythologies African Storytelling African Traditions

Petra Brown, Simona Bursi, Anna Milbourne, Louie Stowell, Elena Temporin

The Usborne Book of Greek Myths

This is a collection of a large number of the best-known Greek myths with a mixture of bright, colourful illustrations and smaller line drawings with faint colouration in panels to the side. The latter include short paragraphs giving additional information about the characters depicted. The book ends with a section of more overtly educational material; a guide to the Greek myths, a character guide, maps, a glossary, index and a guide to Greek and Roman names,Featured Stories:The Birth of the God(...)

YEAR: 2010

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Arachne Ariadne Athena Bellerophon Chimera / Chimaera Daedalus Demeter Dionysus / Dionysos Echo Eurydice Hades Helen Hera Heracles Icarus Jason Medea Midas Narcissus Odysseus / Ulysses Orpheus Pandora Paris (Trojan Prince) Patroclus Persephone Perseus Theseus Zeus

Pauline Baynes, Clive Staples (C.S.) Lewis

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (The Chronicles of Narnia, 3)

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the third book published in the Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. Two of the children from the first books, Lucy and Edmund, have been sent to stay with their strange Aunt and Uncle and insufferable cousin, Eustace. Looking at a painting on one of the walls in the house, the children see a boat on a sea begin to move. They are taken inside the painting, and land aboard the Dawn Treader. On the ship, they are reunited with King Caspian, previously Prince Caspi(...)

YEAR: 1952

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Slavery Minos Odysseus / Ulysses Sirens

Mark Bergin, Sue Reid, David Salariya

The Voyages of Odysseus

This book depicts Odysseus' travels and various adventures: meeting with Polyphemus, the Cyclops; visiting the court of King Aeolus and on the island of Circe; Odysseus' descent to the Underworld; meeting dangerous sirens, and escaping Scylla and Charybdis. After all the adventures, Odysseus comes home to Ithaca, and there is danger there as well - the palace is occupied by suitors trying to marry Odysseus’ wife, Penelope. Odysseus defeats the suitors.In this book, the illus(...)

YEAR: 2004

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Aeolus Athena Calypso Circe Hermes Ithaca Odysseus / Ulysses Penelope Polyphemus Poseidon Scylla Sirens Telemachus Trojan War Troy Underworld Zeus

Kenneth Grahame

The Wind in the Willows

The story of Mole, Ratty, Toad, and Badger and their lives in and around an English river. Mole wakes one morning, aroused by the feeling of Spring in the air, and sets out into the wide world. There, he meets Ratty, a river rat, who invites him to join in a boating picnic. From there, it is a short jump to meeting Toad, a lively and affluent creature who lives at Toad Hall, and who careens through the landscape with careless abandon, much to the annoyance of Badger, old and crusty. Most of the (...)

YEAR: 1908

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Arcadia Pan Rome

Elphinstone Dayrell

The Woman with Two Skins

The Woman with Two Skins is a myth of the people of Calabar in Nigeria. This myth is centred on the mysteries surrounding Adiaha, the Spider’s daughter, who had two skins and married King Eyamba I. Her inner skin was beautiful, and her outer skin was ugly. People were only aware of the outer skin because her mother had warned her not to expose her inner one. She could unmask herself at night to sleep and veil herself at sunrise. She also promised her mother not to expose it until a certain(...)

YEAR: 1910

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Mythologies African Storytelling African Traditions

John Malam, Peter Rutherford , David Salariya

The Wooden Horse of Troy

The book presents a variant of the myth of Troy. The story of the building of the city walls by Poseidon, Apollo, and Aeacus is followed by the story of the judgment of Paris and its consequences, direct: the reward for giving the first place to Aphrodite, and indirect: the Trojan War. The author describes the fight between the Trojans and the Greeks, the secret help of the gods, the disputes between the warriors in each of the camps (e. g. Agamemnon's quarrel with Achilles, Ajax vs. (...)

YEAR: 2004

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Achilles’s Heel Aeacus Aeneas Agamemnon Aphrodite Apollo Apple of Discord Athena Briseis Chryseis Hector Hecuba Helen Hera Heracles Horses of Laomedon Judgement of Paris Laomedon Menelaus Odysseus / Ulysses Paris (Trojan Prince) Patroclus Philoctetes Priam Rome Sparta Tenedos Thersites Trojan Horse Trojan War Troy Zeus

Ross Collins, Tanya Landman

The World’s Bellybutton: The Greek Gods Need a New Hero

This is the story of William Popidopolos, an English boy, about 10 years old. William travels with his mother, Kate, to Greece, to the island of Spitflos, in order to meet his father Nikos, whom he never met. In his father’s tavern, William is approached by a large swan, who confides in him that he is Zeus and in need of his help. William must tie the knot at the center of the universe, the omphalos, since it is starting to break apart. While William’s parents are under Zeus’ s(...)

YEAR: 2007

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Charon Gorgon(s) Pegasus Zeus

Colm Lawton , Simon Spence

Theseus is part of a series of storybook myths aimed at very young readers. Each two-page spread combines a full-page illustration and a page of text. The text is presented in an informal style, in a Comic Sans-like font, while the illustrations present the characters as wide-eyed and childlike. The story begins with an introduction to Theseus, including the information that ion that he grew up without his father. We learn that Theseus eventually became strong enough to lift the rock that covere(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Architecture Ariadne Athena Athens Cerberus Crete Fate Gods Greek Art Hades Heracles Hercules Katabasis Labyrinth Laurel Wreath Minerva Minos Minotaur Persephone Theseus Twelve Labours of Heracles Underworld

Diane Buttress

Theseus and the Minotaur

This Kindle edition features a unique retelling of the Minotaur myth, since it is delivered in poetry.The story is aimed to make the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur accessible to young readers. The story begins when Theseus, the prince of Athens, volunteers to sail to Crete and slay the Minotaur. There is no mention of Daedalus, Minos or even Ariadne. Theseus encounters the Minotaur, kills him and is celebrated as a hero.(...)

YEAR: 2013

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Minotaur Theseus

Gary Andrews, James Evelyn Ford , David Salariya

Theseus and the Minotaur

The author tells the myth about Theseus and the Minotaur. At the beginning, readers learn how the half bull half man was born. Later on, the story is told of the murder of Androgeos, son of Minos and Pasiphae: his death was the reason why Minos declared war on Athens. Subsequently, the reader learns about Poseidon’s revenge – the birth of the Minotaur. Minos asked Daedalus to build a maze under his castle, where he wanted to imprison the monster. Minos demanded that the Athenians in (...)

YEAR: 2004

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ariadne Crete Daedalus Icarus Labyrinth Medea Minos Minotaur Pasiphae Poseidon Theseus

Marcia Dorothy Williams

Theseus and the Minotaur & Arachne versus Athene

Like other books in the set of retellings of ancient Greek myths taken from Marcia William’s 1991 collection Greek Myths for Young Children, the current volume is divided into two sections. The first contains Williams’ retelling of Theseus and the Minotaur. The second, shorter, section, derails with Arachne’s’ contest at spinning with Athene. In the first section, divided into short chapters, Theseus sails from Athens to Crete as one of the set of young men and women(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aegeus Arachne Ariadne Athena Athens Crete Metamorphosis Minos Minotaur Naxos Theseus

Russ Daff

Theseus and the Minotaur (Mini Myth, 3)

This is the third book in Russ Daff’s Mini Myth series, which retells myths in comic form for children. In this book, Theseus is leading a group of young men who fight bandits and monsters. When they return to Athens, he hears about the horrible tribute Athens must pay to Crete. Theseus volunteers to go to Crete and save his kingdom. Ariadne, who is under Aphrodite’s love spell, helps Theseus to find his way in the labyrinth. Theseus then kills the Minotaur and the group escapes to C(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aphrodite Ariadne Athena Minos Minotaur Poseidon Theseus Zeus

Marcia Dorothy Williams

Three Cheers for Women

This book presents biographies of a series of notable women through the ages, arranged chronologically, with a double spread devoted to each subject. The first subject, Cleopatra VII, is followed by another ancient woman: Boudicca. After this, the book moves to the fifteenth century with Joan of Arc; it continues with Elizabeth I, Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, Florence Nightingale, Marie Curie, Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Frida Kahlo, Anne Frank, Wangari Maathai, Mae C. Jemison, Cathy(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Boudicca Celts Cleopatra VII Egypt Iceni Roman Britain Roman Egypt Roman Empire

Philippe Béha, Glen Huser

Time for Flowers, Time for Snow. A Retelling of the Legend of Demeter and Persephone

Time for Flowers, Time for Snow is a book and CD version of an opera staged in Canada in which 180+ school children performed accompanied by The Orchestre Symphonique Pop Montréal with narration from UK comedian Terry Jones. The opera was composed by Greek national Giannis Georgantelis, and was run as a community project under the auspices of the Government of Canada, the Government of Quebec, the cities of Montreal and Laval, the Embassy of Greece to Canada, and the Embassy of Canada to (...)

YEAR: 2013

COUNTRY: Canada United Kingdom

TAGS: Afterlife Architecture Cerberus Charon Crete Daedalus Demeter Eleusinian Mysteries Gods Greek Music Hades Hermes Immortality Katabasis Olympus Persephone Pluto / Plouton Proserpina Underworld Zeus

Nick Roberts, Stella Tarakson

Time's Up Tim! (Hopeless Heroes, 10)

This is the final book (10) in the "Hopeless Heroes" series. This is a series of portal-fantasy adventures in which a timid boy travels to the world of ancient myth by means of a magic vase, and learns to be brave through adventures with classical heroes. At the end of the previous book, Tim Baker discovered that Hera escaped from the magical vase in which she was trapped. Furthermore, it appears that many public buildings in London have become Greek temples and are built in a Greek st(...)

YEAR: 2020

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ares Hera Hercules Hermes Jason Odysseus / Ulysses Perseus Theseus Zeus

Joseph Hocking

Tommy and the Maid of Athens

A patriotic novel written during World War One, the protagonist of Hocking’s Tommy and the Maid of Athens, John Penrose, is sent on a mission to discover suspected underhanded scheming amongst the powers in Athens. He enlists his friend Tom Pollard to help him on his quest, a man who had become famous for exposing a German spy in the war, and was known for his patriotic bravery. The novel is written primarily through the eyes of John, but at times the reader is given entry to Tom’s p(...)

YEAR: 1917

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Athena Greek Philosophy Poetry Socrates

Jess Stockham

Town Mouse, Country Mouse

In this lift-the flap picture book for young readers, Jess Stockham tells the story of a mouse who lives in the country and invites her cousin from the town to visit. She promises picnics and swimming in the river. Eager for fresh air, her cousin comes. He arrives on his skateboard, and the cousins greet one another. It is time for lunch. The country mouse shows how to find nuts and berries. But the nuts are too dry, and the berries too bitter for the town mouse, who pulls a face and asks for su(...)

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aesop Aesop’s Fables Horace

Adèle Geras

Troy is a retelling of the final stages of the Trojan War, focalised through a group of young people living in the besieged city. Xanthe and Marpessa are sisters raised in Troy after being found as babies on the slopes of Mount Ida. Xanthe is nursemaid to Hector and Andromache’s baby son Astyanax, but also tends to wounded soldiers in the hospital she calls the Blood Room. She falls in love with Alastor, a wealthy young Trojan with an overbearing mother, who has been recruited into a war t(...)

YEAR: 2000

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Andromache Aphrodite Hector Helen Hermes Homer Iliad Priam Trojan War Troy

Odafe Atogun

Wake Me When I’m Gone

The story opens with Ese’s musings on a painting of herself, trying to figure out what the countless suitors had seen that made her so beautiful in their eyes. She concludes, “This was long ago, when we had not seen much of civilisation, and our daily existence was guided by ancient rules and traditions.” – a statement of the lot which awaited her after the death of her husband.Ese is a young widow who once excelled in business on Main Street Market until that fateful Fri(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: African Traditions

Jonny Duddle , Kate Thompson

Marcus is a part of a baker’s family in Roman times under the tough reign of Emperor Gaius Caligula. One day, a mysterious slave hands him a racing horse and disappears. The horse turns out to be the emperor’s horse, Consul Incitatus, and now Marcus is facing danger to his life while deciding what to do with the horse. At the end there is a short passage of explanation regarding Caligula and his horse. Marcus shares with the reader the hard life his family lived under the mad emperor(...)

YEAR: 2010

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Caligula Claudius (Emperor) Incitatus (Horse) Rome Zeus

Anthony ("Tony") Robinson, Del Thorpe

Weird World of Wonders: Greeks

This work is a humorous introduction to the history and culture of ancient Greece. There is significant focus on classical Greece, although there is also some material on the career of Alexander the Great, followed by brief sections on the Hellenistic world and the coming of Rome. In keeping with book's title and the rest of the series of which it is a part, the representation of ancient culture focuses on things that appear eccentric, funny, cruel, or disgusting by modern Western standards.(...)

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Slavery Apollo Apples of the Hesperides Architecture Athena Athens Centaur(s) Comedy (Ancient) Cyclops / Cyclopes Graeco-Persian Wars Greek History Greek Music Greek Theatre Hera Heracles Hercules Homer Laurel Wreath Minos Minotaur Odysseus / Ulysses Olympic Games Pandora Pandora’s Box Polyphemus Poseidon Tragedy (Ancient) Trojan Horse Trojan War Twelve Labours of Heracles Zeus

Kelsey Oseid

What We See in the Stars: An Illustrated Tour of the Night Sky

What We See in the Stars is an informative work which uses attractive illustrations and clear language to communicate about the science of space, the history of space science (including ancient science), and the mythology connected to that science. The work is explicit at the start about its mission to teach science and mythology. It begins by explaining that knowledge of the stars was initially important for agriculture and navigation, and that modern star-gazing is a way to connect with "(...)

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: United Kingdom United States of America

TAGS: Argo Argonauts Centaur(s) Cronus / Kronos Egypt Europa Gods Golden Fleece Greek Art Greek Astronomy Greek History Hera Heracles Hermes Jupiter Latin (Language) Laurel Wreath Mars Mercury Neptune Pan Pegasus Perseus Poseidon Twelve Labours of Heracles Unicorn (hippos monokeras) Zeus

Mary Helen Beckwith, Regina Price

What's in the Box, Pandora? (Ancient Myths for Kids, 1)

This rendition of the myth is written in short lines, almost like poetry. It narrates the story of Pandora and Epimetheus as little children. The girl Pandora is interested in a mysterious wooden box she saw at Epimetheus’ house. He tells her that what is inside the box and who gave it to him are a secret. Finally, after she keeps asking, he tells her the box was brought by a man with wings on his cap; Pandora guesses he is Mercury since he also brought her to where she currently lives and(...)

YEAR: 2014

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Epimetheus Mercury Pandora

Richy K. Chandler

When Are You Going to Get a Proper Job? Parenting and the Creative Muse

The work, created in an informal cartoon style, follows Tariq, a young man who is trying to balance his parenting responsibilities with attempts to establish himself as a professional comic book artist. He lives with his wife, Susan, who has unspecified regular work involving spreadsheets and meetings, and Natasha, their young daughter. Initially we encounter the problems that Tariq is having and over the course of the graphic novel we move towards him finding solutions as he listens to others a(...)

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United Kingdom United States of America

TAGS: Muses

Jenny Oldfield, Bee Willey

Wings of Icarus

This book narrates the story of Daedalus and Icarus. They were trapped on the island of Crete as king Minos’ prisoners. They try to escape many times, until one day Daedalus devises wings for them to fly away from the island. Alas Icarus flies too close to the sun, his wings melt and he falls into the sea.(...)

YEAR: 2007

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Daedalus Icarus Minos Minotaur Pasiphae

Margaux Carpentier, Isabel Otter

Wonders of the World. An Interactive Tour of Marvels and Monuments

Wonders of the World is a highly illustrated and well-designed lift-the-flap publication. The book is divided into two main parts. The first presents the seven wonders of the ancient world, the second the wonders of what is referred to as the "modern world", although some of these entries were also built in antiquity. A double-page at the end presents seven natural wonders. Each wonder has a page of its own with one or two flaps and information distributed across an average of fiv(...)

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Architecture Artemis Colosseum Egypt Gladiator Games Gods Greek Art Greek History Olympic Games Poseidon Roman History Rome Sphinx Zeus

Shawn Braley, Kathy Ceceri

World Myths and Legends: 25 Projects You Can Build Yourself

This book includes information about myths from all over the world as well as handy craft activities for children. The book is divided into nine chapters, with each chapter displaying various myths from different cultures as well as a related activity. The chapters are: What are myths and legends; The Middle East; Greece and Rome; Northern Europe; Sub-Saharan Africa; India and China; Japan and Australia; Central and South America; North America. The book also includes a glossary, a bri(...)

YEAR: 2010

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aeneas Cybele Daedalus Dido Hesiod Hippocrates Homer Olympians Pandora Titans Trojan War Virgil

Julie Hearn

This dystopian young adult novel weaves the myth of Pandora’s Box into a complex narrative that is both historical and futuristic. The title of Wreckers refers to the eighteenth-century fishermen who would retrieve goods from ships foundering on the treacherous rocky coastline of Cornwall, and may have played a part in luring those ships onto the rocks. The text’s Prologue, set in 1732, describes a group of Wreckers bringing ashore a load of cargo, including an ancient wooden ch(...)

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Jupiter Pandora Pandora’s Box Prometheus Zeus

Jim Pipe

You Wouldn't Want to Be Cleopatra! An Egyptian Ruler You'd Rather Not Be

You wouldn’t want to be Cleopatra! An Egyptian ruler you’d rather not be describes Cleopatra’s life in a unique way. It is written from a very personal perspective which helps the young readers identify with Cleopatra. The first lines in the book already introduce a strong identification with Cleopatra: You are Cleopatra, a princess living in Egypt 2,000 years ago (p.9). The whole narration of the story flows in this personal style. This specific style helps young readers under(...)

YEAR: 2007

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Antinous (Hadrian's Favourite) Cleopatra VII Egypt Octavian Rome

David Antram, John Malam, David Salariya

You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Roman Gladiator!: Gory Things You'd Rather Not Know

The book begins with the author asking the reader to play a role while reading, namely becoming a representative of the peoples over whom the Roman Empire wants to reign.Each book in this series begins with an appeal to the reader to become a representative of the group featured in the book. The story begins with how Romans acquired slaves, conquered other nations, and the reader imagines him/herself to be one of these future slaves. The fate of a slave was grim, it usually began at a slave mark(...)

YEAR: 2000

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Slavery Charon Emperor Gladiator Games Gladiators Greeks Persians Rome

David Antram, Fiona MacDonald, David Salariya

You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Slave in Ancient Greece!: A Life You'd Rather Not Have

The narrator talks about the life of slaves. Abandoned children, failed debtors and defeated soldiers captured by their victors can become slaves. All who do not speak Greek are considered barbarians. When a man becomes a slave, he loses his family, he will probably never see them again. The book describes the various kinds of work that a slave may perform. These include, but are not limited to cooking, cleaning, child care, wool work, lifting and carrying.There are good owners who treat th(...)

YEAR: 2001

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Slavery Greece

John Dougherty , Georgien Overwater

Zeus on the Loose

In this chapter-book with illustrations, a boy named Alex accidentally summons Zeus, king of the gods, into his life, when he makes a ‘temple (out of loo rolls and a cornflakes box),’ as a class project. In the style of comic intrusion fantasy, Zeus causes mayhem. He demands sacrifices from Alex as his ‘high priest’ in the form of midnight bacon sandwiche. He borrows Alex’s mother’s best night dress when he spills coffee on his robes, transforming (...)

YEAR: 2004

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Gods Iliad Trojan War Zeus

John Dougherty , Georgien Overwater

Zeus Sorts It Out

Zeus Sorts It Out is a chapter-book with illustrations, the third in a series of stories about a boy named Alex who has accidentally summoned Zeus, king of the gods, into his life, through a classroom project. In Zeus Sorts It Out, Alex and his friend Charlie are being bullied by Eric Lees. When Eric puts Charlie’s head in the toilet, Charlie calls for help from Zeus. Zeus commandeers the boys’ toilets as his temple, demanding veneration and sacrifices from the boys, who try to persu(...)

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Heracles Hercules Prometheus Sisyphus Tantalus Twelve Labours of Heracles Zeus

John Dougherty , Georgien Overwater

Zeus to the Rescue

Zeus to the Rescue is the second in a trio of illustrated chapter books about the adventures of Zeus in a modern British playground. It follows from Zeus on the Loose. Alex, the protagonist of the book, has recovered from Zeus’s first visit to the school. However, a pendant shaped like a lightning bolt, which Zeus has given him, starts to quiver. Could it be in response to a new girl, Diana, who seems to have an uncanny power over the girls in class, and their teacher, Miss Wise? Diana fos(...)

YEAR: 2007

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Actaeon Artemis Danae Europa Leda Zeus