Aleksander Krawczuk, Alfabet Krawczuka mitologiczny, Kraków: Cracovia, 1991, 152 pp.

Alfabet mitologiczny is a cycle of articles presenting myths, mythical characters and cultural phenomena associated with them, in the form of narrative entries rather than short encyclopaedic ones. The cycle comprises 18 instalments in alphabetical order, as follows:

1. A for Adonis, Magazyn Razem (further as MR) 9 1985,
2. B for Bellerophon, MR 10 1985,
3. C for Centaurs, MR 11 1985,
4. D for Danae, MR 12 1985,
5. E for Eros, MR 1 1986,
6. F for Phaethon, MR 2 1986,
7. G for Giants, MR 3 1986,
8. H for Hermes, MR 4 1986,
9. J for Jason, MR 6 1986,
10. K for Cadmus, MR 7 1986,
11. L for Leda, MR 8 1986,
12. M for Meleager, MR 9 1986,
13. N for Niobe, MR 10 1986,
14. O for Orpheus, MR 11 1986,
15. P for Pan, MR 12 1986,
16. R for Romulus, MR 1 1987,
17. S for Saturn, MR 2 1987,
18. T for Theseus, MR 3 1987.

Aleksander Krawczuk was already well known to readers of the monthly magazine Magazyn Razem before he released his Mythologocal Alphabet, having published various texts in the magazine from its very first issue (No. 1, May 1984), namely, a series about history, entitled Magistra vitae, starting with an interview to Wojciech Tatarczuch entitled “Zawinił Sofokles” [Sophocles was to blame], introducing young audiences to Krawczuk’s journey to antiquity when he was their age, his young years during the war and his subsequent academic career, which he considers “available to anyone who is eager to systematically expand their knowledge”.*

Alfabet mitologiczny was the second series of his articles to appear in the monthly magazine. The new cycle was highlighted on the cover by an image of the statue of Adonis and the headline: “Adonis. Prof. Krawczuk begins the Mythological Alphabet with the tale of this beautiful but unhappy young man”. In each instalment, the professor recounts the main myth concerning the title character(s). However, he also introduces additional subplots, minor characters, and their presence in art, literature, music, astronomy, botany, as well as phrases and terms that have entered everyday language. Krawczuk chose mythological narration as the leading theme and an axis of the text, adding subplots, secondary characters, names, alternative versions of the myths, digressions and explanations of difficult terms as if they were a natural part of the narrative. Interestingly, when presenting the mythical tales, the professor does not avoid quoting ancient sources; most frequently, he uses Ovid, but also Simonides of Ceos, Virgil, and Lucian of Samosata. This allows antiquity to speak for itself through the voices of its eminent representatives, while also revealing the beauty of ancient poetry and familiarising readers with the originals. Additionally, modern poetry referencing mythical characters by William Shakespeare and Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński is quoted. 

Alongside presenting ancient sources, Krawczuk describes the cultural phenomena of a particular myth in both ancient and modern cultures, including the Polish context. This allows Polish students to benefit more from the reading material. The author relates old eras and periods to the present and displays them as one continuous tradition and a long chain of reception. He demonstrates to the reader the constant presence of the ancient myths in culture and the importance of knowing them in the contemporary world.

While Krawczuk’s Alphabet ends at the letter T, the 18 entries are sufficient to demonstrate an impressive web of mutual connections between various myths and mythical characters, easily creating a “who's who” of mythology. His 18 stories mention and describe gods, heroes and other mythical and legendary characters, as well as introduce ancient artists and writers – enough material for an entire textbook. 

Krawczuk presents (the enumertion here in alphabetical order): Achilles, Acrisius, Actaeon, Admetus, Adonis, Aegeus, Aeneas, Aeëtes, Aethra, Aeschylus, Agamemnon, Agave, Althaea, Amazons, Amor, Amphion and Zetos, Amulius, Antiope (Amazon), Aphrodite, Apollo, Apuleius, Ares, Argonauts, Argus (of Argo), Argus (Panoptes), Ariadne, Artemis, Asclepius, Atalanta, Athena, Atlas, Autonoë, Bellerophon, Cadmus, Calydonian boar hunt, centaurs, Cheiron, Chimaera, Chrysaor, Cleopatra (wife of Meleager), Clytemnestra, Creusa/Glauce, Cronus, Cupid, Danaë, Deianeira, Demeter, Dictys, Dione, Dionysus, Dioscuri, Echidna, Echo, Eros, Eurydice, Euripides, Gaea, Giants, Gigantomachia, Glaucus (water deity), Gorgons, Hades, Harmonia, Harpies, Helen of Sparta, Hestia, Heliades, Helios, Hephaestus, Hera, Heracles, Hermaphrodite, Hermes, Hippolytus, Homer, Hylas, Ino, Iobates, Iris, Iulus/Ascanius, Ixion, Janus, Jason, Laius, Lapiths, Lavinia, Leda, Leto, Lycomedes of Scyros, Maia, Mars, Medea, Medusa, Meleager, Menelaus, Mercury, Minos, Minotaur, Moirai, Myrrha, Nemesis, Nessus, Niobe, Odysseus, Oedipus, Oeneus, Orpheus, Ovid, Pan, Paris, Pegasus, Peleus, Pelias, Pelops, Penelope, Penteus, Persephone, Perseus, Phaedra, Phaethon, Phoebus, Phoenix (son of Agenor), Phrixus, Pirithous, Plato, Polydectes, Polydorus, Poseidon, Priam, Proetus, Prometheus, Psyche, Remus, Rhea Silvia, Romulus, Sabines, Salmacis, satyrs, Scopas, Semele, Silvanus, sirens, Sisyphus, Stheneboea, Socrates, Sophocles, Symplegades, Syrinx, Tantalus, Theseus, Titans, Tyndareus, Typhon, Uranus, Venus, Zephyrus, Zeus.

In 1991, the cycle was adapted and published as a book in the professor’s native city of Kraków, entitled Alfabet Krawczuka mitologiczny [Krawczuk’s Mythological Alphabet]. It was illustrated by Szymon Kobyliński (1927–2002), a famous graphic artist, satirist, and writer.

* Aleksander Krawczuk, „Zawinił Sofokles”, Magazyn Razem 1 (1984): 10.

Olechowska, Elżbieta, “Aleksander Krawczuk’s Fascinating Antiquity” in Classics and Class. Greek and Latin Classics and Communism at School, David Movrin and Elżbieta Olechowska, eds., Warsaw–Ljubljana: Faculty of “Artes Liberales”, University of Warsaw, and Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani (Ljubljana University Press, Faculty of Arts), and Wydawnictwo DiG, 2016, 337–356.

The entry presents the result of research conducted within the project “Classical Antiquity in Periodicals for Children and Young Adults in Polish People’s Republic (PRL) – Classical Education, Promotion of Political Ideology, or Expression of Resistance? Changes in the Reception of Classics in the PRL from 1945 to 1989,” funded by the National Science Centre (NCN) Preludium grant no 2022/45/N/HS2/00549.