Category: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

John Bankston

A Kid’s Guide to Mythology (Series): Hercules

This book is part of a series of eight on different Greek deities. It tells the story of Hercules, half-man, half-god who with his god-given strength was able to overcome great obstacles. However, he was not able to overcome the greatest internal obstacle of his own anger. Starting with the episode of Hercules’ cattle being stolen, Bankston launches into a discussion of myth and the place of the myth of Hercules in the ancient world. Each chapter contains selections of the myth with other (...)

literary

YEAR: 2016

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Admete Admetus Alcmene Amazons Amphitryon Apollo Apollodorus Apotheosis Arcadia Athens Atlas Augeas Cacus Cerberus Chiron Cithaeron Classical myth Constantine Constellations Deianeira Diana Diodorus Siculus Diomedes Electryon Erginus Erymanthus Eurystheus Eurytos Greece Hera Heracles / Herakles Hercules Hesperides Hippolyta Hydra Iolaus Juno Jupiter Lerna Linus Macedonia Minerva Minos Minyans Mythology Nessus Olympians Olympics Olympus Oracles Pholus Plato Pluto Prometheus Ptolemy Pythia Rome Sparta Thanatos Thebes Titans Virgil Zeus

Jo Graham

Black Ships

This is the story of the fictional Pythia, from her birth to adulthood. Gull was a girl born to a Trojan slave woman who was brought to Pylos, to King Nestor's palace after the fall of Troy (which is named Wilusa in the book, the name comes from Hittite texts and is associated with Troy; thus the author shows her proficiency with classical archaeology). The background of the Trojan cycle is referred to in the book, especially the sacrifice of Iphigenia and the curse it incurred on the house (...)

literary

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Aeneas Anchises Aphrodite Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Neoptolemus Nestor Persephone Pythia Troy

Joan Holub, Suzanne Williams

Goddess Girls (Series, Book 17): Amphitrite the Bubbly

In this installment, we meet a new character, Amphitrite, a mermaid who is not a regular student at MOA academy. Amphitrite is a mermaid who dreams about living on land. In this combination of mythology and “the little mermaid”, Amphitrite does not forsake her marine home for life on land, but learns to combine both. The story alternates between her narrative and Poseidon’s, and the connecting theme is identity- who you really are. Amphitrite’s sister, Thetis, is sum(...)

literary

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Aglaia Amphitrite Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena/ Athene Delphinius Dionysus Eris Gaia / Gaea Hades Harmonia Hera Heracles / Herakles Hercules Medusa Nereus Panacea Pandora Persephone Pheme Pythia Thetis Zeus

Brandon Terrell

Greek Mythology's Twelve Labors of Hercules: A Choose Your Path Book (Can You Survive?)

This is a “choose your own path” book, in which the reader takes on the role of the hero and makes decisions and choices of action and plot development at each stage to create an interactive adventure, following instructions within the book in order to proceed. Within the framework of the story, the reader/hero of the book- referred to in the second person as “you” - while attempting to avoid a bully in the school library, hears strange noises coming from a book entitled (...)

literary

YEAR: 2013

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Alcmene Artemis Athena/ Athene Atlas Augean Stables Augeas Cerberus Cretan Bull Diomedes Diomedes' Horses Erymanthian Boar Eurystheus Geryon Hera Heracles / Herakles Hercules Hesperides Hippolyta Hydra Iolaos Minos Nemean lion Nereus Poseidon Prometheus Pythia Stymphalian Birds Zeus

Joan Holub, Craig Phillips, Suzanne Williams

Heroes in Training (Series, Book 10): Hephaestus and the Island of Terror

This is the tenth book in the Heroes in Training series (see entry about Heroes in Training: Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom). The Olympians are headed to Lemnos to find Artemis’ bows and arrows. On the deserted island they encounter another Olympian, Hephaestus, who presents himself as the ruler of the island due to his many mechanical inventions. Hephaestus is haughty and a braggart, and quickly challenges Zeus for the leadership of the Olympians. The Olympians must fight the islanders,(...)

literary

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Apollo Ares Artemis Athena/ Athene Crius Cronus Demeter Hades Hephaestus Hera Hestia Poseidon Pythia Zeus

Joan Holub, Craig Phillips, Suzanne Williams

Heroes in Training (Series, Book 8): Cronus and the Threads of Dread

This is the eighth book in the Heroes in Training series (see entry about Heroes in Training: Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom). The group is caught in a great battle against a giant spider and then Athena finally regains her cleverness. Then the group continues towards Cronus’ temple in the sky, where Zeus finds out an awful truth about Cronus and himself.(...)

literary

YEAR: 2014

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Apollo Arachne Ares Artemis Athena/ Athene Cronus Demeter Hades Hera Hestia Poseidon Pythia Rhea Zeus

Joan Holub, Craig Phillips, Suzanne Williams

Heroes in Training (Series, Book 9): Crius and the Night of Fright

This is the ninth book in the Heroes in Training series (see entry about Heroes in Training: Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom). Once again the group of Olympian needs to battle Cronus’ solders while trying to find Artemis, Apollo’s twin. Artemis is held under a special sleeping spell and the Olympians need to free her from her keeper and escape from his company of special warriors. Zeus will discover his great power and the responsibility that comes with it. He must learn first(...)

literary

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Apollo Ares Artemis Athena/ Athene Crius Cronus Demeter Hades Hera Hestia Poseidon Pythia Rhea Zeus

Nick Roberts, Stella Tarakson

Hopeless Heroes (Series, Book 5): Apollo's Mystic Message

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 is(...)

literary

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Apollo Athena/ Athene Epimetheus Hera Hercules Hermes Prometheus Pythia

Nikola Kucharska, Dorota Wieczorek

Monsteropolis [Strachopolis]

The title city is a place in which people live together with all kinds of monsters. While many of them have been integrated into society, the others have to hide away refusing to comply with existing conditions. The protagonist of the novel, Kostek and his sister, Niezapominajka [Forget-Me-Not], grow up among these creatures. The siblings, as it turns out, are the long-lost children of Baltazar Brylski, one of the most famous so-called “fearslayers” – usually superhero-like mon(...)

literary

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Chimaera Concept of a mythical creature Delphic Oracle Divination Hybrids Isolating the mythical creature from humans Keeping the mythical beasts hidden Pythia Way of protecting mythical beasts

Marisa De Castro, Mark Weinstein

Shall we go to Delphi? [Πάμε στους Δελφούς;]

Here we have a guide to Delphi in central Greece, one of the most sacred locations for the ancient Greeks (my translation), as we read in the opening page. Mythology, archaeology and art history feature prominently in this booklet, accounting for the site’s significance. (...)

literary

YEAR: 2009

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Antinoos Apollo Artemis Asclepius / Asklepios Biton Charioteer Daphne Hadrian Kastallia Spring Kleobis Korai Kouroi Leto Oedipus Omphalos Orpheas Pan Phaethon Polyzalos Pythia Sphinx Stadion Temple of Athena Polias Theatre Themistocles Tholos Zeus

Agnieszka Stelmaszyk

The Archeo Chronicles (Series, Book 2): The Treasure of the Atlanteans [Kroniki Archeo: Skarb Atlantów]

Kroniki Archeo [The Archeo Chronicles] is a series of children’s novels, in which kids of a Polish and a British couple: Anna Ostrowska and Bartek Ostrowski along with Mary Jane and twins Jim and Martin Gardner and their friends solve mysteries associated with mythology, history, archeology, ancient cultures and eventually make consequential discoveries. In The Treasure of the Atlanteans, the children and their parents are spending their holidays on Crete. They are accompanied by a ne(...)

literary

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Athena/ Athene Atlantis Echidna Eos Gorgon Helios Homer Labyrinth Medusa Minotaur Pasiphae Pericles Plato Poseidon Pythia Typhon

Jeanne Bloch

The Labors of Hercules [Les travaux d'Hercule]

Les Travaux d’Hercule is an adaptation for children published as no. 50 of Les livres roses pour le jeunesse (Pink Books for Youth) Collection Stead of Librairie Larousse. The Collection Stead is a series fascicles, prepared especially for children, and includes fables, myths, legends, fairytales and various stories, also based on literature for grownups (e.g. Shakespeare’s The Tempest and As You Like It or Scott’s Ivanhoe). The collection was published in English, then in Fren(...)

literary

YEAR: 1911

COUNTRY: France

TAGS: Alcmene Amazons Amphitryon Atlas Augeas Cacus Centaurs Cerberus Delphic Oracle Eurystheus Geryon Helios Heracles / Herakles Hercules Hippolyta Iolaus Iphicles Pluto Pythia

Piatro Vasiuchenka

The Twelve Labours of Heracles [Дванаццаць подзвігаў Геракла]

The Belarusian author reveals Heracles as a teenager in his impulsive, naive and maximalist nature, yet endowed with extraordinary physical strength. His labours are a journey of self-discovery as his understanding of virtue and justice develop. The novel is divided into chapters corresponding to the Labours of Heracles and has additional prologue (Tripod of Apollo) and epilogue (Return to Delphi). The plot begins with the rebirth of Alcides (Heracles’s original name given him by his mothe(...)

literary

COUNTRY: Belarus

TAGS: Alcides Apollo Apples of the Hesperides Artemis Athena/ Athene Atlas Augean Stables Cerberus Chiron Cretan Bull Delphi Dionysus Eurystheus Geryon Helios Hera Heracles / Herakles Hermes Hippolyta Iolaus Lernaean Hydra Menelaus Nemean lion Poseidon Prometheus Pythia Stymphalian Birds Twelve Labours of Heracles Wild Mares of Diomedes Zeus

Antonis Antoniadis

The Wolf of Sparta [Ο λύκος της Σπάρτης (O líkos tis Spártis)]

The novel is set during the Greek-Persian wars, from the battle of Thermopylae to the Battle of Plataea as seen by the only survivor of the 300 Spartan warriors of King Leonidas I, who set out to guard the Helladic world against the Persians. Aristodemos – a descendant of the royal line of the Herakleides – and his companion Eurytos lose their sight upon being sprayed in their faces with viper poison on the battlefield. They are sent to consult Aesculapius’ priests in the milit(...)

literary

YEAR: 2009

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Aphrodite Apollo Asclepius / Asklepios Delphi Demeter Erinyes Graeco-Persian wars Greek history Greek mythology Greek philosophy Hades Heracles / Herakles Heracles‘ lineage Hercules Kronos / Cronus / Cronos Morpheus Oracles Persephone Pythia Sparta Zeus