Category: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Maria Dynowska

From Greek Legends: „Metamorphoses” According to Ovid [Z podań greckich: “Przemiany” podług Owidjusza]

Based on: Katarzyna Marciniak, Elżbieta Olechowska, Joanna Kłos, Michał Kucharski (eds.), Polish Literature for Children & Young Adults Inspired by Classical Antiquity: A Catalogue, Faculty of “Artes Liberales”, Warsaw: University of Warsaw, 2013, 444 pp., online: http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/omc_catalogue.This book is an overview of Greek myths selected by the author from the first six books of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. It begins with the Four Ages of Man followed by the flood(...)

literary

YEAR: 1911

COUNTRY: Congress Poland

TAGS: Actaeon Amor Andromeda Apollo Arachne Arethusa Athena/ Athene Bacchus Cadmus Ceres Daphne Deucalion Diana Echo Greek mythology Hubris Iris Juno Jupiter Narcissus Nemesis Neptune Niobe Ovid Ovid Metamorphoses Perseus Phaeton Phoebus Pluto Poseidon Proserpina Pyrrha Python Saturn Themis Thetis Zeus

Ann Turnbull, Sarah Young

Greek Myths

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(...)

literary

YEAR: 2010

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

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

Percival Richard Cole

Myths and Legends of Many Lands

Greek Myths:I. “The Fall of Phaeton” is the story of how the sun departed from its course “scorching the surface of the earth, bringing misery to mankind”. Phaeton, Apollo’s son was “not as wise as he was handsome”. “Vain and ambitious” he defied his father and drove Apollo’s chariot of the sun with its four noble steeds from Apollo’s palace to the ocean. The horses, uncomfortable with their driver, went off the track and wre(...)

literary

YEAR: 1933

COUNTRY: Australia

TAGS: Acrisius Andromeda Apollo Argus Ceres Cyane Danae Demeter Dictys Gorgon Hermes Medusa Mercury Pallas Perseus Phaeton Pluto Proserpine Zeus

Vasily Livanov

Phaeton, the Son of Sun [Фаэтон – сын Солнца]

This animated film is made as a science-fiction “hypothesis” film that includes a mythical story in its narration. It starts with a scientific meeting at a planetarium. The scientist says: “This secret has been worrying astronomers from ancient times. Back in the 17th* century, scientists noticed a mathematical pattern in the distance between the planets and the sun.” **The researcher presents to the audience the Titius-Bode law about a hypothetical planet that existed be(...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 1972

COUNTRY: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)

TAGS: Greek mythology Helios Jupiter Phaeton 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.Prosperina 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(...)

literary

YEAR: 1930

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Apollo Arachne Arion Baucis Ceres Clytie Cupid Daphne Echo Epimetheus Hyacinthus Io Juno Jupiter Minerva Narcissus Pandora Phaeton Philemon Pluto Proserpina Psyche Zephyrus

Sabina Colloredo , La Tram

The Beauty of Medusa and the Other Faces of the Myth [La bellezza di Medusa e gli altri volti del mito]

The Beauty of Medusa and the Other Faces of the Myth is an illustrated children’s novel which retells some of the most popular myths from an unusual point of view. It is divided into six short chapters, where the author gives voice – in the order of appearance – to Medusa, Minotaur, Pandora, Polyphemus, Persephone, and Phaeton, all of whom tell their story first-hand. Medusa grows up with an alcoholic violent father, described as a monstrous being, and a beautiful but surl(...)

literary

YEAR: 2019

COUNTRY: Italy

TAGS: Acis Aphrodite Ariadne Athena/ Athene Clymene Demeter Epimetheus Eros Galatea Hades Helios Medusa Minos Minotaur Ocean Odysseus/ Ulysses Pandora Persephone Perseus Phaeton Polyphemus Poseidon Theseus Zeus

Cynthia Voigt

The Tillerman Cycle (Series)

The Tillerman Cycle follows the lives of four siblings – Dicey, James, Maybeth and Sammy Tillerman – abandoned by their parents and in search of a new home. Over the course of seven novels, spanning nearly a decade in the children’s lives, Voigt explores themes of family, home, resilience, and the relationship between individuals and society. Brief summaries of the novels are included below; for more detailed summaries, see the individual entries elsewhere in the OMC survey.Hom(...)

literary

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Aeolus Alexander the Great Ancient Greek Dance Apollo Aristotle Circe Classics vs. Modern in education Cyrus the Great Daedalus Dryades Fall of Rome Hippocratic Oath Homer Horace Icarus Lotus-eater Mortal/Immortal Nemesis Odysseus/ Ulysses Odyssey Orion Penelope Persian Empire Phaeton Pleiades Polyphemus Scylla Sisyphus Trojan War Venus

Cynthia Voigt

Tillerman Cycle (Series, Book 6): Sons From Afar

Sons from Afar (1987) is the only Tillerman novel that focuses on two main characters, with the perspective alternating between James Tillerman and his younger brother Sammy. As they go through adolescence, the brothers (James in particular) struggle to cope with the lack of a father figure and begin a quest to find out more about their father, Francis Verricker. They visit Francis’s former schoolteachers and discover that their father was a gambler and a cheat. Eventually, the boys&r(...)

literary

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Aeolus Apollo Homer Icarus Lotus-eater Orion Penelope Phaeton Pleiades Scylla Sisyphus

John Mackey, Sabrina Malcolm

Zeustian Logic

This is a YA novel in which tales of Classical myth (in connection with astronomy) help a New Zealand teenager come to terms with his father’s death. Zeustian Logic is about a family trying to deal with their grief, after the death of their father and husband. The novel is set in Wellington, New Zealand. Its protagonist is 14-year-old schoolboy and hobby astronomer Tuttle Theodorus, whose father Jamie has died in a mountaineering accident on Mount Everest. Jamie was a famous mountaineer an(...)

literary

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: New Zealand

TAGS: Achilles Andromeda Castor Centaurs Chiron Constellations Gods Hades Helios Heracles / Herakles Heroes Hygiene Jason Lycaon Mars Mercury Ophiucus Phaeton Pollux Saturn Sirius Venus