Category: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Geoffrey McSkimming

Cairo Jim and the Chaos from Crete (Cairo Jim, 10)

Cairo Jim is a young archaeologist who is already an established member of the fictional Old Relics Society at the commencement of the series. He is always seen wearing a pith helmet and his desert sun-spectacles. Cairo Jim and the Chaos from Crete is located in mid-to-late 20th-century Knossos, in Crete. It is a whimsical adventure in which the hero and his companions (a talking macaw named Doris and a telepathic wonder-camel named Brenda) travel to the Palace of Knossos after learning tha(...)

literary

YEAR: 2002

COUNTRY: Australia

TAGS: Archaeology Daedalus Knossos Labyrinth Minoan Civilization Minos Minotaur Poseidon Talos (Automaton) Theseus Zeus

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 original, E(...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 1978

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

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

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 (...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 1968

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

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

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(...)

literary

YEAR: 1991

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

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

Kalliope Kyrdi, Evi Pini

Icarus Tells Stories about Statues in the National Archaeological Museum [Ο Ίκαρος αφηγείται ιστορίες για αγάλματα στο Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο (O Íkaros afīgeítai istoríes gia agálmata sto Ethnikó Archaiologikó Mouseío)]

A talking animal, a duck called Icarus, takes us through the galleries with sculpture at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Icarus shows us statues of males, females, and animals (as we notice also on the front cover), prompting us to pay attention to their style, meaning, and material.The value of experiential learning is emphasised in the introduction (page 3), so that teachers and parents can prepare for the museum visit. Throughout the book, Evi Pini and Kalliopi Kyrdi address bot(...)

literary

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Alexander the Great Aphrodite Apollo Artemis Athena Athens Aulos Croesus Cycladic Culture Daedalus Delphi Dodona Egypt Greece in the Roman Era Hera Hermes Icarus Iris Kerameikos Kore / Korai Kouros / Kouroi Labyrinth Leto Marathon Marsyas Minoan Civilization Minos Olympia Pan Paris (Trojan Prince) Persians Poseidon Sounion Sparta Syrinx Zeus

The LEGO Company

Lego Minifigures (Series): Minotaur

The Minotaur figure is approximately 1 inch in height. The primary colour used is brown to indicate the Minotaur’s fur. The figure has two yellow eyes, with two white horns protruding from either side of its head. The only accompanying accessory is an oversized hand-axe that can be placed in a single hand. At its waist, the Minotaur wears a blue cloth with a brown and golden belt.(...)

material

YEAR: 2016

TAGS: Labyrinth Minoan Civilization Minotaur Monsters

Maciej Słomczyński

The Black Ships [Czarne okręty]

Based on: Katarzyna Marciniak, Elżbieta Olechowska, Joanna Kłos, Michał Kucharski (eds.), Polish Literature for Children & Young Adults Inspired by Classical Antiquity: A Catalogue (accessed: June 11, 2021), Faculty of “Artes Liberales”, Warsaw: University of Warsaw, 2013, 444 pp.The action takes place about 2000 B.C. The main character is a Trojan teenager (he was fourteen when the story began), called White-haired because of the colour of his hair. One day he went fishing. A gr(...)

literary

YEAR: 1972

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Athens Crete Egypt Minoan Civilization Minos Phoenicia Theseus Troy