Category: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Geoffrey McSkimming

Cairo Jim (Series, Book 14): Cairo Jim at the Crossroads of Orpheus

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 at the Crossroads of Orpheus is located in mid-to-late 20th-century Pompeii. It is a whimsical adventure in which the hero and his companions (a talking macaw named Doris and a telepathic wonder-camel named Brenda) work with an archaeo-botanist Bette Noire to rediscover l(...)

literary

YEAR: 2006

COUNTRY: Australia

TAGS: Agrigento Archaeology Gods Orpheus Pompeii Roman Gods Telamon

Siouxsie and the Banshees

Cities in Dust

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(...)

music

YEAR: 1985

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Eruption of Vesuvius Pompeii Roman History

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 2005-7 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 religion and myth – (...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

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

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(...)

literary

YEAR: 2003

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Eruption of Vesuvius Pompeii Vesuvius

Glen Chapron, Hélène Montardre

Little Stories from History [Petites histoires de l’HISTOIRE] (Series, Book 3): Disaster at Pompeii [Catastrophe à Pompéi]

Like all volumes in the series, this one begins with a section The adventure begins… setting up the scene of the novel by providing answers to the basic narrative questions: when, where, “so what”, and who.A teenage boy, Caius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, who lives in Misenum with his mother and uncle, Pliny the Elder, a writer and also commander of the Roman fleet stationed in the port, frequently visits his friend Loreius in Pompeii, across the bay. Loreius spends lots of tim(...)

literary

YEAR: 2013

COUNTRY: France

TAGS: Architecture Herculaneum Loreius Misenum Pliny the Elder Pliny the Younger Pompeii Roman Art Roman Education Roman History Roman Navy Stabiae Venus Vesuvius

Salvatore (Sal) Murdocca, Mary Pope Osborne

Magic Tree House (Series, Book 13): Vacation Under the Volcano

In the Magic Tree House books, American siblings Jack and Annie (from Pennsylvania) are sent on missions in different times and places from a magic tree house by Morgan le Fay, a benevolent fairy who is a mother figure to the children. Their task is to recover a lost story in Latin, entitled: Vir Fortissimus in Mundo. This story used to be in a library in ancient Pompeii. Morgan le Fay also provides the siblings with a book called Life in Roman Times, which, throughout their adventure, they(...)

literary

YEAR: 1998

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Eruption of Vesuvius Herculaneum Hercules Pompeii Prophecy Vulcan

Władysław Zambrzycki

Our Lady of Joy, or Strange Adventures of Gaston Bodineau, a Colonel in the Belgian Army [Nasza Pani Radosna, czyli dziwne przygody pułkownika armii belgijskiej Gastona Bodineau]

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.The book is written in the form of fictitious memoirs of the author, who in this time-travel story along with Colonel Bodineau and two other friends – Jeff van Campe(...)

literary

YEAR: 1931

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Asclepius Eruption of Vesuvius Herculaneum Juno Mithras Olympic Games Pompeii Roman Army Roman Baths Roman Theatre Vesuvius Wedding Traditions (Greek and Roman)

Bastille

Pompeii

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(...)

music

YEAR: 2013

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Eruption of Vesuvius Pompeii Roman History

Sherri Winston

President (Series, Book 2): President of the Whole Sixth Grade

Brianna Justice is an African-American 11 year old student from Detroit. In the first book of the series, Brianna aims at being elected as the president of the fifth grade, against the new student, Jasmine Moon. The book focuses on the challenges she faces during the election campaign and the relationship with Jasmine as well as Brianna and her friends. As the title suggests, Brianna is also the president of the whole sixth grade, and she takes her role seriously. Her task in this book is to rai(...)

literary

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Caesar Gladiators Pandora Pompeii Rome Spartacus

TED , Mia Nacamulli, Kelly Wall

TED-Ed Lessons Worth Sharing, Series The Artist’s Palette: A Brief History of Graffiti

Graffiti in the form of spray paintings, tags, and murals is present almost everywhere across contemporary cities: on bridges, walls, subway cars. It is useful for expressing identity, artistic and political preferences – on the other hand, it is still controversial as it questions ceratain rules of social life. In a brief outline of the history of graffiti a female narrator claims that in ancient Rome graffiti was widely accepted, and Romans used walls for daily communication; Mayas used (...)

ephemeral

YEAR: 2016

COUNTRY: Online

TAGS: Graffiti Plutarch Pompeii Rome Vandals

Caroline Lawrence

The Roman Mysteries (Series, Book 2): The Secrets of Vesuvius

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(...)

literary

YEAR: 2001

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

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