Category: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Athena [Αθηνά (Athīná)]

This comic book is about the goddess Athena. On the inside of the front cover, we read about Athena’s temples on the Acropolis, her motherless status, and her many adjectives, which, we note, derive from Homer. Also, we learn about festivals honouring Athena. The book closes with Pericles praising Athena’s virtues. The story starts with young and beautiful Athena’s presentation to the world. She stands in Zeus’ hand as he sits on a throne surrounded by other O(...)

literary

YEAR: 1965

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Acropolis Alcibiades Aphrodite Apollo Argonauts Asclepius Aspasia Athena Briareus / Briareos Charites Crete Darius the Great Echo Enceladus Erechtheion Giants Hephaestus Hera Heracles Hermes Iris Marathon Medusa Minos Muses Odysseus / Ulysses Panathenaia Paris (Trojan Prince) Parthenon Pericles Perseus Persians Pheidias / Phidias Poseidon Sisyphus Socrates Solon Sophocles Tartarus Theseus Tiresias Trojan War Typhon / Typhoeus / Typhaon Zeus

Ready at Dawn , SIE Santa Monica Studio

God of War: Chains of Olympus

The story revolves around Kratos, a Spartan hero seeking to redeem his sins by serving the Olympian gods.During his journey, Kratos receives a number of weapons and magic items. In the God of War: Chains of Olympus there are: weapons – Blades of Chaos given to Kratos by Ares (default weapon), Gauntlet of Zeus forged by Hephaestus; magic – Efreet, an ability to use the spirit of a fiery Djiin, Light of Dawn, orbs of light to hurl and Charon's Wraith, green, ravenous blasting flame(...)

electronic

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Atlas Basilisk Calliope Charon Eos Graeco-Persian Wars Hades Helios Morpheus Muses Persephone Persians Styx Triton Underworld Zeus

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

Natalia Kapatsoulia, Filippos Mandilaras

Leonidas and the Battle at Thermopylae [Ο Λεωνίδας (O Leōnídas)]

As we read in the opening page, this book is about a person who left his mark on Greek history. We learn about his family background. Leonidas’ father, Anaxandridas, was king of Sparta. Leonidas, like other Spartan boys, received military training. When he became king, he had to take action against the Persians who invaded Greece. Leonidas consulted an oracle about what to do, and gathered together leaders from other Greek city-states to discuss whether or not to surrender to the Persians.(...)

literary

YEAR: 2010

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Anaxandridas Ephialtes Leonidas Persians Sparta Thermopylae Xerxes

Marisa De Castro

Let’s go to Nafplio [Πάμε στο Ναύπλιο; (Páme sto Náfplio?)]

The book starts with an illustration of a typical nuclear family in a car. The mother in the front, father at the wheel, and the daughter son at the back. The mother and son’s red-blond hair could imply a family of foreign visitors to Greece, driving to Nafplio from other Greek cities. Subsequently, we see a simplified map of the Peloponnese and southern central Greece, dotted with places of interest, such as the Corinth Canal. Nemea is marked with a drawing of a man, presumably Her(...)

literary

YEAR: 2009

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Achilles Acrocorinth Alexander the Great Argolid Argos (City) Athena Athens Epaminondas Isthmus of Corinth Leonidas Miltiades Mycenae Nauplius Nemea Palamedes Persians Phocion Poseidon Themistocles Thermopylae Tiryns

Natalia Kapatsoulia, Filippos Mandilaras

The Battle of Marathon [Η μάχη του Μαραθώνα (I máchi tou Marathṓna)]

The textual and pictorial narrative starts with a contemporary setting: parents and children enjoy the sun and the sea in a crowded beach, ‘Marathon Beach’. As we read in red letters, this is the place where an important battle in history happened. We turn the page, and we are introduced to the Persian Empire, its geographical vastness and its great King, Darius I. By contrast, the reader comes to appreciate, Greece is much smaller. In the Greek city-states decisions were reached dem(...)

literary

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Artaphernes Athens Callimachus Darius the Great Datis Ionia Marathon Miltiades Persians

Natalia Kapatsoulia, Filippos Mandilaras

The Cyclades: Jewels in the Aegean [Κυκλάδες. Πετράδια στο Αιγαίο (Kykládes. Petrádia sto Aigaío)]

This book offers an informative and concise overview of the history and culture of the Cycladic islands for young children. The narrative starts with a reference to the Aegaeis to a continental shelf with mountains and plains that covered the present-day Aegean Sea. The book recounts how the earth trembled and everything was covered with water. Only the tops of the mountains stayed above sea level. Leto found refuge to give birth to her children in one of the rocks sticking out of the sea. This (...)

literary

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Apollo Artemis Athenians Cycladic Figurines Delian League Greece in the Roman Era Leto Persians

David Antram, John Malam, David Salariya

You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Roman Gladiator!: Gory Things You'd Rather Not Know

The book begins with the author asking the reader to play a role while reading, namely becoming a representative of the peoples over whom the Roman Empire wants to reign.Each book in this series begins with an appeal to the reader to become a representative of the group featured in the book. The story begins with how Romans acquired slaves, conquered other nations, and the reader imagines him/herself to be one of these future slaves. The fate of a slave was grim, it usually began at a slave mark(...)

literary

YEAR: 2000

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Ancient Slavery Charon Emperor Gladiator Games Gladiators Greeks Persians Rome