Category: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Natalia Kapatsoulia , Filippos Mandilaras

Aphrodite, Goddess of Beauty [Αφροδίτη η θεά της ομορφιάς]

Mandilaras and Kapatsoulia recount Aphrodite’s life, starting with her birth from the sea in Cyprus and ending with her veneration in Greek temples and legacy for sculptors and painters. Aphrodite emerged from the sea in a large seashell. She was beautiful and everyone fell in love with her. Zephyrus travelled with Aphrodite, first to the island of Cythera—where he spent a night with her—and afterwards to the west part of Cyprus. In Cyprus, the Hours made Aphrodite beautif(...)

literary

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Adonis Aphrodite Aphrodite of Melos Ares Athena/ Athene Black-figured vase Cyprus Cythera Dionysus Eris Eros Helen of Troy Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hours Judgement of Paris Menelaus Olympus Peleus Persephone Poseidon Thetis Troy Underworld Zephyrus Zeus

Simon Spence

Early Greek Myths (Series, Book 4): Atalanta

Atalanta offers a retelling of the myths of Atalanta the huntress for a young audience. The retelling takes a biographical form, opening with Atalanta's early childhood and ending with her living out "the rest of [her] days." This retelling might be considered a feminist retelling of the myths, as the narrator encourages the reader to approve of Atalanta's skills and independence of mind and to disagree with those who wish to limit her actions because she is female. This has th(...)

literary

YEAR: 2016

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aphrodite Architecture Argonauts Argos Centaurs Classical studies Divination Golden Fleece Greek art Greek history Greek mythology Homer Jason Mycenae Mythology Ovid Metamorphoses Peleus Reception

Tony Ross , Francesca Simon

Helping Hercules

Helping Hercules tells the story of a young girl named Susan who does not want to help or do chores at home. She finds a magic coin that takes her back to Ancient Greece where she becomes entangled in scenarios from Greek mythology - she has to help Hercules clean out Augeuean stables, help Orpheus get Eurydice back from Hades, help Paris choose between the goddesses, help Bellerophon capture Pegasus to find the chimera, fight Medusa, deal with Midas, and help Hercules get the apples from the Ga(...)

literary

YEAR: 1999

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Alpheus Andromeda Aphrodite Apollo Aristaeus Athena/ Athene Atlas Augeas Bellerophon Cassiopeia Cepheus Cerberus Chimaera Eris Erymanthian Boar Eurydice Eurystheus Furies Golden Apples Gorgons Greece Greek mythology Hades Helen Hera Heracles / Herakles Hercules Hesperides Ladon Medusa Menelaus Midas Mount Ida Nymphs Orpheus Pan Paris Pegasus Peleus Peneus Perseus Polydectes Poseidon Satyr Styx Taenarum Tantalus Thetis Tmolus Troy

Piotr Fąfrowicz, Zofia Stanecka

I Read Myself [Czytam sobie] (Series): Troy. A Story of the City's Fall [Troja. Historia upadku miasta]

The story is a brief description of the Trojan War written for children aged 6–7 who learn how to read. The classical story begins and ends with a pacifist message saying that every war, even if it generates stories about heroic deeds, is also a dreadful event that causes tears and leaves towns in ruins.(...)

literary

YEAR: 2017

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Achilles Agamemnon Agelaus Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena/ Athene Cassandra Deiphobus Demeter Eris Gaia / Gaea Greek history Greek mythology Hades Hector Hecuba Helen Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hestia Homer Iliad Ithaca Menelaus Mycenae Odysseus/ Ulysses Olympus Paris Patroclus Peleus Poseidon Priam Sparta Styx Themis Thetis Trojan Horse (wooden) Trojan War Zeus

Natalia Kapatsoulia , Filippos Mandilaras

Jason and the Argonauts [Ο Ιάσονας και η Αργοναυτική Εκστρατεία]

Mandilaras’ narrative starts with Jason’s childhood on Mount Pelion and ends with the hero’s adventures in Colchis. Aeson, Jason’s father, entrusted the child Jason to the centaur Chiron. When he turned twenty Jason headed for Iolcus to dethrone Pelias, his uncle. At a river crossing, Jason assisted an elderly woman, who was the goddess Hera in disguise. Jason lost one sandal in the river. King Pelias was terrified when he saw Jason. He remembered an oracle that he w(...)

literary

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Achilles Aeëtes Aeson Amphiaraus Argonauts Argos Boreas Calais Chiron Clashing Rocks Colchis Greece Harpyiae Hera Hercules Iolcus Jason Lemnos Medea Mysia Nymphs Orpheus Peleus Pelion Phineus Theseus Thrace Zetes

Kate McMullan , Denis Zilber

Myth-O-Mania (Series, Book 8): Go for the Gold, Atalanta!

This is the eights book in the Myth-O-Mania series, which offer alternative versions of the Greek myths, narrated by Hades. Hades, who is a self-professed shy and serious god, promises to tell the whole truth about the Greek myth; he claims that his brother Zeus, is a myth-o-maniac (that is, a liar) and that he fabricated the myths and wrote his version so that he and his children will appear noble and praiseworthy. Hades’ versions offer the ‘true’ story of the myths.In this bo(...)

literary

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aphrodite Artemis Atalanta Atropos Calydonian Boar Castor Clotho Hades Hera Hercules Lachesis Melanion Meleager Peleus Persephone Polydeuces Theseus

Weng Chen (Jade), Carolyn Hennesy

Mythic Misadventures (Series, Book 4): Pandora Gets Heart

This is the fourth installment in a series of books called Mythic Misadventures that takes the classic story of Pandora’s box and gives it a young, adventurous, partly contemporary twist – Pandora is Prometheus’ thirteen-year-old daughter. In this book, the group must travel to the past in order to find Lust, hidden in a golden apple. But they must be careful not to change history since this apple is the one that starts the story of Paris, Troy, and Helen of Sparta. Since (...)

literary

YEAR: 2010

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Achilles Aphrodite Athena/ Athene Centaur Charon Chiron Elysian Fields Eris Hades Helen Hephaestus Hera Hermes Mount Ida Olympians Olympus Pandora Paris Peleus Prometheus Sparta Styx Thetis Titans Troy Zeus

Sandra Jobson

Once Upon a Vase

Contents: Illustrations IntroductionThe First Story. The Story of Peleus and ThetisThe Second Story. The Trojan WarThe Third Story. The Revenge of HephaistosThe Fourth Story. Theseus and the MinotaurThe Fifth Story. Perseus and the GorgonsThe Sixth Story. The Battle of the Pygmies and the CranesThe colophon states that “Ergotimus made my vase and Kleitas painted me. Sandra Jobson has retold my story and redrawn my illustrations in my book”: “Ergotimus m’epoisen (...)

literary

YEAR: 1970

COUNTRY: Australia

TAGS: Agamemnon Akristos Ancient Greek Costume Ancient Greek Wedding Traditions Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Aruphritnite Athena/ Athene Centaur Children’s Game Chiton Doris Eris Etruscan Vases Eurytion Fates Graiai Helen Hephaistos Hera Hermes Hippodameia Leto Maia Menelaos Nereus Nerieds Oinomanus Okeanos Paris Peleus Peploi Perith Poseidon Pottery Pottery and Decoration Practices Priam The Dating of Ancient Greek Vases The Pygmies and the Cranes The Use of Colours in Vase Decoration Tunic

Natalia Kapatsoulia , Filippos Mandilaras

Paris and Beautiful Helen [Ο Πάρις και η ωραία Ελένη]

The story starts with pregnant Hecuba, Queen of Troy, having a bad dream. The seer Aesacus advises Hecuba to kill her child. If she does not Troy will be destroyed. Priam asks a herdsman to abandon the newborn child in the mountains. The herdsman leaves the baby under an olive tree. When he returns in a week’s time he sees the infant playing with a bear and decides to raise the child as his own. He names the child Paris. The years go by and Paris becomes handsome and good with words. When (...)

literary

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Achaeans Aphrodite Ares Athena/ Athene Hecuba Helen Hera Iris Menelaus Olympus Paris Peleus Priam Sparta Thetis Troy Zeus

Roger Lancelyn Green, Betty Middleton-Sandford

The Tale of Troy

Roger Lancelyn Green’s The Tale of Troy stresses that the origins of the Trojan War go right back to the beginning of Zeus’ reign, when Prometheus prophesised that the sea nymph Thetis would give birth to a son who would grow up to be greater than his father. In order to preserve his power, Zeus changed his mind about being Thetis’ consort, and instead arranged for her to be married to the minor hero Peleus. All the Olympians attended the celebration, except for Eris, the godde(...)

literary

YEAR: 1958

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Aeneas Agamemnon Ajax Andromache Antenor Aphrodite Apollo Athena/ Athene Calchas Circe Clytemnestra Cyclops / Cyclopes Diomedes Epic Cycle Eris Golden Apple Hector Hecuba Helen Hera Heracles / Herakles Hercules Hermes Hermione Homer Iliad Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Laocoon Menelaus Neoptolemus Nestor Odysseus/ Ulysses Palamedes Paris Patroclus Peleus Philoctetes Priam Prometheus Sinon Sirens Thetis Tiresias Trojan Horse (wooden) Trojan War Troy Virgil’s Aeneid Zeus

Evi Pini, Elisa Vavouri

The Trojan War. The Beginning of History [Τρωικός Πόλεμος. Η αρχή της ιστορίας]

Evi Pini explains how the Trojan War started. The text takes the form of a fairy tale, as implied by the standard phrase “once upon a time” (my translation) at the very beginning. The book begins with Eris and ends with Iphigeneia’s last-minute rescue from being sacrificed to Artemis. Neither fighting nor bloodshed is presented. Instead, we have an account of human and divine passions and emotions, as well as a description of logistical preparations for going to war. Child(...)

literary

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Achilles Aeolus Agamemnon Aphrodite Argos Artemis Athena/ Athene Athens Being a hero Boeotia Calchas Clytemnestra Crete Diomedes Eris Euboea Gods Helen Hera Hermes History Idomeneus Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Ithaca Kings Lykomedes Menelaus Menestheus Mycenae Nestor Odysseus/ Ulysses Paris Peleus Phocis Priam Pylos Skyros Sparta Thetis Troy Tyndareus Zeus