Category: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Nikos Kazantzakis

Alexander the Great / In the Time of Alexander the Great [Μέγας Αλέξανδρος / Στα χρόνια του Μεγαλέξανδρου (Mégas Aléxandros / Sta chrónia tou Megaléxandrou)]

The novel covers Alexander the Great’s life, beginning with his famous taming of the wild horse Bucephalas at fifteen and ending with his death in Babylon in 323 BCE. The novel focuses primarily on Alexander’s twin ambitions, to unite Greece and to conquer Asia and how he made them a reality. He shared these aspirations with his father Philip II of Macedon, who is an important character in the early part of the book. This covers Alexander’s early life at his father’s cour(...)

literary

YEAR: 1940

COUNTRY: Greece

TAGS: Achilles Alexander the Great Aristotle Athens Callisthenes Darius III Demosthenes Greece Hellenism Heracles Hercules Homer Kleos (Glory / Good reputation) Macedonia Olympias Persian Empire Philip II of Macedonia Zeus

Ola [Aleksandra] Woldańska-Płocińska

Animalocracy [Zwierzokracja]

Zwierzokracja is a large-format non-fiction picture book presenting the history of human-animal relations from prehistory to modern times. Each spread is dedicated to a different topic. Woldańska-Płocińska touches on such issues as hunting, mediaeval animal trials, farming chickens on top of city buildings, intensive animal farming, bird feeding, the Universal Declaration of Animal Rights (1978), endangered species, and veganism. There is even a mention of Jane Goodall, famous primatologist(...)

literary

YEAR: 2018

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Aristotle Egypt Greek Philosophy Pythagoras

Irena Bukowska

Kacper in the Land of Philosophers [Kacper w krainie filozofów]

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., section by Anna Ślezińska, pp. 37-38.Kacper, a school boy who lives in Gdańsk, broke his leg and is supposed to stay at home. He asks his sister to give him some books about dinosaurs but surprisingly, she gives him a book abou(...)

literary

YEAR: 1997

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Aristotle Democritus Diogenes Epicurus Greek Philosophy Heraclitus (of Ephesus) Plato Socrates Thales of Miletus Zeno of Elea Zeus

Irena Bukowska

Kacper on the Scent of Evil [Kacper na tropie zła]

Kacper from Gdańsk, known to the reader from Kacper w krainie filozofów, is already a teenager. He is a mediocre student, but a curious one – he likes asking questions and considering even ordinary things as he has a soul of a philosopher and a poet. An emaciated, mistreated and abandoned dog rescued by the narrator makes him reflect and ask questions about the essence of evil. Having left for a sailing camp, Kacper and his friend Piotrek get on board of a ghost ship balancing (...)

literary

YEAR: 2016

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Aristippus of Cyrene Aristotle Augustine (of Hippo) Diogenes Greek Philosophy Icarus Mani (Prophet) Plato Socrates Zeno of Cyprus (Zeno of Citium)

Terence (Terry) David John Pratchett

Pyramids

Pyramids is set in the fictional Djelibeybi (or the Djel), the tiny, powerless remains of an empire whose only importance is as a strategic block between its neighbours, Tsort and Ephebe. Pteppic/Teppic, the crown prince, has been training at the Assassin’s Guild in Ankh-Morpork. Returning to the kingdom following his father’s death, Teppic discovers that he has no real power, and the real ruler is Dios, the ancient high priest. After an unfortunate series of misunderstandings in whi(...)

literary

YEAR: 1989

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aesop Ancient Religious Practices Ancient Sacrifice Ancient Warfare Aristophanes Aristotle Athens Cleopatra VII Democracy Egypt Egyptian Mythology Founding Legends Greek Philosophy Homer Plato Ptolemaic Egypt Pythagoras Sparta Sphinx Symposium Thermopylae Trojan Horse Trojan War Zeno of Elea

TED , David T. Freeman, Alex Gendler, Richard Hamblyn, Camille A. Langston, Gregory Taylor

TED-Ed Lessons Worth Sharing, Series Playing with Language: Why Shakespeare Loved Iambic Pentameter / How Did Clouds Get Their Names? / How to Use Rhetoric to Get What You Want

Why Shakespeare Loved Iambic PentameterThe narrator points out that Shakespeare was a playwright, but “first, and foremost – a poet”, and that it is worth paying attention to how stress is used in Shakespeare's poems. Then he defines what exactly stress is, gives examples of using it in modern English, and explains that poets experiment all the time with number and order of accents in their verses (however, it has to be mentioned here, the video does not provide directly th(...)

ephemeral

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: Online

TAGS: Aristotle Cicero Ethos Latin (Language) Liberal Arts Logos Pathos Philosophy Political Thought Rhetoric / Oratory

TED , Wisecrack , Addison Anderson, John R. Dilworth, Alex Gendler, Mathias Richard Horhager, Conor Neill , Pilar Newton , Alec Opperman, Jason Permenter, Asparuh Petrov , Massimo Pigliucci , Saschka Unseld, Rebecca Whipple Silverstein, Mia Wood

TED-Ed Lessons Worth Sharing, Series The Big Questions: What Aristotle and Joshua Bell Can Teach Us about Persuasion / Plato's Allegory of the Cave / Plato's Best (and Worst) Ideas /The Philosophy of Stoicism /

What Aristotle and Joshua Bell Can Teach Us about Persuasion?The video's first scene presents a concert of a world famous violinist Joshua Bell at Boston Symphony Hall on January 9, 2007. We are told that Bell at this time was “at peak of his abilities”; then he is shown standing and playing at the top of a sky-reaching mountain among clouds, which can bring to mind Parnassus. But soon the mountain disappears, Bell falls down and suddenly we see him performing on a subway platfor(...)

ephemeral

YEAR: 2013

COUNTRY: Online

TAGS: Aristotle Athens Marcus Aurelius Philosophy Plato Political Thought Rhetoric / Oratory Seneca Zeno of Cyprus (Zeno of Citium)

Croteam , Tom Jubert , Jonas Kyratzes

The Talos Principle

In The Talos Principle, the main character wakes up to find a peaceful but ruined world. An unknown voice, who later says he is Elohim, speaks to you, the player, and instructs you to complete a series of puzzles he has created for you (consisting of lasers, pressure pads, “Reflectors”, “Hexahedrons”, Enemies, amongst other features) so that you collect “sigils” and therefore ascend to the next realm. However, it also advises you not to climb the tower; later (...)

electronic

YEAR: 2014

COUNTRY: Online

TAGS: Aristotle Athena / Athene Bacchus Daedalus Hephaestus Heracles Hercules Hesperides Hippocampi Labyrinth Lares Mercury Minos Poseidon Pottery / Vases Roman Art Sphinx Talos (Automaton) 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

YEAR: 1981

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Aeolus Alexander the Great Ancient Greek Dance Apollo Aristotle Circe Cyrus the Great Daedalus Dryades Fall of Rome Hippocratic Oath Homer Horace Icarus Lotus Eaters / Lotophagoi Nemesis Odysseus / Ulysses Odyssey Orion Penelope Persian Empire Phaethon Pleiades Polyphemus Scylla Sisyphus Trojan War Venus

Cynthia Voigt

Tillerman Cycle (Series, Book 4): The Runner

The Runner is a prequel to the other Tillerman books (reviewed elsewhere in this survey). Set in 1967-68, the novel focuses on Samuel ‘Bullet’ Tillerman in his final year at high school before signing up to go and fight in the Vietnam War. His siblings have already left the family home, leaving Bullet alone to deal with his abusive father and downtrodden mother, Abigail. At his recently desegregated school, Bullet, himself bigoted against black people, largely ignores racial con(...)

literary

YEAR: 1985

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Alexander the Great Aristotle Cyrus the Great Daedalus Fall of Rome Persian Empire Sisyphus Trojan War