Category: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Martin Brown , William Terence Deary

Horrible Histories (Series): The Groovy Greeks

A humorous overview of the mythology and history of Ancient Greece. After an introduction to Greek ‘gruesome gods’ and ‘petrifying plays and electrifying epics’, Deary zooms in on the ‘savage Spartans’ and the ‘odd Athenians’. He then summarises the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars, before giving an entertaining account of the life and deeds of ‘Alexander the Great-er’. The following chapters describe how Ancient Greeks thought, lived, an(...)

literary

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Alexander the Great Archimedes Charidemus Clytemnestra Greek history Greek medicine Greek mythology Pericles Themistocles Xerxes

Yaël Farber

Molora

Klytemnestra appears before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and admits murdering her husband. She considers the murder as an act of bravery, and her husband’s destiny. Her daughter, Elektra, then takes the floor and expresses her displeasure and indignation at her mother’s deeds. Both mother and daughter are now committed to the process of unearthing the past. They take us to a period when Elektra was seven years old. The murder is re-enacted. Because of the brutal kill(...)

literary

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aegisthus Aeschylus Agamemnon Clytemnestra Electra Orestes Sophocles

Esther M. Friesner

Nobody’s Princess

This novel follows the early life of Helen of Troy, before her marriage to Menelaus and prior to becoming Queen of Sparta. Helen begins the story age four and ends it age fourteen, although most of the book is set at the latter age. Central themes explored include Helen’s feelings about her beauty, her family, the gods, her inheritance, growing up as a girl, boys and the elusive concept of freedom. Told in the past tense in the first person, the novel is a lightly narrated look at somewhat(...)

literary

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Aegisthus Althea Aphrodite Atalanta Castor Clytemnestra Helen Iolaus Leda Meleager Polydeuces Theseus Thyestes Tyndareus

Natalie Haynes

Pandora's Jar: Women in Greek Myths

This book is not fiction nor a retelling of myths. It offers a literary and scholarly analysis by a well-known classicist of various female characters from Greek myth. As the author explains, "I decided I would choose ten women whose stories have been told and retold – in paintings, plays, films, operas, musicals and more – and I would show how differently they were viewed in the ancient world." [location 67].The author chose the following mythological women: Pandora, Jocas(...)

literary

YEAR: 2020

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Alcestis Amazons Athena/ Athene Clytemnestra Euripides Eurydice Helen Hesiod Homer Jason Jocasta Medea Medusa Oedipus Orpheus Pandora Penelope Phaedra

Theresa Tomlinson

The Moon Riders

This novel follows over a decade in the life of the Moon Riders, a group of warrior priestesses from various tribes who serve the moon goddess Maa and travel across Asia Minor. They are called ‘Amazons’ by outsiders. In particular, the novel focuses on a young Mazagardi Moon Rider named Myrina, and her friendship with the Trojan princess Cassandra. Tomlinson looks at gender politics and freedom from the point of view of a protagonist from an egalitarian society. Told in third person,(...)

literary

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Achilles Aethra Amazons Cassandra Chryseis Clytemnestra Hecuba Helen Iphigenia / Iphigeneia Odysseus/ Ulysses Paris Penthesilea Priam Theseus

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