Category: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Brett Helquist , Lemony Snicket

A Series of Unfortunate Events (Series, Books 1-13)

This series of thirteen 13-chaptered novels follows the "unfortunate events" which befall Violet, Klaus and baby Sunny Baudelaire after the death of their parents in a fire in the family home. On becoming orphans, the siblings are placed in the custody of their uncle, Count Olaf, who, from the first book onwards tries various – and typically murderous – ways, to acquire their huge fortune. Olaf is aided throughout by his accomplices in V.F.S., a mysterious organisation to w(...)

literary

YEAR: 1999

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Calypso Charybdis Damocles Glaucus Gorgon(s) Heracles Lotus Eaters / Lotophagoi Nero Odysseus / Ulysses Odyssey Plato Sappho Scylla

Gilly Cameron Cooper

Ancient Greek Myths (Series): Cyclops

An educational comic that retells elements from the Odyssey, focusing on the Cyclops. It begins with informational pages about The Greeks, the Gods and Myths, (4-5), then provides maps for Setting the Scene, (6-7) before retelling the myth in 7 short chapters: A Long Way from Home, A Promising Land, The Cyclops Comes Home, Outwitting the Cyclops, Blind Man’s Bluff, Partin Shot, Poseidon’s Revenge. A Glossary and Index complete the book.In The Greeks, Their Gods and Myths, a short exp(...)

literary

YEAR: 2007

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Apollo Calypso Charybdis Circe Corsica Cyclops / Cyclopes Ismarus Lotus Eaters / Lotophagoi Odysseus / Ulysses Odyssey Penelope Polyphemus Poseidon Telemachus Trojan War Troy Zeus

Sulari Gentill

Chasing Odysseus (The Hero Trilogy, 1)

This is the first book in the author’s Hero trilogy. The story of Chasing Odysseus starts in the final days of the Trojan War. Its heroes are three teenaged brothers (Machaon, Cadmus and Lycon) and their younger sister (Hero). Their adoptive father, Agelaus, is a leader of the Herdsmen, a fiercely independent community, allied to the Trojans, who live on the slopes of Mt Ida. The Herdsmen, traditional protectors of the Trojan people, have been secretly supplying the Trojans with food (...)

literary

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: Australia

TAGS: Achilles Aeneas Aeolus Agamemnon Alcinous Amazons Arete (Queen) Calypso Charybdis Cicones Circe Cyclops / Cyclopes Demodocus Eurylochus Gods Helen Hermes Lotus Eaters / Lotophagoi Menelaus Nausicaa Odysseus / Ulysses Pan Pantheon Paris (Trojan Prince) Penthesilea Phaeacia Polyphemus Priam Scylla Sirens Thrinacia / Island of the Sun Tiresias Troy Underworld

Małgorzata Musierowicz

Jeżyciad (Series) [Jeżycjada]

Jeżycjada is a saga about the life of succeeding generations of families from a district in Poznań, Jeżyce. It began in December 1975. Most of the volumes highlight the problems of adolescence and early adulthood for girls from these families; the few exceptions are Kalamburka [Punnie], 2001, which describes Melania Borejko's whole life; Język Trolli [Trolla's Language], 2004, and Sprężyna [A Coil], 2008, written from the point of view of younger children. The prominent family (...)

literary

YEAR: 1977

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Aristophanes Aspasia Cyclops / Cyclopes Great Fire of Rome Homer Horace Hydra Hypatia Ides of March Jupiter Laocoön Group Latin (Language) Lotus Eaters / Lotophagoi Marcus Aurelius Nero Ovid Pyrrhus of Epirus Roman History Seneca Sibyl Socrates Styx Virgil Wedding Traditions (Greek and Roman)

Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson & The Olympians (Series, Book 1): The Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson is the twelve-year-old protagonist of the series and narrates the events of the book. Percy is dyslexic and has ADHD, and his behaviour leads to his expulsion from a number of schools. His life changes dramatically after his maths teacher transforms into a fury during a school trip demanding Percy return something that has been stolen. This leads to Percy discovering that he is a demigod and that the gods, heroes and monsters of Ancient Greece are in fact real and that they inhabit(...)

literary

YEAR: 2005

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Ares Athena / Athene Centaur(s) Cerberus Charon Chimera / Chimaera Cronus / Kronos Delphic Oracle Dionysus / Dionysos Echidna Furies Hades Iris Katabasis Lotus Eaters / Lotophagoi Medusa Minotaur Monsters Nereid(s) Olympus Pan Perseus Poseidon Procrustes Satyr(s) Underworld Zeus

Chris Columbus , Rick Riordan, Chris Titley

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Series): The Lightning Thief

The film opens with a meeting between Poseidon and Zeus on the observation deck of the Empire State Building. Zeus reveals that his lightning bolt has been stolen and believes Poseidon’s son to be the thief. It must be returned within fourteen days in time for the summer solstice or Zeus will declare war. During a school trip to a museum, Percy Jackson is attacked by his English teacher Mrs Dodds, who transforms into a Fury and demands that Percy return the lightning bolt. Percy&rsquo(...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 2010

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Athena / Athene Chiron / Cheiron Dionysus / Dionysos Gods Hades Hero(es) Katabasis Lotus Eaters / Lotophagoi Medusa Minotaur Persephone Poseidon Satyr(s) Underworld 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 1): Homecoming

Homecoming tells the story of four siblings – Dicey, James, Maybeth and Sammy Tillerman – who are abandoned by their mother (their father had already abandoned the family some years before). Led by the eldest, Dicey, the children make their way mostly on foot down the east coast of the United States. They come across a range of settings and characters with both realist and archetypal features including: runaway teenagers in the woods, students on a university campus, their bland(...)

literary

YEAR: 1981

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Aeolus Circe Homer Lotus Eaters / Lotophagoi Odysseus / Ulysses Odyssey Penelope Polyphemus Scylla

Cynthia Voigt

Tillerman Cycle (Series, Book 6): Sons From Afar

Sons from Afar (1987) is the only Tillerman novel that focuses on two main characters, with the perspective alternating between James Tillerman and his younger brother Sammy. As they go through adolescence, the brothers (James in particular) struggle to cope with the lack of a father figure and begin a quest to find out more about their father, Francis Verricker. They visit Francis’s former schoolteachers and discover that their father was a gambler and a cheat. Eventually, the boys&r(...)

literary

YEAR: 1987

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Aeolus Apollo Homer Icarus Lotus Eaters / Lotophagoi Orion Penelope Phaethon Pleiades Scylla Sisyphus