Category: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Krystyna Kreyser

Following the Myths of Ancient Greece and Rome [Śladami mitów starożytnej Grecji i Rzymu]

Based on: Katarzyna Marciniak, Elżbieta Olechowska, Joanna Kłos, Michał Kucharski (eds.), Polish Literature for Children & Young Adults Inspired by Classical Antiquity: A Catalogue (accessed: June 16, 2021), Faculty of “Artes Liberales”, Warsaw: University of Warsaw, 2013, 444 pp., section by Barbara Krcha, pp. 150-152. The stories explain how Greek and Roman myths are reflected in the order of the world, natural phenomena, and in the calendar. The author discusses ancient o(...)

literary

YEAR: 1992

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Adonis Aeolus Andromeda Apollo Argus Atlas Bellerophon Cassiopeia Cepheus Cerberus Chiron/Cheiron Cyane Cycnus Daphne Dionysus Echo Europa Fortuna Greek mythology Helle Heracles / Herakles Hercules History Hyades Icarus Jupiter Mars Midas Narcissus Neptune Orion Pegasus Perdix Perseus Phaethon Phrixus Picus Pleiades Pluto Poseidon Roman mythology Saturn Tantalus Theseus Typhon Uranus Venus Vulcan Zeus

Emma Chichester Clark, Geraldine McCaughrean

Orchard Book of Roman Myths

This is a retelling of Roman myths, meant for ages 9-12, that takes the readers through a fantastic journey of cultural transition, from Troy to Rome. It combines some tales of Greek mythology with Roman myths (Romulus and Remus, The Sibylline prophecies, Tages, Camillus, Lara, the Sabine Women, Aeneas). The chapters of the book are as follows:Introduction: explains how the Romans translated the Greek gods, creating their own mythology where the main concept was ‘duty’. 1) The O(...)

literary

YEAR: 1999

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Aeneas Apollo Baucis Camillus Carthage Ceres Cupbearer Diana Dido Endymion Erisychthon Falernus Ganymede of Troy Gaul Greek mythology Italy Juno Jupiter King of the Gods Lara Lares Liber Mars Mercury Nymphs Olympians Orion Philemon Pleiades Remus Rhea Silvia Roman mythology Rome Romulus Sabine She-wolf Sibylline Books Sirius Tages Tarchon Tarquin the Proud Tiber Troy Veii Venus Vesta Vulcan

Diana Wynne Jones

The Game

Orphan Hayley Foss lives with her grandparents on the outskirts of London. Homeschooled under the strict control of her grandmother, she lives a lonely and isolated existence. She is not allowed to play with other children, and is only permitted to leave the house to accompany the maid on errands. When he is at home, her grandfather shows her amazing things in his study; from computers and televisions that monitor the daily news, to maps of the world and the solar system. He tells her about the (...)

literary

YEAR: 2008

COUNTRY: United Kingdom

TAGS: Atlas Golden Apples Harmonia Hermes Jupiter Maenads Merope Pleiades Sisyphus Titans Trojan War Troy

Tonya Alexandra

The Love Oracles (Series, Book One): Nymph

Merope is a Star Nymph, the youngest of the Pleiades, the seven daughters of Atlas and the Oceanid nymph Pleione. After rejecting the offer to take Orion as her consort, Merope is banished from Olympus to a small Greek island. She meets Lukas, a local teenager, and although they are not aware of it until much later, the pair are struck by Eros’ arrows and fall passionately in love.Olympian law strictly forbids a relationship between a goddess and a mortal man, though Merope rec(...)

literary

YEAR: 2014

COUNTRY: Australia

TAGS: Heracles / Herakles Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite Merope Mortals and Immortals Orion Ovid’s Fasti Pleiades Prometheus

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 Classics vs. Modern in education Cyrus the Great Daedalus Dryades Fall of Rome Hippocratic Oath Homer Horace Icarus Lotus-eater Mortal/Immortal Nemesis Odysseus/ Ulysses Odyssey Orion Penelope Persian Empire Phaeton Pleiades Polyphemus Scylla Sisyphus Trojan War Venus

Anatol’ Viartsinski

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-eater Orion Penelope Phaeton Pleiades Scylla Sisyphus