Year: | Our Mythical Childhood Survey

Hugo Pratt

Corto Maltese. The Golden House of Samarkand (Corto Maltese, 7)

The Maltese adventures typically involve a mission to locate an item of some sort within a challenging environment. In this, the seventh instalment in the series, Corto has heard tell of a manuscript by Lord George Byron the poet which Byron's friend, Edward Trelawny, hid on the island of Rhodes. Corto is on Rhodes to retrieve the manuscript. He locates it without too much difficulty and it contains a map to the "Great Gold" - the treasure of Alexander the Great, which is in the Go(...)

literary

YEAR: 1974

COUNTRY: France Italy

TAGS: Alexander the Great Architecture Bible Cassandra Golden Fleece Greek History Jason Narcissus

Janusz Towpik, Jadwiga Żylińska

Expedition for the Golden Fleece [Wyprawa po złote runo]

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.The story begins when Iolcos, an ancient Thessalian city, was ruled by the usurper King Pelias. Pelias deprived his brother Aeson of the throne, but he didn’t know that Aeson’s lawful successor – Jason – w(...)

literary

YEAR: 1974

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Absyrtus / Apsyrtos Aeëtes Aphrodite Argo Argonauts Circe Clashing Rocks / Symplegades / Cyanean Rocks Dioscuri Golden Fleece Harpies Hecate Hera Homer Jason Lemnos Medea Orpheus Pelias Phaeacia Phineus Phrixus

Susan Cooper

Greenwitch (The Dark is Rising Sequence, 3)

Greenwitch is a fantasy novel for children about a humanoid image of leaves and branches that comes to life with the powers of the universe and becomes involved in a battle between good and evil. It makes use of many folktale elements and allusions to Classical mythology in order to bring myth and ancient societal practices to the attention of the modern child. As the third book in the series The Dark is Rising Sequence, the Greenwitch returns to the lives of Simon, Jane, and Barn(...)

literary

YEAR: 1974

COUNTRY: United States of America

TAGS: Celtic Mythology Katabasis Poseidon Sibyl Tethys

Aleksei Simukov, Aleksandra Snezhko-Blotskaia

Prometheus [Прометей (Prometeĭ)]

On Mount Olympus there is a divine fire guarded by an Eagle. Hephaestus invents a machine with four hands to guard the fire. Caring for mortals on Earth, Prometheus steals the fire and gives it to them. Human beings are transformed into civilized Greeks thanks to this gift.Zeus sends the Eagle and Hephaestus to extinguish the fire on Earth and to punish Prometheus. Due to the flood sent by Zeus, the fire is almost completely out. Prometheus gives the last spark to a human family he meets. People(...)

audiovisual

YEAR: 1974

COUNTRY: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)

TAGS: Hephaestus Prometheus Zeus

Waldemar Andrzejewski, Jerzy Jesionowski

The Seventh Expedition. A Space Fairy Tale [Siódma wyprawa. Baśń kosmiczna]

The queen’s daughter, Aurelia, is severely ill. Her condition is caused by a germ from outer space. The only possible cure requires an ingredient that is extremely rare: a powdered green metal, only found on a planet called Oktawia. Of the six expeditions sent there, five failed to land on the planet, and the sixth disappeared without trace. With the help of the Institute of All Time, which can bring into the present day anyone who has ever lived on Earth, three men volunteer to embark on (...)

literary

YEAR: 1974

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Achilles Hercules Twelve Labours of Heracles Zeus

Tadeusz Zieliński

The Tale of Icarus’ Father – the Wise Daedalus [Opowieść o ojcu Ikara – mądrym Dedalosie]

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.The story is a brief retelling of Daedalus’ myth. It begins with a version of the story of the Minotaur, without a mention of Pasiphaë mating with the bull but with the birth of a monstrous offspring attributed to Mino(...)

literary

YEAR: 1974

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Cocalus Daedalus Icarus Labyrinth Minos Minotaur Pasiphae

Janusz Towpik, Jadwiga Żylińska

The Youth of Achilles [Młodość Achillesa]

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.The author presents Achilles’ life but not the well-known version told by Homer in the Iliad. The story begins with the nuptials of Achilles’ parents, the nymph Thetis (in this version of the myth, she is the daughter(...)

literary

YEAR: 1974

COUNTRY: Poland

TAGS: Achilles Chiron / Cheiron Deidamia of Scyros Lykomedes Odysseus / Ulysses Peleus Thetis Trojan War