Description
Book SynopsisGreece and Rome have long featured in books for children and teens, whether through the genres of historical fiction, fantasy, mystery stories or mythological compendiums. These depictions and adaptations of the Ancient World have varied at different times, however, in accordance with changes in societies and cultures. This book investigates the varying receptions and ideological manipulations of the classical world in children’s literature. Its subtitle, Heroes and Eagles, reflects the two most common ways in which this reception appears, namely in the forms of the portrayal of the Greek heroic world of classical mythology on the one hand, and of the Roman imperial presence on the other. Both of these are ideologically loaded approaches intended to educate the young reader.
Trade Review"As a whole, The Reception of Ancient Greece and Rome in Children's Literature: Heroes and Eagles is a useful contribution to classical reception studies and an excellent piece of work. (...) This is an exciting area of study and the field is in desperate need of more of it to produce truly revolutionary scholarship. More books, more conferences, and more edited volumes like this one." Krishni Burns, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2016.05.26.
Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgements List of Figures Notes on Contributors Children, Greece and Rome: Heroes and Eagles Part 1 - Classics and Ideology in Children’s Literature 1 Classics, Children’s Literature, and the Character of Childhood, from Tom Brown’s Schooldays to The Enchanted Castle Elizabeth Hale 2 ‘Time is only a mode of thought, you know’: Ancient History, Imagination and Empire in E. Nesbit’s Literature for Children Joanna Paul 3 (De)constructing Arcadia: Polish Struggles with History and Differing Colours of Childhood in the Mirror of Classical Mythology Katarzyna Marciniak Part 2 - Ancient Mythology, Modern Authors 4 The Metanarrative of Picture Books: ‘Reading’ Greek Myth for (and to) Children Barbara Weinlich 5 Reading the Fiction of Video Games Mary McMenomy 6 From Chiron to Foaly: The Centaur in Classical Mythology and Fantasy Literature Lisa Maurice 7 Classical Memories in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia Niall W. Slater Part 3 - Classical Mythology for Children 8 Men into Pigs: Circe’s Transformations in Versions of The Odyssey for Children Sheila Murnaghan 9 Chasing Odysseus in Twenty-First Century Children’s Fiction Geoffrey Miles 10 The Metamorphosis of Ovid in Retellings of Myth for Children Deborah H. Roberts Part 4 - Ancient Rome for Children 11 The “Grand Tour” as Transformative Experience in Children’s Novels about the Roman Invasion Catherine Butler 12 “Wulf the Briton”: Resisting Rome in a 1950s British Boys’ Adventure Strip Antony Keen 13 Bridging the Gap between Generations: Astérix between Child and Adult, Classical and Modern Eran Almagor Bibliography Index
