Author: Rebecca Resinski

An entry-level course  in literary studies for 21 students. Myths and texts studied included:

Pygmalion

Ovid, Metamorphoses, Pygmalion story in book 10
Pamela Espeland and Catherine Cleary, The Story of Pygmalion
Marilyn Sachs, The Fat Girl

Atalanta and Meleager

Ovid, Metamorphoses, Atalanta story from book 10 and Meleager and story in book 8
Betty Miles, “Atalanta” from Free to Be…You and Me (plus accompanying video)
Stephanie Spinner, Quiver

Demeter, Persephone, and Hades

Homeric Hymn to Demeter
Ovid, Metamorphoses, the story of Pluto, Ceres, and Proserpine in book 5
Sally Pomme Clayton and Virginia Lee, Persephone
Eva Ibbotson, The Dragonfly Pool

Monsters and Perseus

Edward Tripp, The Meridian Handbook of Classical Mythology, entries for various monsters and Perseus
John Harris and Calef Brown, Greece! Rome! Monsters!
Tobias Druitt, Corydon and the Island of Monsters
Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief
Tera Lynn Childs, Sweet Venom

Theseus and Ariadne

Ovid, Metamorphoses, story of Theseus in book 8
Tracy Barrett, Dark of the Moon
Alan Gibbons, Shadow of the Minotaur

Philoctetes and Sirens

Sophocles, Philoctetes
Hans Christian Andersen, “The Little Mermaid”
Donna Jo Napoli, Sirena

Midas

Ovid, Metamorphoses, Midas story in book 11
Nathaniel Hawthorne, A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys, “The Golden Touch” and “Shadow Brook” framing pieces
Rosemary Wells, Max and Ruby’s Midas
Neil Shusterman, The Eyes of Kid Midas

Orpheus and Eurydice

Vergil, Georgics, Orpheus story in book 4
Ovid, Metamorphoses, Orpheus story in books 10 and 11
Katherine Marsh, The Night Tourist
Sharon Dennis Wyeth, Orphea Proud

A writing-intensive seminar course for 12 students. Course material included:

Key texts for the reception of Classical myth for children

Nathaniel Hawthorne, A Wonder Book for Girls and Boys
Thomas Bulfinch, Bulfinch’s Greek and Roman Mythology: The Age of Fable
Edith Hamilton, Mythology
Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire, D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths

Texts which helped us to see how the stage was set before Hawthorne and Bulfinch

selections from William Goodwin (published under the name Edward Baldwin), The Pantheon
selections from Samuel Griswold Goodrich,  A Book of Mythology for Youth
selections from Charles Anthon, A Classical Dictionary (since Hawthorne used Anthon’s work as a reference)

As a class we also looked at

selected illustrations for the Wonder Book, both the original illustrations and later ones
treatments of Norse mythology by Hamilton and the D’Aulaires (to compare/contrast with their treatments of Greek myth)
Guy Billout, Thunderbolt & Rainbow
Dugald Steer et al., Mythology (in the Ology series)
the version of the Hyacinthus story in George Percival Brown, Poems for Children Based on the Greek Myths
the retelling of the Tereus, Procne, and Philomela story in Lilian Stoughton Hyde, Favorite Greek Myths
the presentation of the Arethusa story in Ann Turnbull (author) and Sarah Young (illustrator), Greek Myths

Each student also developed a presentation that drew on other anthologies of myth;  the pool of anthologies available to the students represented work across the decades since the publication of Hawthorne’s Wonder Book:

M. Helen Beckwith, In Mythland
Elsie Finnimore Buckley (author), Frank C. Papé (illustrator), Children of the Dawn: Old Tales of Greece
George W. Cox, A Manual of Mythology in the Form of Question and Answer
Bernard Evslin, Dorothy Evslin, and Ned Hoopes (authors), William Hunter (illustrator), The Greek Gods
Robert Graves, Greek Gods and Heroes
Roger Lancelyn Green (author), Ernest H. Shepard (illustrator), Old Greek Fairy Tales
W. M. L. Hutchinson, The Golden Porch: A Book of Greek Fairy Tales
Eric A. Kimmel (author), Pep Montserrat (illustrator), The McElderry Book of Greek Myths
Charles Kingsley, The Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales for My Children
William F. Russell, Classic Myths to Read Aloud: The Great Stories of Greek and Roman Mythology
Jeanne Steig (author), William Steig (illustrator), A Gift from Zeus: Sixteen Favorite Myths
Laurence and Irene Swinburne, Ancient Myths: The First Science Fiction
Robert Penn Warren (author), William Moyers (illustrator), The Gods of Mount Olympus
Anne Terry White (author), Alice and Martin Provensen (illustrators), The Golden Treasury of Myths and Legends
Marcia Williams, Greek Myths

And a reference work useful throughout the course:

Edward Tripp, The Meridian Handbook of Classical Mythology

A course taught twice, once as an entry-level discussion course (2019) and once as an upper-level seminar (2022).  Course reading materials included:

Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief

Ancient readings for The Lightning Thief
Apollodorus, Library: Titanomachy and Perseus
Hesiod, Works and Days: the Ages
Homer, Iliad book 5: Diomedes’ fight with Aphrodite
Homer, Odyssey book 8: Demodocus’ song
Homer, Odyssey book 9: Lotus-eaters
Homeric Hymn to Dionysus 7
Ovid, Metamorphoses book 2: Callisto
Ovid, Metamorphoses book 3: Semele and the birth of Bacchus
Vergil, Aeneid book 6: underworld journey

Rick Riordan, The Sea of Monsters

Ancient readings for The Sea of Monsters
Apollodorus, Library: Perseus and the Gray Sisters
Apollodorus, Library: Heracles and the Stymphalian Birds and Heracles and the Hydra
Apollonius, Argonautica book 4: Sirens
Homer, Odyssey book 9: Polyphemus
Homer, Odyssey book 10: Aeolus, Laestrygonians, Circe
Homer, Odyssey book 12: Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis
Homer, Odyssey book 19: Penelope’s ruse
Theocritus, Idyll 11

Rick Riordan, The Titan’s Curse

Ancient readings for The Titan’s Curse
Apollodorus, Library: Heracles and the Nemean Lion, Erymanthian Boar, and Atlas and the Apples of the Hesperides
Apollonius, Argonautica book 3: Jason overcomes the warriors sprung from sown teeth
Apollonius, Argonautica book 4: Talos
Homer, Odyssey book 4: Menelaus’ encounter with Proteus
Nonnus, Dionysiaca: Pan and Pitys
Ovid, Metamorphoses book 1: Apollo and Daphne, Pan and Syrinx
Ovid, Metamorphoses book 2: Callisto
Ovid, Metamorphoses book 3: Diana and Actaeon

Rick Riordan, The Battle of the Labyrinth

Ancient readings for The Battle of the Labyrinth
Apollodorus, Library: the births of Hephaestus and Athens
Apollodorus, Library: Heracles and the stables of Augeas, the mares of Diomedes, the cattle of Geryon, and Antaeus
Apollodorus, Library: Daedalus and Minos
Apollodorus, Library Epitome: Theseus on Crete, Minos, and Daedalus
Diodorus Siculus, Library: Daedalus and Minos
Homer, Iliad book 18: Thetis visits the workshop of Hephaestus
Homer, Odyssey book 5: on Calypso’s island
Homer, Odyssey book 11: Odysseus summons Teiresias and also talks with the shade of his mother

Rick Riordan, The Last Olympian

Ancient readings for The Last Olympian
Brad Thornton’s summary of the Iliad (iliadresource.weebly.com)
Hesiod, Theogony: Zeus and Typhoeus
Hesiod, Works and Days: Pandora and the jar
Homer, Iliad book 1: Achilles and Thetis
Homer, Iliad book 16: Zeus and Hera discuss the death of Sarpedon
Homer, Iliad book 18: Achilles shows himself to the troops when he learns of the death of Patroclus
Homer, Iliad book 22: the death of Hector
Ovid, Metamorphoses book 14:  the Cumaean Sybil tells Aeneas about her aging
Vergil, Aeneid book 1: Aeneas complains to Venus

As general resources on myth:  J. E. Zimmerman’s Dictionary of Classical Mythology (for the 2019 course) and Pierre Grimal’s Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology  (for the 2022 course), as well as theoi.com.

Read for comparison/contrast in the 2019 offering of the course

J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Katherine Marsh, The Night Tourist
Eva Ibbotson, The Dragonfly Pool

Read for comparison/contrast in the 2022 offering of the course

J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan: the near death and resuscitation of Tinker Bell
Kallie George, Wings of Olympus
Lilliam Rivera, Never Look Back
Ann Marie Stephens and Tracy Subisak, Cy Makes a Friend