Dugald Steer, Mythology
Steer’s Mythology is presented as an artifact containing other artifacts. It purports to be the copy of a reference book by the fictional Lady Hestia Evans which a young man (also fictional) named John Oro brought with him to Greece in the early 19th century. Oro writes an account of his trip in the margins of the book. The text also incorporates a variety of tokens and moveables—for example, a silver cardstock obol coin, an envelope of oak leaves from Dodona, a twist of golden fleece, and a pop-up Pandora’s box. These features are pleasing to the hand and for many readers will be one of the main draws of the book. There is some tension, however, between these delights and the overt message of Oro’s story. While Oro begins his journey with the idea of collecting antiquities for a museum in Greece, his greed leads him to keep his finds for himself, and in many instances, what a reader relishes handling is Oro’s plunder. Oro is presented as a latter-day Midas figure, a negative object lesson, though readers are nevertheless invited to enjoy his loot. The relationship between the explicit and implicit messages of the book could become an opportunity for reflection or a teachable moment. Potential readers or buyers should keep in mind that the book’s add-ins may make it inappropriate for very young readers and that in shared contexts like classrooms and libraries some of the pieces may go missing.