“Too much green…” “everything so intense…” "Roehampton is so beautiful"... What happened at Hercules Café

My previous posting concerned the first of three zoom events I hosted this term. As I said in that posting, the first of them, a Show and Tell for Black History Month, was connected with the autism activities I am developing – more so than I’d initially thought. The second event, the topic of the current posting, is the one for which I can use the word “directly” without hesitation.

This second event was a remote “Hercules Café’ for this year’s Being Human festival. Being Human is a festival usually comprising face-to-face events but which was this year held remotely. I had been concerned about how well the event would work – would people book for instance? What activity should I present? Would it work? etc.

People did book, and then come! Participants zoomed in from round the UK and internationally, including from Israel, Belgium and Greece. Those present included people from the Our Mythical Childhood project, some of whom have been in workshops with me previously. There were also teachers, people with autistic family members and, best of all – children. By the time that this second zoom event took place, I had already, thanks to the Black History Month event, gained a sense of how Zoom can facilitate the connection of a range of people in different places.

Ahead of the session, I sent those who had booked some advance information, including details about the autism activities and a pack of drawings for colouring in, cutting out et cetera on the day, including the following:

On joining, comments from participants in the – very active – chat included introductions where people shared why they were present, where they were zooming-in from, and how old they were. Here is a sample of introductions from adults present:

I'm an Associate teacher at a secondary school (22 years old) and I am here today because I studied classics for my degree. I am also running an intervention at our school which uses Hercules!!

.. I also have an autistic nephew. I'm here to support Susan's work. I am a big fan of Athena.

… I am researcher in education and I love Myth. My favourite mythological figure is the goddess Athena. And I'm old

As this year’s festival theme was “New Worlds,” the focus was on what it can be like to enter a new world – somewhere that might provoke a range of responses as one approaches then enters it – anxiety or excitement for instance. The focus was on one particular stage in the “Choice of Hercules” story which is the focus of the set of lessons I am developing for autistic children. This is the moment where Hercules finds himself in a rich, packed and multi-sensual space.

We began by sharing, via the chat, what people first noticed, or what Hercules might have noticed, first in the curious place. The possibilities put forward included:

The tree curtain thing on the right. Hercules would wonder what it was.

I can see a snake helmet

I noticed Hercules first because he is in the middle and after that the two women next to him 

The things behind Hercules is what I noticed first. 

A long and winding road ...

We noticed Hercules' expression

I noticed he looked uncertain

Lightning

We then discussed what Hercules might be feeling in this curious place. Comments included:

He looks bored. He's not looking at the woman, but beyond her.

his mind knows he has to finish the labours but his body is tired and wants to relax

he is magical thats what

To me he's distraught and finding it hard to decide

I think he is thinking of something

He doesn't know what is going on 

After exploring what Hercules might be feeling, we moved on to a discussion of the times we have been somewhere new for the first time. And what it made us feel. These discussions were carried out over the chat facility - which was used very actively throughout the session. Comments included what it felt like to start a new year at school as student, or to start a new job at a school, or to give a talk on a specific virtual platform for the first time:

i was so nervous wen i started year 3

I felt very nervous when I started my new job and had to get used to a new school!!!

I was really terrified when I gave my first conference talk on Teams, but it was fun in the end

Some participants shared experiences getting to new places:

Parthenon in Athens—magical

Taking my wife to Spain, exciting and nervous with the language.

Going to New York City. Everything so intense.

A theme developed where people shared what it felt like when they first arriving at the Roehampton university campus:

I remember the first time I visited Roehampton!  The first thing I noticed was the nature around the University. Too much green. I remember crossing a path among trees! I was so excited!

I remember the first time I visited Uni of Roehampton and having difficulty finding everything!

Roehampton seemed very large and very academic!

I was very nervous the first time I visited Roehampton but felt much better having met my lovely supervisors!

I've only visited but Roehampton is so beautiful - I felt very calm when I first visited

I was at Roehampton 30 years ago as an undergraduate, a lovely place and so close to Richmond Park which is beautiful

Things became a little meta which one participating sharing their feelings before, and the during, the very session they were in:

First time attending the Being Human Festival - now and it’s amazing, thank you, Susan!

As well as the chat working well, there was a surprising amount of interactively, with children holding up the colouring-on they were crating to their computer screens and – even – a sword fight involving a coloured in sword and a word sword at my end. Comments as the session drew to a close included:

Thank you Susan this was amazing and thanks to everyone  - it has been lovely seeing you all virtually!

Thank you so much Susan!!! Great having coffee with all of you!

I am now planning further follow-ups, including more zoom sessions...

"How classics can be more diverse and inclusive": Our Mythical Childhood Show and Tell for Black History Month 2020

My last two postings concerned events I was hosting that were, then, forthcoming. These events have now happened, and one of them led to another event in turn. What I am going to do in the current posting – and in subsequent ones – likely to create a trilogy – is to summarise what happened, with a focus on how the events relate to my autism-linked activities.

I do like the challenge of responding to some kind of theme – and all of the events were “for” something: Black History Month, the Being Human Festival and, most recently, Roehampton University’s International Week. 

The first of these, a “show and tell” for Black History Month in the UK, wasn’t directly concerned with the autism activities – although it was showcasing works relevant to the overall project for which I am doing a programme for autistic children. Plus, the event showed me just how well Zoom can enable people to connect: differently from being together in person, but enabling a different kind of connection. I am struck at the possibilities for drawing together people who would not be able to, or want perhaps, to travel to be in the same physical space.

Among the items shown and told:
Overheard in a Towerblock by Joseph Coelho,
who grew up in Roehampton
and Dean Atta's The Black Flamingo

I said above that the event wasn’t directly linked with my autism work but perhaps “directly” isn’t the right word. The event was concerned with issues that connected with what I am seeking to do, including around dealing with issues that run deep into classics and into what happens when classical themes are used in works created from, and by, children.

There is a particular duality that was explored at the event and which I have been exploring in relation to autism and children’s culture. On the one hand, classics can be seen as elitist and exclusive. On the other hand, an encounter with something classical can be exciting and stimulating. No one “owns” the classical world.

But what does it even mean to talk about classics as a world – or even to talk about classics as a thing? As was discussed at the event, works for children using classical topics can perpetuate stereotypes, although classics can also be used to reflect on such issues as the relationships with the environment and with others and about race and class and gender. Such was the case for instance in Joseph Coelho’s book of poems I briefly “show and told” – where the figure of Prometheus forms part of reflections issues including the environment and on growing up. 

Those showing and telling were: Liz Hale, Aimee Hinds, Robin Diver, Sarah Hardstaff, Sonya Nevin and Nanci Santos. The items shown included: Princess of the Nile Barbie; Hades – a new video game by Supergiant games; The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta; Witi Ihimaera’s The Whale Rider; Vita Murrow’s High-Five to the Hero; Dub Leffler’s Once There Was a Boy; Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor; Noughts + Crosses by Malorie Blackman; George O'Connor’s Olympians series; Tom Kindley’s Heroes of the Night Sky; and The Half God of Rainfall by Inua Ellams.

Entries for many of these works can be found in the Our Mythical Childhood survey. And Sonya Nevin has blogged here about the works she presented.

One participant, a classicist, said in the chat that they had come to the event because they “want to find out more about decolonising the classics curriculum which [they] think is long overdue.” Another participant, a librarian commented during the session that it: “shows how classics can be more diverse and inclusive, but it is often a matter of being able to find these resources and information.”

Soon I shall reflect on the second event: Hercules Café for autistic children…

"New Worlds" Hercules Cafe for 2020 Being Human - A Festival of the Humanities

In my previous posting, I mentioned several activities I am currently involved with including a session I am going to be hosting next month during the 2020 Being Human Festival – a big, UK-wide and international-looking festival celebrating Humanities research within, and beyond, universities.

This year’s festival is largely taking place remotely owing to covid and while the experience of being in a room has to be put on hold and feels like an increasingly distant memory, the upshot is the potential for reaching people from across the UK, and around the world.

I experienced this potential of remote events two days ago at an event I coordinated as part of Roehampton University’s programme for Black History Month. The event explored diversity, race and decolonisation in classically-themed children’s and Young Adult culture. UK people took part as did participants from around the UK and beyond, with those in the zoom room including people in children’s literature and classics from the US, Australia and Poland.

The event I am next hosting – the one for Being Human – has already had bookings from the UK and internationally. I am thrilled to be part of the festival which for several years now has been showcasing and transforming Humanities research. Two years ago was involved in a set of events concerning Humanities and children’s culture which included a strong focus on autistic children’s culture. This was when along with my then colleagues a classicist Helen Slaney and Susanne Greenhalgh in Drama, I took part in arranging a theatre event for autistic children and a workshop for adults interested in how arts and humanities can inspire, and make a difference to, autistic children.

The current event, which forms part of the festival’s programme of “cafés,” offers an autistic perspective on the theme of this year’s Festival: New Worlds.

Here are some details about the event, based on the Being Human Festival and booking websites.

Hercules Café

November 12^th 2020, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Online "cafe" offering autistic perspective on "New Worlds" theme of the 2020 Being Human Festival of the Humanities

Choice of Hercules chimneypiece panel, Grove House, Roehampton, redrawn by Steve K. Simons

This “café” session offers an autistic perspective on the “New Worlds” theme of this year’s festival. Dealing with specific situations can be a challenge for anyone, but especially an autistic person, for whom “New Worlds” can seem “alien” places where one might feel like an outsider rather than a participant.

All are welcome to join the mythological hero Hercules in a 1-hour online café for autistic children and their families. Susan will introduce Hercules as he discovers a new place, filled with many objects. Participants will be invited to think about how Hercules takes in information about the place and about how he processes the emotions he experiences. There will be opportunities to take breaks inspired by the food and drink that Hercules finds among his surroundings. There will be an opportunity for participants to reflect on their own experiences of entering places for the first time.

The event is designed for autistic children aged c. 7-11 and their families. The event might be suitable for other children, and adults, too. Anyone interested in taking part is welcome to contact Susan (s.deacy@roehampton.ac.uk) to discuss the relevance of the café for them.

The activity is adapted from activities for a European Research Council-funded project Our Mythical Childhood (2016-2021) which comprises tasks for autistic children based on what happens when Hercules reaches a curious, multi-sensory place. It is also run in association with the network ACCLAIM: Autism Connecting with Classically-Inspired Myth.

For more information, including how to book, please go to: https://beinghumanfestival.org/event/hercules-cafe/

Announcing ACCLAIM in Warsaw with Lisa Maurice (right)

 

To reiterate - all are welcome: children and adults, autistic and non-autistic. if anyone would like to find out more, please contact me via this blog or email s.deacy@roehampton.ac.uk     

Black History Month, Being Human Festival and lesson writing - some quick updates

Around the time I last posted to this blog, I set myself a deadline of the middle of October to complete a draft of the book of lessons based on Hercules for autistic children. Since then, I've been intensively writing and have... just this afternoon... completed a draft of the book and sent it to some dear colleagues for comments. I'm now going to immerse myself in preparing for two events I'm organising within the next month. One is a remote 'show and tell' for Black History Month UK of classics and children's culture - to take place a week tomorrow, on Weds 21 October. The other is an online 'Hercules Cafe' for this year's UK Being Human Festival on Wednesday 12 November. More to follow on this latter event! And on the lessons...

What I'm currently doing while not blogging yet immersed in writing about Hercules

I've been visiting this blog a good deal lately - indeed, I've recently re-read pretty well each posting I've out up since I got going in early 2009. But this engagement with my own previous postings hasn't been translating in to creating new posts.

Here's why: I am throwing myself into writing the book I've mentioned in earlier postings. It's a book which introduces then presents a set of lessons using classical myth for autistic children. So, just when I'm working more intensively than ever on the project, I'm quieter than I sometimes am on the blog.

I'm close to finishing a draft of the introduction - currently at 12,298 words. Here's the current version of the first paragraph:

This book – part of the series Our Mythical Childhood – is concerned with a particular kind of “mythical childhood,” an autistic childhood. It is a book which presents a set of activities which are each concerned with classical myth. The second part of the book presents the activities, which are divided into ten lessons. This first part of the book explains the purpose of the lessons, what they focus on and why they take this focus. I spend quite a bit of time giving the background for two key reasons. One is to help any teacher, or other adult, who is interested in using some or more of the lessons, know about the mythological background to the activities. The other key reason is to set out why I have developed the activities.

Now I must to get back to the book!

 

"To marry him?": When a second class of students at an autism base met Hercules...

In the previous posting, I ran through what happened at a session on “Meeting Hercules” at a primary school’s autism base a couple of years ago. Now, as promised, I am going to turn to the second of the two lessons that took place om the same day. 

The first lesson had been observed by the then researcher, Effie Kostara, alone. I joined Effie for this second lesson, again for students between 8 and 11. To give some brief background, classes at the school are taught following a four-fold pattern which combines being given initial information, brainstorming opportunities, hands-on activities and opportunities for in-depth engagement with a given topic. Classes are small in size, led by a class teacher, with teaching assistants to support the students further.

“Meeting Hercules” formed the Topic lesson for the day. The teacher started the lesson, like all her lessons, by picking up a bucket and taking out of it something relevant to the session. This time, she had but in a card with the word “video” on it. Showing this led into the second, “Talk about…”, part of the lesson, which began with an introduction to Hercules via the trailer for the Disney Hercules – which the children looked entranced by. 

The teacher then showed this picture of a statue of Hercules, and asked the students to discuss what they saw:

They rose to this task, making lots of comments including about the lion on his head, and his eyes, which one student found ”scary.”

Then the teacher introduced the chimneypiece panel which produced a response of “wow” from one of the children. It was the women that especially interested them. They were full of ideas as to how the women are reacting to Hercules. One said “they both want his attention.” Another suggested that they both want to marry him.

As for Hercules, one student thought that he might be bored, another that he looked like he is flirting. Others thought that he might not be paying any attention to the women with one student wondering whether he was looking up at the sky to find a planet, and another commenting that he could be looking at the sea.

When it was time for the next stage of the class, called “your turn,” the students coloured in a picture of Hercules: the same one that the previous class had coloured in:

As they did the task, the students kept asking questions. There was a lot of working together and sharing of ideas as well as sharing their colours and looking at what others were drawing.

For the final stage of the lesson, the teacher asked the children which picture of Hercules they liked better. They all said that they preferred the picture of Hercules alone to the one of him with the women.

Then – because the teacher invited me to – I told them the story that is being depicted on the panel. The children listened carefully to the story about the choice that the women asked Hercules to make. They said that they thought that Hercules looked scared. One of the children impersonated his pose.

I asked them what they thought he should chose: the easy life or the life of adventures. They all said: the easy life.

Here are some thoughts on what took place and how what came up in the class is shaping what I am now doing,

With the class teacher present along with two teaching assistants, Effie and myself, there must have been as many adults as children in the room. Yet my memory is that there were more children present than adults. That I remember there being more students that adults testifies perhaps to how student-centred the class felt.

I was struck by just how much the children liked hearing about Hercules, and how proactive they were in coming up with their responses to what he looked like, what he might be feeling and how he was interacting with others. Likewise, I was struck by just how much the children engaged with what was going on in the scene – not only with Hercules but with how the women were responding to Hercules.

The children’s responses showed just how many ways there can be of making sense of Hercules. Like the children suggested, he might be ignoring the women for instance, or he might be flirting with them. Or his attention might be elsewhere – he might be looking at the sky, or at the sea. 

The activity also showed just how much colouring in is something worth doing as an activity. After the session, I learned how controversial colouring in is in children’s education, with some arguing that it is often done in place of teaching students and that, as an activity, colouring might go so far as to impede student learning. But what I saw were students turning with enthusiasm to the task, looking thoughtfully at the image, noticing new things and – all the time – reflecting on what they responses to Hercules and to the scene on the panel.

Had the session ended with the final task planned by the teacher – the comparison between two depictions of Hercules – it would have achieved some useful things. For example, the students would have had opportunities to think about Hercules and about feelings and about how he communications with others.

But due to what happened in the closing minutes – where I outlined to the students what mythological episode is being depicted on the panel –  I gained a sense of the potential for this aspect of the panel too. As I only told the story close to the end of the class, there wasn’t much time for thinking about choices, let alone causality. However, there was enough time for a brief chat about how the students thought about what Hercules might be feeling. The students were very willing to think about what they themselves would choose faced with comparable options.

Indeed, one thing I took from the session is that Hercules’s choice can be introduced in a single lesson. I am now thinking about a way to make this the focus of a discrete session – one where students get an opportunity to think about choices and about the implications of what they choose for the future.

More soon…!

Meeting Hercules: with students at a primary school's Autism Base

A couple of years ago, I experienced for the first time something key for the classical myth-themed resources I have been designing for autistic children. This was when Effie Kostara and I visited a local primary school with an autism base while Effie was working at Roehampton as a Researcher for the autism project. 

Two classes, each comprised of students aged between 8 and 11, took part in a lesson called “Meeting Hercules.” Each lesson was based on the first of a set of activities I had developed several months earlier and for which Effie had written a Teachers’ Guide. Effie observed both of the sessions, and I observed the second one and ended up taking part as well. I hadn’t planned this but did so on the teacher’s invitation.

Right now, I am revisiting the report that Effie wrote afterwards as I prepare the activities for a book I am writing. I am now going to run though what happened in the first of the lessons. I’ll follow this with some reflections what happened and the implications for my project. Then, in the next posting, I’ll share what happened in the other lesson.

The focus was different in some respects from what I had been envisaging. What I had designed was a set of activities where, starting with “Meeting Hercules”, students would go increasingly deeply into a particular mythological encounter where – at a curious place – Hercules meets two women who task him with making a choice between two distinct ways of life. 

But what happened at the school were two stand-alone, one-off lessons. Both of these lessons followed the standard four-part structure for lessons at the school: introduction, discussion, activity, more complex activity.

The first lesson – for a class of 5 children, all boys – formed the History lesson of the day. The teacher began by showing the class a photo of the chimneypiece panel – the artwork on which the activities are based.

Choice of Hercules chimneypiece panel, Adam Room, Grove House, Roehampton.
Photo by Marina Vorobieva

Without saying anything about classical myth or about the kind of artwork the panel is, the teacher asked who the people in the scene might be. Straightaway, the children became super animated and came up with all sorts of possibilities as to who the figures are and how they are interacting with one another. They were especially interested in the woman on the right – asking, for example, whether she is a servant, and wondering if she is saying “help!” 

After that, the teacher introduced Hercules – as someone who is always taking part in adventures. She showed them a picture of Hercules wearing the lionskin and wielding his club.

Hercules wearing lionskin -
from image shown to children during
 "Meeting Hercules" lesson

The teacher asked the students what they thought now about Hercules on the picture of the panel. What especially interested them was how adventurous they thought Hercules was. They said that he looked like an adventurous person but the he wasn’t being very active here. One pupil commented that he looks like he is thinking. Another commented that he looks like he is sleeping. Another said that he looks to be thinking about his next adventure.

When the teacher asked what he was holding, they got very interested in his club and how it could function as a weapon.

The teacher asked next what kind of adventure Hercules might be going to face. Among the responses was that he was going to rescue someone; meanwhile, another pupil said that Hercules was going to look for a lost temple.

The teacher then told the students about one of the labours performed by Hercules – his encounter with the Lernean Hydra. The children loved hearing about this encounter, and asked for more monster stories in the future. 

Then the children were given a picture of Hercules: the very provisional one I had created before Steve Simons created the high-quality vector drawings of the panel.

Hercules drawing used during the class

Hercules drawing created since the class took place by Steve Simons

The students were set a task – of colour in Hercules. A lot of thought went into which colours to choose and which colours to use for different parts of the drawing.

For the final part of the lesson, the students were asked to look again at the two picture of Hercules and compare and contrast them. They were asked to write down the words they were thinking of to describe Hercules. As they did this, the students continued to talk about the hero and how adventurous he is. They wanted to learn more about his labours.

I’ll end with a few things that especially struck me about the lesson. One was that knowing who Hercules is isn’t vital: the students made some thoughtful observations about the panel, and the communications between the three people, before they found out who Hercules is and who the women might be.

But what the lesson also showed is just how much the students enjoyed finding out about Hercules, especially as someone who performed tasks, particular tasks involving monsters. The word “adventurous” is one that kept coming up. As a result, I am planning more than I had initially intended around different aspects of Hercules, and how these form a backdrop to what is taking place on the panel. Indeed, what is taking place on the panel can itself count as an adventure.

The session has also shown me that, as we well as producing a series of lessons about Hercules, it is worth developing standalone sessions. I’ll say more about this in due course.

In the next posing, I shall turn to the second session which followed the same broad structure but took some distinctive turns…

What Hercules has been doing in children’s literature since the 1970s

Here are the reflections I promised last week on some trends in how Hercules is used in children’s literature. I mentioned last week that the reflections were, then, in draft form. Turning the draft into a final version has taken longer than anticipated, one reason being that I initially made quite polemical comments that I’ve since put into a “spares” folder. I might do something with these comments further down the road...

Also, I’ve spent the past few days throwing myself into writing activities involving Hercules for autistic children. Reflecting on the trends in children’s literature is helping with these activities, so I find myself at a more advanced stage as I present my reflections than when I drafted them last week.

What is set out below is indebted to Lisa Maurice’s article published in late 2019 and also to the list Lisa shared with me of children’s books involving Hercules from 1970-2018 which provided the basis of the one I shared last week. Please see the last two postings for details! Where I include hyperlinks below, these are to relevant entries in the Our Mythical Childhood survey of works for children inspired by anything classical.

For a long time, Hercules could pose a problem. On the one hand, as the best-known of classical mythological figures, with a rich set of appropriations during the long “classical tradition,” Hercules was seen to epitomise Classics as forming part of the kind of knowledge that it was suitable to impart to children. Hercules, as the quintessential classical hero, could stand as “a mark of intellect and good education,” in Lisa Maurice’s words from her article of last year (2019: 81).

But – and here’s where the problem comes in – for all that Hercules was regarded as a suitable figure to learn about, and for all that he was considered to be one whose stories were seen to impart all sorts of virtues appropriate to a rounded education, there was also another side to Hercules. This side comprised the Hercules who perpetuated violence, including violence against those close to him, even his own children. One option – of absolving Hercules from blame in place of blaming others, such as the gods, notably Hera – only opens up a further set of moral issues such as around divine capriciousness.

For a long time, as Lisa explores in her article, what an author presenting Hercules for children would do was to omit, or to sanitise, certain aspects of the stories about Hercules. However, as Lisa shows, in the 1990s, the children for whom the books were written were potentially coming into contact with a different kind of Hercules: the Hercules of the Disney film and the TV series Legendary Journeys. These versions of Hercules were very much reflecting contemporary 1990s values but they had moved away from the elitism and focus on provision of knowledge and worthiness of Hercules in books for children.

Helped by a shake-up started by Disney and the Legendary Journeys, there is now a Hercules who has been adapted afresh over recent years as part of a new more inclusive approach to classical myth. Such is the Hercules who figures in various recent books for children. These books have not been concerned with imparting “correct” knowledge about classical myth.

While standard episodes that form part of ancient sources recur, a range of other characters, from classical myth and from other cultures sometimes wander into and out of this world. After centuries of standing as an epitome of where classics is, Hercules has got away from the discipline.

Heroism for all in a 2018 "Choose Your Own" Herculean adventure

These works include Hercules who has somehow entered the modern world, and where he is out of place. Here there is scope for the protagonists of particular novels to find themselves inhabiting the world of classical myth where, against a backdrop of creatures and heroes they work though their own identities and concerns and come of age. Such is the case in the “time travel” novel Helping Hercules by Francesca Simon, in Crib and the Labours of Hercules by Gerald Vinestock and in the Camp Hercules series by P.J. Hoover.

In Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore’s “Choose your Own” adventure involving Hercules from 2018 meanwhile, anyone can be a hero – and make choices and explore issues like friendship and empathy. This approach seems quite different from that taken in another “choose your own” book I wrote about here a couple of years back: by Anika Fajardo. In this book, the reader is tasked to make choices but if the choice is out of line with “the myth,” they end up defeated or killed.

But there is still space for learning about the classical world from books about Hercules. For example John Bankson’s book on Hercules from the series A Kid’s Guide to Mythology  uses Hercules as a vehicle for introducing aspects of the classical world which explore how, today, people engage with antiquity – including via a discussion of what we know, how we know it and the possible of more than one version.

As Tikva Schein writes in her analysis of the book for the survey entry on this book, Bankson “begins with a recognition that many versions of Hercules prevail and this story presents just one...The story is no longer merely about overcoming demons but is set in a wider context of how we relate to our past and the ancient world.”

How Hercules is used in books for children has changed, then. This change has come at a time when how children’s literature has used and engaged with classics has been changing. Hercules has moved away from a figure worthy of study as an exemplar of a mythological figure who can transmit knowledge about, and values of, classical antiquity. Hercules has moved towards a vehicle to explore issues relevant to children’s lives.

Hercules can still be used a route into engaging with classical antiquity but via a move away from single, linear view of the classical past and who can “own” that past.

These two issues – knowing about the past, and exploring issues in children’s lives – are key to my project. One thing this exercise has done is to bear out what I’d hoped – namely that an overview of Hercules in books for children can complement the activities for autistic children.

More on why I'm investigating Hercules in children's literature: because there's so MUCH

In the previous posting, put up yesterday, I listed a sample of recent children’s books involving Hercules. I am currently writing about these and will share what I have come up with soon. 

I have also been thinking about the bigger picture of Hercules in children’s literature aided by the article by Lisa Maurice that I have mentioned previously and also by a list of works about Hercules that Lisa has just sent me. Here’s the list of books from Lisa from 1970 down to 2018 with one addition: Hercules and Bampots written in Scots from 2005.

1970

Ian Serraillier, Hercules the Strong

1972

Robert Newman, The Twelve Labors of Hercules

1982

Claudia Zeff, Gill Harvey and Stephen Cartwright, The Amazing Adventures of Hercules (Usborne Young Reading: Series Two)

1984

Bernard Evslin, Hercules

I. M. Richardson, The Adventures of Hercules

1996

Laura Geringer and Peter Bollinger, Hercules the Strong Man (Myth Men: Guardians of the Legend)

1997

Bob Blaisdell, The Story of Hercules (Dover Children's Thrift Classics)

Kathryn Lasky and Mark Hess, Hercules: The Man, the Myth, the Hero

Jan Carr, Hercules: The Hero

James Riordan and Christina Balit, The Twelve Labors Of Hercules

Georges Moroz, Hercules - The Complete Myths of a Legend (Laurel-Leaf Books)

Marc Cerasini, Twelve Labors of Hercules (Step into Reading, Step 3, paper)

1998

Georges Moroz, Hercules: The Twelve Labors

John Whitman, Hercules: Legendary Journeys (Mighty Chronicles)

Nancy Loewen, Hercules (Greek and Roman Mythology Series)

1999

Robert Burleigh and Raul Colon, Hercules

2001

Elizabeth Hookings, Sandra Iverson, Bob Eschenbach, Tom Pipher, Hercules and Other Greek Legends

Della Rowland, Hercules and the golden apples

2003

Geraldine McCaughrean, Hercules

2004

Gill Harvey and Stephen Cartwright, The Amazing Adventures of Hercules (Usborne Young Reading: Series Two)

James Ford and Peter Rutherford, The Twelve Labors of Hercules (Ancient Myths)

2005

Frank Tieri and Jimmy Palmiotti, Hercules: New Labors of Hercules (Marvel Comics)

Geraldine McCaughrean and Cynthia Bishop, Hercules (Heroes)

Chris Mould, and Diana Redmond, Hercules: Superhero and workbook, 2005, 2012

Matthew Fitt, Hercules: Bampots and Heroes, illustrated by Bob Dewar, Edinburgh: Itchy Coo, 57 pages.

2007

Jim Whiting, Hercules (Profiles in Greek & Roman Mythology)

2008

Paul Storrie and Steve Kurth, Hercules: The Twelve Labours (Graphic Universe)

Shannon Eric Denton and Andy Kuhn, Hercules (Short Tales Greek Myths)

2009

Bob Layton, Hercules: Prince of Power (Marvel Premiere Classic)

Bob Layton, Hercules: Full Circle

Janet Hardy-Gould, Hercules,

2010

Bob Layton and Ron Lim, Hercules: Twilight of a God (Hercules (Marvel))

Kate McMullan and Denis Zilber, Get to Work, Hercules! (Myth-O-Mania Book 7)

2011

Sarah Coghill, The Twelve Labors of Hercules

Alex Frith and Linda Cavallini, Hercules The World's Strongest Man

2012

Francesca Simon and Tony Ross, Helping Hercules

2013

Paul D. Storrie and Steve Kurth, Hercules: The Twelve Labors [A Greek Myth] (Graphic Myths and Legends)

Fred Van Lente and Alexey Aparin, Hercules (Myths and Legends)

Brandon Terrell, Greek Mythology's Twelve Labors of Hercules: A Choose Your Path Book (Can You Survive?)

Ryan Madison, Hercules: The First 6 tasks

Tony Bradman, Hercules the Hero (White Wolves: Myths and Legends)

Gary Margrove, Hercules Son of God: Deceit of the Gods (Part 5) (Legacy of the Gods Book 4)

2014

Michaela Morgan, (Illustrated by Glen McBeth), Hercules the hero: a myth from ancient Greece

2015

John Bankston, Hercules (Kids’ Guide to Mythology)

Martin Powell and Alfonso Ruiz, The Adventures of Hercules (Graphic Revolve: Common Core Editions)

Greg Pak and Fred van Lente, Incredible Hercules: Love and War

Estudio Haus, The 12 Labors of Hercules (Ancient Myths)

2016

Anika Fajardo and Nadine Takvorian, Hercules and His 12 Labors: An Interactive

Mythological Adventure (You Choose: Ancient Greek Myths)

Connie Morgan and Herb Leonhard, Hercules on the Bayou

Paul Nation Hercules (Level6 Book 5) older 11-13

Simon Spence and Colm Lawton, Herakles: Book 5- Early Myths: Kids Books on Greek Myth (Volume 5) 4-10 yr olds

2017

Stella Tarakson, Nick Roberts, Here Comes Hercules! (Hopeless Heroes) 6-10 year olds

Gerald Vinestock, Crib and the Labours of Hercules 

Winston Forde and Jermaine Carew, The Golden Gloves of Heracles & Hercules's Gauntlet 9-18 yr olds

Michael and David Sorrow, Heroic Hercules and the Baby Dragon (Learning in Motion Adventures Book 1) younger

Elena Paige, Hercules Finds His Courage: Volume 1 Taki and Toula Time Travelers) ages 6-8.

2018

Lee Smyth, Hercules: Gods Versus Titans (WARRIORS! Book 3) Middle school and teenage boys.

Steve Barlow, Steve Skidmore and Andrew Tunney, Hercules (EDGE: I HERO: Legends) 6-8 year olds (choose-your-own-destiny adventure).

Connor Hoover, Camp Hercules 7-12

The list is full of relevance to the activities – to give context, to provide a starting point, to provide follow-up reading. When I first drafted activities for children, I considered whether it was necessary to introduce Hercules first. Rather, Hercules could come gradually into the activities.

I can still see pros and cons to either approach and the children’s literature could complement either approach – in some books, Hercules is the focus from the start. In others, like Camp Hercules or Crib and the labours of Hercules, the starting point is a child – the main character – who finds themselves unexpectedly inhabiting a world which comprises Hercules and other mythological characters. 

How all this bears on the activities I’ll discuss in the next posting, currently in draft form.

More soon...

Why I'm currently investigating Hercules in children's literature

Over the past few weeks, I have been doing some hands-on investigating how classics is presented for children, and to a degree how children themselves engage actively with classical topics and figures. I have been writing entries for the Our Mythical Childhood survey – on various topics including the exhibition I wrote about on this blog a few months’ ago on the Labours of Hercules in Leeds.

Because the exhibition showed how Hercules can keep seeming relevant, I have decided to think more about how Hercules has been treated in works for children. One possible benefit of gauging uses of Hercules will be to establish the kind of image of Hercules that are available for children.

I shall look at how these uses bear on my own uses of Hercules – in the activities I am creating involving this figure. One thing that I’ve noted, for example, is that classical myths, when told for children, can present stereotypical images of issues like gender. The retellings often play down certain themes and topics which the author thinks are not suitable for children. As a result, some of the features that are apparent in ancient tellings are erased.

I’m not saying that they shouldn’t be erased –  but the selectively does create a sense of myths that are supposedly timeless in their appeal when, in fact, to be suitable for children, successive retellers have make their own interventions.

There is a tension here between the stories about Hercules and other figures being ever changing, depending on a particular teller and audience and the sense that there exists some “thing” that is “classical myth,” “the myth of Hercules” and so forth.

I started a list of books on an about Hercules back in February 2018 – while our survey was just getting going. Currently we’re up to 1032 entries of which a good number concern Hercules.  I just typed “Hercules” into the search engine and 223 entries came up. Some of these were written after I compiled the 2018 list, and all have come out in the period since the Mythical Childhood project began in 2016. 

Right now, Hercules matters, and I’ll try to highlight some of the reasons why – with a view to which of the books might complement the autism activities. 

P.J. Hoover, author
of Camp Hercules

More to follow, but as a taster here are some of the books I plan to look at:

John Bankston. Hercules. Hockessin: Mitchell Lane Publishers, 2016, 48 pp. (ages 8-11) http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/539

Gerald Vinestock, Crib and the Labours of Hercules, Bobaloo Books, UK, 2017, 178 pp. (ages 9-14) http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/827

P. J. Hoover, Camp Hercules Volume I: The Curse of Hera, Austin, Texas: Roots in Myth, 2018, 300 pp. (ages 8-12) http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/956

Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore, EDGE: I HERO: Legends: Hercules, London: Franklin Watts (an imprint of Hachette Children’s Group), 2018, 64 pp. (ages 7-plus) http://www.omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/myth-survey/item/662

 More soon…