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Myth-o-Mania is a series of books for children by Kate McMullan. [1]
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Myth-o-Mania is a series of books for children by Kate McMullan. [1]
Each book is a parody of a different Greek myth starring Hades, the Greek god of the underworld. [2] The books are never identical to the original myth, as they always put Hades in a positive light and claim that the original myths, made by Zeus, are fictional. The traditional hero of the myth, such as Theseus or Hercules, is usually portrayed in such a way that makes them seem a less of a hero, as Hades is forced to help the hero complete their quest. There are other differences between the original myth and the myth in the book as well, while these are often humorous or given a modern twist. For example, Elysium (a Greek version of Heaven) is portrayed as a perpetual rock concert, while in the Asphodel Meadows (a kind of middle ground afterlife), spirits are forced to write out a spelling list.
Sheila Murnaghan of the University of Pennsylvania wrote:
The new classic status of myth collections, and the impulse to attack them in order to be popular, is well illustrated by the "Myth-O-Mania" books, a series for young readers (the recommended age range is 9-12) by Kate McMullan, published by Hyperion in 2002 and 2003, beginning with the first title, Have a Hot Time, Hades!, going through Phone Home, Persephone!, Keep a Lid on it, Pandora!, Stop That Bull, Theseus!, and others, to the final volume, Go For the Gold, Atalanta!. As these titles show, the tone of the books is jokey, and they derive much of their punch from the juxtaposition of classical figures with aggressively modern idioms and situations. As the titles also show, they are highly formulaic, which may explain why the series was relatively short-lived; nonetheless, their underlying premise is quite interesting. Each book is devoted to the parodic debunking of a well-known Greek myth. The narrator is Hades, whose mission is to correct the lies of his little brother Zeus, whom he regularly characterizes as "a total myth-o-manic," which is "old Greek-speak for 'big fat liar'" (v). Zeus spreads lies mostly for self-aggrandizement. ...Strikingly, Zeus' big fat lies are propagated in the form of a book: The Big Fat Book of Greek Myths. McMullan's appeal to her readers is based on the assumption that they will have already met the myths in their traditional form at an even younger age, in a compendium like that of the D'Aulaires, and that they view that compendium as somewhat tedious and overlong (as opposed to the Myth-O-Mania books, which come in at between 150 and 165 large-print pages) - or, if they do not view it that way, they will get a charge out of being given permission to do so now. McMullan's retold myths are in some ways subversive, as we like to think that popular literature is. August classical figures are put on a par with ordinary modern people through mundane details and deflating puns. For example, Persephone uses a cell phone and checks into the Motel Styx. And the conceit that canonical myths are shaped by Zeus' self-promoting agenda conveys a sophisticated sense of the vagaries of transmission and of the role of the victorious and powerful in determining the success of a given variant.
McMullan's designs on her child readers are confused and contradictory. She wants to hook them with a parodic, subversive, anti-authoritarian stance, but she does not really want to stimulate their imaginations through stories with truly challenging elements. And in the end, she reinforces the canonical myths she makes fun of since the pleasure to be gained from her books depends on knowing the canonical versions and recognizing how they have been reworked. The Big Fat Book of Greek Myths is ultimately indispensable. McMullan's educational aims are lightly worn, but they surface in the back of the book with a glossary. [6]
In the American Classical League's journal, Sharon Kazmierski noted:
Kate McMullan has a nifty new series out entitled "Myth-O-Mania" that will definitely appeal to the middle school setting. Be forewarned that Ms. McMullan is not Hamilton, Bulfinch, or D'Aulaire. The author herself admits that these books "are very silly," but then she also points out that when she taught sixth graders, they loved anything silly. Personally, I think the books are a hoot. The stories are told from the perspective of the long-suffering Hades, older brother of the mythomaniacal liar and cheat, Zeus, also known as the C.E.O. or "Chairgod of Everybody on Olympus." Hades has had it with all the lies told in the Big Fat Book of Mythology and has decided to set the story straight about his egotistical sibling. The first book in the series is Have a Hot Time, Hades and dishes out the dirt about how Zeus really became the Ruler of the Universe. There is a rather tongue-in-cheek chapter about the first Olympic games, in which Artemis, of course, competes in the archery competition, while Demeter has made weeding an official sport. There's plenty of quick-moving action, including the climactic "kick stone" event between the Titans and Olympians. We also find out how Hades originally acquired Cerberus. The center of each book includes a perennial middle-school favorite, two trading cards of the gods, complete with stats.
Each book includes a glossary, "King Hades' Quick and Easy Guide to the Myths," with accurate, albeit unorthodox, descriptions and definitions. Your students are bound to remember that Demeter was the goddess of agriculture when described as a "total gardening nut." (You will love the names of Hades' chariot steeds, by the way.) If you are a stickler for absolute accuracy, then this might not be the series for you or your students. However, if you have a good sense of humor and can deal with really bad puns, or if you are trying to figure out how to motivate reluctant readers to enjoy mythology, then you'll want to take a look at these. "Myth-O-Mania" might even inspire your own students to rewrite classical myths from the perspective of different Olympians. [7]
The English Journal mentioned the series:
On a lighter note, if you teach Greek myths, you have to read at least one of the very short volumes in Kate McMullan's Myth-O-Mania series (New York: Volo). One of the most recent is Keep a Lid on It, Pandora! in which the boastful Hades (whose ego is as big as the world) sets the record straight about Pandora and the box she couldn't resist opening. Much fun. [8]
A Handbook to the Reception of Classical Mythology provides a paragraph of coverage:
Kate McMullan's "Myth‐o‐mania" books, which appeared in 2002 and 2003, convert familiar myths into up‐to‐date versions that respond to contemporary concerns: the Minotaur is no monster, but a gentle misfit who practices vegetarianism (McMullan 2003); Persephone uses a cell phone and checks into the Motel Styx, and she was never abducted by Pluto, who only helped her escape her overprotective mother (McMullan 2002). These revisions are presented not as primary narratives, but as corrections of false stories promulgated by a self-regarding Zeus in The Big Fat Book of Greek Myths. By the early twenty-first century, the children's myth collection has become so established a form that it turns to self-parody in order to provide its child audience with a fresh experience of the pleasures of classical mythology. [9]
An article in the University of Valencia's Journal of Literary Education drew attention to a difference in the portrayal of heroes between countries:
Being from a foreign country, I am also interested in comparing the way Greek mythology is taught to children between Greece and other countries. So far, the main difference is that heroes play a key role in Greece. In other countries, series books about Greek mythology mostly deal with gods and goddess, instead of heroes. For example, in America, Kate McMullan’s famous series book Myth-O-Mania (2002) is focused on the conflict between Hades and Zeus. Gods and monsters including Cupid, Medusa, Persephone also come into the spotlight. The stories of Theseus and Hercules are told, but they are not depicted as great heroes. In this retelling, Hades reminds (them) of their…. quest and helps them complete it. [10]
Hades, in the ancient Greek religion and mythology, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also made him the last son to be regurgitated by his father. He and his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, defeated their father's generation of gods, the Titans, and claimed joint rulership over the cosmos. Hades received the underworld, Zeus the sky, and Poseidon the sea, with the solid earth available to all three concurrently. In artistic depictions, Hades is typically portrayed holding a bident and wearing his helm with Cerberus, the three-headed guard-dog of the underworld, standing at his side.
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone, also called Kore or Cora, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after her abduction by her uncle Hades, the king of the underworld, who would later also take her into marriage.
Theseus was a divine hero and the founder of Athens from Greek mythology. The myths surrounding Theseus, his journeys, exploits, and friends, have provided material for storytelling throughout the ages.
In Greek mythology, Sisyphus or Sisyphos was the founder and king of Ephyra. He was a devious tyrant who killed visitors to show off his power. This violation of the sacred hospitality tradition greatly angered the gods. They punished him for trickery of others, including his cheating death twice. The gods forced him to roll an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down every time it neared the top, repeating this action for eternity. Through the classical influence on modern culture, tasks that are both laborious and futile are therefore described as Sisyphean.
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, Minthe is an Underworld Naiad nymph associated with the river Cocytus. She was beloved by Hades, the King of the Underworld, and became his mistress. But she was transformed into a mint plant by either his wife Persephone or her mother Demeter. The plant was also called by some as hedyosmos, which means "sweet-smelling".
Pirithous, in Greek mythology, was the King of the Lapiths of Larissa in Thessaly, as well as best friend to Theseus.
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Pluto was the ruler of the Greek underworld. The earlier name for the god was Hades, which became more common as the name of the underworld itself. Pluto represents a more positive concept of the god who presides over the afterlife. Ploutōn was frequently conflated with Ploûtos, the Greek god of wealth, because mineral wealth was found underground, and because as a chthonic god Pluto ruled the deep earth that contained the seeds necessary for a bountiful harvest. The name Ploutōn came into widespread usage with the Eleusinian Mysteries, in which Pluto was venerated as both a stern ruler and a loving husband to Persephone. The couple received souls in the afterlife and are invoked together in religious inscriptions, being referred to as Plouton and as Kore respectively. Hades, by contrast, had few temples and religious practices associated with him, and he is portrayed as the dark and violent abductor of Persephone.
A katabasis or catabasis is a journey to the underworld. Its original sense is usually associated with Greek mythology and Classical mythology more broadly, where the protagonist visits the Greek underworld, also known as Hades. The term is also used in a broad sense of any journey to the realm of the dead in other mythological and religious traditions. A katabasis is similar to a nekyia or necromancy, where one experiences a vision of the underworld or its inhabitants; a nekyia does not generally involve a physical visit, however. One of the most famous examples is that of Odysseus, who performs something on the border of a nekyia and a katabasis in book 11 of the Odyssey; he visits the border of the realms before calling the dead to him using a blood rite, with it being disputed whether he was at the highest realm of the underworld or the lowest edge of the living world where he performed this.
In ancient Greek cult-practice and literature, a nekyia or nekya is a "rite by which ghosts were called up and questioned about the future," i.e., necromancy. A nekyia is not necessarily the same thing as a katabasis. While they both afford the opportunity to converse with the dead, only a katabasis is the actual, physical journey to the underworld undertaken by several heroes in Greek and Roman myth.
In Greek mythology, the Greek underworld, or Hades, is a distinct realm where an individual goes after death. The earliest idea of afterlife in Greek myth is that, at the moment of death, an individual's essence (psyche) is separated from the corpse and transported to the underworld. In early mythology the dead were indiscriminately grouped together and led a shadowy post-existence; however, in later mythology elements of post-mortem judgment began to emerge with good and bad people being separated.
Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter in Greek mythology, appears in films, works of literature, and in popular culture, both as a goddess character and through the symbolic use of her name. She becomes the queen of the underworld through her abduction by Hades, the god of the underworld. The myth of her abduction represents her dual function as the as chthonic (underworld) and vegetation goddess: a personification of vegetation, which shoots forth in Spring and withdraws into the earth after harvest. Proserpina is the Roman equivalent.
The God Beneath the Sea is a children's novel based on Greek mythology, written by Leon Garfield and Edward Blishen, illustrated by Charles Keeping, and published by Longman in 1970. It was awarded the annual Carnegie Medal and commended for the companion Greenaway Medal (Keeping) by the British Library Association. Pantheon Books published a U.S. edition with illustrations by Zevi Blum in 1971.
Mythic Warriors is a 1998-2000 anthology animated television series, which featured retellings of popular Greek myths that were altered so as to be appropriate for younger audiences, produced by Nelvana and Marathon Media. Two seasons of episodes were produced in February 8, 1998 and March 14, 1999; then aired as reruns until May 21, 2000, when CBS' abolition of its Nelvana-produced children's programming in favor of Nick Jr. and later, Nickelodeon content resulted in its cancellation. The series was based on the book series Myth Men Guardians of the Legend written in 1996 and 1997 by Laura Geringer and illustrated by Peter Bollinger.
Olympus Guardian is a South Korean animated television series based on "The Greek and Roman Myths in Comics" published by Gana Publishing Co., a publishing company specializing in comics. From 11 December 2002 to 30 July 2003, it was made into an animated film by SBS, SBS Productions, SBSi, Gana Entertainment and Dongwoo Animation and aired on SBS. It tells the story of Ji-woo and Ji-yeon listening to Greek and Roman mythology from their father, who works as painters.
Ares has appeared frequently in modern popular culture; he usually appears as the ancient Greek god of war in the most generally familiar classical mythology.
Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories concern the ancient Greek religion's view of the origin and nature of the world; the lives and activities of deities, heroes, and mythological creatures; and the origins and significance of the ancient Greeks' cult and ritual practices. Modern scholars study the myths to shed light on the religious and political institutions of ancient Greece, and to better understand the nature of myth-making itself.
Elements of Greek mythology appear many times in culture, including pop culture. The Greek myths spread beyond the Hellenistic world when adopted into the culture of ancient Rome, and Western cultural movements have frequently incorporated them ever since, particularly since the Renaissance. Mythological elements feature in Renaissance art and in English poems, as well as in film and in other literature, and in songs and commercials. Along with the Bible and the classics-saturated works of Shakespeare, the myths of Greece and Rome have been the major "touchstone" in Western culture for the past 500 years.
Clash of the Gods is a one-hour weekly mythology television series that premiered on August 3, 2009 on the History channel. The program covers many of the ancient Greek and Norse Gods, monsters and heroes including Hades, Hercules, Medusa, Minotaur, Odysseus and Zeus.
The familiar name and large size of the Titans have made them dramatic figures suited to market-oriented popular culture.
