Think of the Children!

In academic contexts, the ‘Rape of Persephone’ myth is a source of insight into the subjugation of women in patriarchal Greco-Roman society. In popular culture, however, the myth has found a surprising second life in media aimed at young audiences as the story of two unlikely, star-crossed lovers. Many modern authors and artists have altered the myth’s plot and reimagined the characterizations of Hades, Persephone, and other important deities in order to transform this rape myth into a love story.

This paper examines the presentation of Pandora in Be Patient, Pandora!, a boardbook by Joan Holub and Leslie Patricelli (2014), and Pandora, a picturebook by Victoria Turnbull (2017). These adaptations reverse the ancient tale of the first woman in a number of transformative ways. In Be Patient, Pandora! A girl is told by her mother not to open a wrapped box. Left alone and obviously intrigued by the container, Pandora touches it and sits on it.

A foundational series of video games from the 1980s and 90s, King’s Quest introduced a generation of young gamers to the medium. Following the adventures of the ruling family of Daventry, these games blend traditional children’s stories with classical mythology to create a unique storyworld in which the player navigates.

Education is at the heart of society. What we choose to teach our children not only reflects our priorities and ideals, but also our prejudices. Most people’s knowledge of history is predicated on what they learned at school, so the way that history is presented to children and teenagers is a powerful tool in shaping how a population understands itself and its past.

In 1810, London publisher W. Flint produced an anonymous children’s history text titled A Poetical History of England, written in rhyming couplets of iambic pentameter verse. Thanks to a flyleaf note on a copy held in the British Library (Perkins 2004), this poem has been attributed to the author Louisa Capper (1776–1840).