Blog for the international research project "Our Mythical Childhood… The Reception of Classical Antiquity in Children’s and Young Adults’ Culture in Response to Regional and Global Challenges", financed by the ERC Consolidator Grant led by Prof. Katarzyna Marciniak, Faculty of "Artes Liberales" of the University of Warsaw. Team members: Prof. Susan Deacy and Steve K. Simons, University of Roehampton; Prof. Elizabeth Hale and Dr Miriam Riverlea, University of New England; Prof. Lisa Maurice and Dr Ayelet Peer, Bar-Ilan University; Prof. Daniel A. Nkemleke, Dr Divine Che Neba and Dr Eleanor A. Dasi, University of Yaoundé I; Dr Elżbieta Olechowska, Dr Hanna Paulouskaya, Dr Sonya Nevin, Dott. Edoardo Pecchini, Marta Pszczolińska, Angelina Gerus and the Project Officers: Magdalena Andersen, Maria Makarewicz, and Olga Strycharczyk from the Faculty of "Artes Liberales" UW.
We are happy to share the current issue of the journal Clotho, co-edited by David Movrin, Elżbieta Olechowska,and Henry Stead. It is dedicated to the relationship between Ancient Greek and Roman Culture and World Communism from 1917. In this volume you can find some comments on children’s and young adult’s culture, as well. Clotho is a classical journal, available also in Open Accesshere.
David Movrin, Elżbieta Olechowska, and Henry Stead, eds., Clotho. A Proletarian Classics: The Relationship between Ancient Greek and Roman Culture and World Communism from 1917, 4.2 (2022), https://doi.org/10.4312/clotho.4.2.
Ćmielów [ˈt͡ɕmʲɛluf], a small town in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, is home of the one of the oldest china manufactories in Poland. Fine porcelain is still produced there according to old recipes and manufacturing techniques. The company has been operating since 1804 and offers an abundance of the most delicate and wafer-thin handmade models in line with various styles of design and purposes.
Hand-painted plate Medusa. Design (2019) by Adam Spała repeating Caravaggio’s Head of Medusa (1598–1599), AS Ćmielów Porcelain Manufactory [source].
The 12th owner, Adam Spała, who has bought the company from the Polish state after the political transformation of the country, is truly passionate about fine china and anything associated with it. He has led the company into 21st century and developed it into a manufacturer of collections worthy of kings. His idea was also to open the Living Porcelain Museum where visitors can watch, touch, and ask, in one word, experience different stages of making porcelain without being limited to gaze in silence upon dusty exhibits.
Location of the Living Porcelain Museum in Ćmielów.
Among various items made in Ćmielów manufacture, there are classical, old fashioned objects. One of them is, for example, the Matylda collection, a replica of a service set composed of over 100 items that the Russian tsarevich Nikki, the future tsar Nikolai II Romanov, ordered for his mistress, the Polish ballerina Matylda Krzesińska (Kschessinska, later princess Romanovskaya-Krasinskaya). As Nikolai Romanov wished, all the forms for casting the service were destroyed to prevent another copy from being made. Fortunately, the service still exists and became the model for replicating the original (here in sapphire blue, originally in white).
Saphire-gold Matylda set, designed by Adam Spała in 2017, AS Ćmielów Porcelain Manufactory [source].
Other amazing achievement of the company, or rather of its current owner Adam Spała, is the re-discovery of the secret of pink porcelain and re-creation of the once-lost recipe. The secret of pink china was known to one person only – its inventor and former pre-war owner of the company, Bronisław Kryński. Unfortunately, the recipe was never written down and lost when Kryński died in Buchenwald, a Nazi concentration camp, in the end of WW2. Prima facie, the way of producing pink porcelain was gone forever. About 70 years after the secret was lost, Zofia Kryńska, the daughter of the inventor has donated to Adam Spała notes of her late father found in the attic of the old family house. Spała treated the notes as a mystery or a puzzle to be solved. Two years and hundreds attempts later, he succeeded in recreating the unique pink mass. The company has released a new pink line with a flagship design model called Prometheus.
Pink Prometheus set with relief, designed by Adam Spała in 2008, AS Ćmielów Porcelain Manufactory [source].
The pink china recipe is much more complex than classical white porcelain and that was why it was extremely difficult to bring together all its elements in the required configuration. It is composed of as many as 11 raw materials, including liquid gold, all mixed in specific proportions. In comparison, the white mass needs only three basic ingredients.
Living Porcelain Museum in Ćmielów – photo by Marta Pszczolińska.
The pink china is of course much more expensive than the “ordinary” white one, due to the demanding production process and handmade decorations. Most visitors can only afford to admire it in display cabinets, but… If you visit Ćmielów manufactory, you can feel there for a while as if you were of royal blood – in Leżąca Kotka [The Lying Kitty] café, you may order a cup of coffee in a luxurious wafer-thin pink Prometheus cup decorated with 24 K gold. I tried it for you and believe me, its aroma, taste, and feel are royally delicious.
Leżąca Kotka [The Lying Kitty] Café at the AS Ćmielów Porcelain Manufactory – photo by Marta Pszczolińska.
One could ask whether recreating the pink line is the final successes of the Ćmielów manufacture. It could be, as it is a really remarkably achievement, but it is not the end! Travelling in South Africa, Adam Spała visited an emerald mine and grindhouse. He noticed that everything there was covered with a light green dust. When the Covid-19 pandemic started, there was plenty of time for him to make new discoveries and patents. The image of emerald dust was an inspiration for creating the next line of porcelain – the green one in a light pistachio shade released in 2021. At first, the colour does not bring emeralds to mind, until a bright light comes through the walls of a cup and makes the green show up.
Emerald Pola cup, designed by Adam Spała in 2020, AS Ćmielów Porcelain Manufactory [source].
Light shining through the walls of the cup, showing the ground emerald dust added to white porcelain paste [source].
The company also produces special sets commemorating eminent Poles, e.g., Chopin (below), which are designed by leading artists or based on their art (series Tamara de Łempicka, Józef Wilkoń). For example, in order to celebrate the famous composer Krzysztof Penderecki’s 75th birthday, his wife Elżbieta designed a coffee service called “national hussars” with a characteristic wing motif (below).
Cobalt-gold Chopin set, designed by Adam Spała in 1962, AS Ćmielów Porcelain Manufactory [source].
Krzysztof Penderecki coffee set in the national colours and with hussar wings, designed by Elżbieta Penderecka for her husband’s 75th birthday in 2008, AS Ćmielów Porcelain Manufactory [source].
And what about Classical Antiquity?
Last but not least – Classical Antiquity is also present in this abundant china collection. The most impressive are big decorative plates with the motif of Medusa, full of vivid colours (note, that each colour is burnt separately, and so the more colours, the more difficult it is to achieve the final result). Along with a china copy of Caravaggio’s shield framed with gold, another Medusa’s image is in stock – Adam Spała’s own composition (2019) that focuses rather on Medusa’s beauty and mysteriousness than monstrosity symbolized by snakes. Her gaze definitely does not kill.
Hand-painted Medusa plate, designed by Adam Spała in 2019, AS Ćmielów Porcelain Manufactory [source].
Collectable figurines designed by various artists include: Venus’ Birth (2005, by Lubomir Tomaszewski), Themis – Lady of Justice (2007, by Kazimierz Czuba), Asclepius (2012, by Jadwiga Stan), Abduction of Europe and Europa Bull (2014, both by Adam Spała). Although the figurines are all designed as modern adaptations of ancient characters, they still show the relevance of ancient motifs and myths in the contemporary world.
Come and see for yourself!
Lubomir Tomaszewski, Venus’ Birth, porcelain figurine, designed in 2005, AS Ćmielów Porcelain Manufactory, cat. no 185 [source].
Kazimierz Czuba, Themis, porcelain figurine, Ćmielów manufacture, designed in 2007, AS Ćmielów Porcelain Manufactory, cat. no 260 [source].
Jadwiga Stan, Esculap (Asclepius), porcelain figurine, Ćmielów factory, designed in 2012, AS Ćmielów Porcelain Manufactory, cat. no 333 [source].
Adam Spała, Abduction of Europe, porcelain figurine, designed in 2014, AS Ćmielów Porcelain Manufactory, cat. no 347 [source].
Adam Spała, Europa Bull, porcelain figurine, AS Ćmielów Porcelain Manufactory, designed in 2014, cat. no 348 [source].
The Author at the Leżąca Kotka [The Lying Kitty] Café, AS Ćmielów Porcelain Manufactory – photo by Maria Pszczolińska.
This report from Ćmielów manufactory has been prepared by Marta Pszczolińska, peer-reviewed by Elżbieta Olechowska, placed by Olga Strycharczyk
The SandmanNetflix series (released August 19, 2022) based on Neil Gaiman’s comic books ends its first season with a bonus episode containing two separate stories not connected directly with the series’ story plot.
The first of them is an animation, Dream of a Thousand Cats, directed by Hisko Hulsing, the second – Calliope– directed by Louise Hooper.
The TV series is an adaptation of Gaiman’s comic books from 1989 with Morpheus (aka Dream, Oneiros) as the leading character. As a god of dreaming, he is able to travel between many worlds, realms and realities that are not always connected with Greek and Roman Antiquity, and meet many mythical, legendary, or fantastic characters of various origins. Although his Greek roots and Greekness are not explicitly highlighted, many of his ancient features are preserved, and according to his Greek name derived from μορφή [morphē] (form, shape) he is identified as the one “whom the Romans called the shaper of form”.[1] Other important mythical characters present in the series are the Fates who are merged here with some elements of other beings, like for example oracles.
[Spoiler alert & domestic violence content] The episode Calliope, at the very end of season one, shows the Muse (Mellissanthi Mahut) imprisoned by mortals. Instead of worshipping her, they bound her by using an ancient rite, locked up, and forced to provide inspiration. Erasmus Fry (Derek Jacobi), a writer who captured her on Mount Helicon in 1927, kept her in a basement and violated her for years, until he passed her on as a chattel to Richard Madoc (Arthur Darvill), another author, unable to find ideas for a new novel. The new owner may consider unbinding the Muse at first. Instead, he refuses her pleas to free her and only then ask her for inspiration. When his writing deadline passes, he abuses her like Fry did before. Calliope summons the Fates with the hope that they can help her. The Fates (Nina Wadia, Souad Faress, Dinita Gohil) appear and tell her that only one of the Time’s & Night’s children (called the Endless) could help: Morpheus/Oneiros (Tom Sturridge), Calliope’s husband of long ago and father of their son, Orpheus. Unfortunately, Morpheus is also imprisoned by mortals. Her only hope is his release from captivity. One day, Calliope realizes that Oneiros is free. Despite their difficult past, he answers her call, comes and promises to get Richard to free her. Morpheus curses Richard with such an abundance of ideas that the writer goes mad and Calliope regains her freedom.
In the episode Calliope, the protagonist is undoubtedly the title character – the Muse of Homer – Calliope. Other Greek mythological characters are the Fates summoned by the Muse, and her former husband, Morpheus, called here by his Greek name Oneiros (Ὄνειρος) – Dream. While in the comic book Calliope is shown as a supernatural thin and extremely tall woman with messy blonde curls, in the TV series, her character is much more realistic, closer to the viewer and more relatable due to the brilliant performance of Melisanthi Mahut, known to wide audiences as the voice of Kassandra, the canonical hero misthios (mercenary) in the video game Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and as the voice of Athena in the video game Immortals Fenyx Rising. The Greek Canadian actress is perfectly cast. Her Greek accent is emphasised to make a connection with other Greek characters previously played by her, and to reinforce the obvious idea that Homer’s mythical Muse is Greek. Another link to Homer is the use of moly(μῶλυ), a mythical plant mentioned in the Odyssey[2] as a potent magical drug (φάρμακον); it has milk-white flowers and black roots, hard to pull out for mortal men. Theophrastus[3] discussed it as a species of Allium [ornamental garlic]. Gaiman reuses the powerful moly flower motif as part of the magic ritual binding the goddess, Fry names it “sorcerer’s garlic”. Another part of the capturing rite is depriving Calliope of the scroll, her ancient attribute.
Calliope as seen in the comic book and in the TV series [source].
The episode about the captured Muse is an opportunity to discuss the difficult theme of abuse. It is striking how contemporary the subject is, and how little has changed since 1986 (when the comic books’ action is set). The story of a beautiful woman kept in home arrest and called by her captor and jailer his “muse” is powerful and poignant, even though the viewer knows it is a fictional story. Additionally shocking is the point that the victim here is an immortal goddess who can suffer violence and humiliation for an eternity instead of being worshipped.
As mentioned above, exhausted by incessant suffering, Calliope, a divine being, a daughter of Zeus, calls for help the Fates and prays as an ordinary supplicant to powerful female deities she hopes can save her. They appear and the scene’s background looks as “Arcadian” as can be. In contrast with Calliope’s obscure room and her nightgown, the Fates wear proper ancient garments and behind them, opens a vista of an idyllic freshly green Greek landscape, with clear water running and a small round temple on a hill.
Unlike in the episode S01E02 where Morpheus summons the Fates in a dark scenery and the rule “one question, one answer” applies, the omniscient Fates talk with Calliope freely, almost as equals, without riddles or ambiguities and without asking for a payment. Unfortunately for the Muse, they cannot help her but they leave her with a shadow of hope. The scene also informs the viewer of Calliope’s family connections – Orpheus is mentioned as her son and his entire life story is told in a single well-turned sentence: “that boy-child who went to Hades for his lady-love and died in Thrace torn apart for his sacrilege; he had a beautiful voice too”. Already in his comic book and later in the television series, Gaiman made Oneiros the father of Orpheus contrary to ancient sources[4] that claim that it was Oiagros, Calliope’s Thracian lover. Most probably, the romantic relationship between Oneiros and Calliope will be developed in the forthcoming season two of Sandman.
The final scene of farewell [sources: comic, film].
To sum up, Calliope brings to mind cases of domestic violence when a helpless woman sequestrated at home against her will is secretly abused and the perpetrator is considered by society to be a “decent guy”. Calliope, the proud daughter of Zeus, treated as property is a symbol of victims who cannot speak for themselves. Her divine strength of character and the dignity she preserves against all odds, make it possible for her to show clemency and not to resort to vengeance on the brutal perpetrator, because, as she says: “Without forgiveness wounds will never heal”.
Post by Marta Pszczolińska, peer-reviewed by Elżbieta Olechowska, placed by Olga Strycharczyk
For Polish click here. For Maria’s text about the girls’ names click here.
In this next post about names, I would like to focus on the names given to men in Poland. As I mentioned before, many of contemporary names have their roots in ancient Greece or Rome. To show how popular each name is in Poland, I will refer to the PESEL register (Universal Electronic System for Registration of the Population) from the dane.gov.pl website (an official source of the Polish State). I chose 15 names from Antiquity for this post, but there are many more. Maybe your name has such provenance, or you know someone who bears a name referring to ancient heroes.
Here is a list of 15 ancient names held today by men in Poland:
Adrian – Latin name, carried by Hadrian – the successor of Trajan, Roman emperor in the 2nd century AD. There are 147 761 Adrians in Poland, and in 2021 this name was given 615 times.
Aleksander – a very old, double-barreled name. Frequently interpreted as “protecting/caring for men”. It was borne by the Macedonian king Alexander the Great and (as a second name) by Paris, the hero of Homer’s Illiad. There are 144 324Polish men with this name, and in 2021 the name Alexander was given to 6 919 children, which makes it the third most popular name now given to newborns in Poland.
Alexander at the battle of Issus, detail from the mosaic from House of the Faun in Pompeii, ca. 100 BC, Museo Nazionale di Napoli, inv. no. 10020 [source].
Andrzej – a name of Greek origin, translates as “man”. Andrzej is a very popular name in Poland, borne by 552 430 men, and third among most popular names carried by Poles. However, it lost popularity – in 2021, it was given only to 186 infants.
Antoni – a name from the ancient Roman family of Antonius. Greek biographers (vide Plutarch, The Life of Antonius, 4) suggested that family name could have origins in the name Anton, son of Hercules. Antoni, in 2021, was the name given most frequently and was given to 7 821 boys. Whereas in Poland, there live 161 690 people with this name.
Cezary – a name of Latin origin, created from the name Cezar (Caesar). 45 447 Polish men bear the name Cezary, and in 2021 it was given to 952 children.
Damian – a name associated with the ancient goddess Damia or Greek verb δαμάζω (tame). The name Damian was given to 183 726 Poles, and in 2021 305 children were born with this name.
Filip – very old, Greek double-barreled name. It is translated as “loving horses”. This name was carried by the Macedonian king, the father of Alexander the Great. In Poland, the name Filip is borne by 162 071 people, and in 2021 was given 4 884 times.
Niketerion (victory medallion) with a portrait of king Philip II of Macedon, 3rd century BC, Cabinet des médailles de la Bibliothèque Nationale de France [source].
Hermes – a name from Greek mythology. It relates to the god of trade, merchants, and thieves. Currently 14 people of this name live in Poland. Whereas in 2021, it was not given to any child.
Hiacynt – a name of Greek origin, born by a figure from Greek mythology. Hiacynt was a favourite of Apollo and Zephyrus, who, out of jealousy, lead the young man to his death. From his blood grew flowers called hyacinths. In Poland, there are only 9 men with this name, and in 2021 it was not given to any newborn. However, this name is far more popular in its alternative form, Jacek. It is the name of 234 901 Polish men, and in 2021, 144 boys were born with this name.
Hektor – the name of the hero of the Trojan war, the prince of Troy. In Poland this name, written as Hektor, is carried by 200 people, and 103as Hector. 22 Hektors were born in 2021.
Giovanni Maria Benzoni, Hector and Andromache (1871), Metropolitan Museum of Arts, New York, inv. no 99.9a, b [source].
January – a name of Latin origin, meaning born in January. It also relates to one of the oldest Roman deities, Janus. In Poland the name January is held by 487 men, unfortunately, there were no parents who gave this name to their child in 2021.
Marcin – a Latin name related to Mars, the god of war. It translates as “devoted to Mars” or “belonging to Mars”. There are currently 451 581 Poles named Marcin. Data shows that the name was given 366 times in 2021.
Mars Ultor, 2nd century CE, Palazzo Altemps, Rome [source].
Marek – a name of Latin origin, was one of the names popular in Rome already in archaic times. It also derives from the god of war, Mars. In Poland there are 386 516 people with this name, and 213were born in 2021.
Platon – the Greek name of a great Greek philosopher. It was originally his nickname meaning broad-shouldered, robust man. According to the PESEL database, there are 173 Platons living in Poland. In 2021, this name was given to 12 newborns.
Plato and Aristotle, fragment of the fresco The School of Athens (1511) by Raphael, Stanze di Raffaello, Musei Vaticani [source]. You can see the entire image here.
Tytus – one of the oldest Latin names. Was borne, inter alia, by the son of Domitilla the Elder and Vespasian; Titus was a Roman caesar of the Flavian dynasty. In Poland, 1899 people currently carry the name Tytus; in 2021, it was given to 55 children.
Post by Maria Łysoń, placed by Olga Strycharczyk who also prepared its English version, proofread by Anna Olechowski
Bibliography:
Henryk Fros, Franciszek Sowa, Twoje imię: przewodnik onomastyczno-hagiograficzny, Kraków: Wydawnictwo WAM, 2000.
Antyczne imiona noszone przez współczesnych Polaków
Maria Łysoń jest studentką Kolegium Artes Liberales na Wydziale „Artes Liberales” UW. W roku akademickim 2021/2022 uczęszczała na seminarium „Nasze Mityczne Dzieciństwo” i w ramach tych zajęć napisała niniejszą pracę. Interesuje się fotografią. Jej prace można oglądać na Instagramie.
Na temat imion noszonych przez współczesne Polki vide tutaj.
W kolejnym moim poście o imionach chciałabym się skupić na tych nadawanych Polakom. Tak jak wspominałam wcześniej, wiele ze współczesnych imion ma swoje korzenie w starożytnej Grecji bądź Rzymie. Aby pokazać, jaką popularnością w Polsce cieszy się dane imię, skorzystałam z bazy PESEL ze strony dane.gov.pl. Na potrzebę tego posta wybrałam 15 imion, które wywodzą się z kultury antycznej, ale jest ich dużo więcej. Może Twoje imię jest właśnie takiego pochodzenia albo znasz osobę, której imię odnosi się właśnie do bohaterów antyku.
Oto lista 15 antycznych imion noszonych obecnie przez Polaków:
Adrian – imię łacińskie, noszone przez Hadriana – następcę Trajana, cesarza rzymskiego z II w. n.e. W Polsce jest obecnie 147 761 Adrianów, a w roku 2021 imię to nadano 615 razy.
Aleksander – bardzo stare, dwuczłonowe imię greckie. Bywa interpretowane jako „broniący/troszczący się o mężów”. Imię to nosił król macedoński, Aleksander Wielki, oraz (jako drugie imię) Parys, bohater Iliady Homera. Polaków o tym imieniu jest obecnie 144 324, natomiast w 2021 roku imię Aleksander nadano 6 919dzieciom, co czyni je trzecim najpopularniejszym imieniem obecnie nadanym noworodkom w Polsce.
Aleksander w bitwie pod Issos, fragment mozaiki z Domu Fauna w Pompejach, ok. 100 r. p.n.e., Museo Nazionale di Napoli, nr inw. 10020 [źródło].
Andrzej – imię pochodzenia greckiego, tłumaczone jako „mężczyzna”, „mąż”. Andrzej to bardzo popularne imię w Polsce, nosi je 552 430mężczyzn, znajduje się zatem na trzecim miejscu wśród najpopularniejszych imion noszonych przez Polaków. Imię to jednak traci na popularności – w roku 2021 dostało je zaledwie 186noworodków.
Antoni – imię wywodzące się ze starożytnego rzymskiego rodu Antoniuszów. Greccy biografowie (vide Plutarch, Żywot Antoniusza 4) sugerowali, że nazwa tego rodu mogła wywodzić się od Antona, syna Herkulesa. Antoni w 2021 roku był najczęściej nadawanym imieniem, tak zostało nazwanych 7 821 chłopców. Natomiast w Polsce obecnie żyje 161 690osób o tym imieniu.
Cezary – imię o łacińskim pochodzeniu, utworzone do imienia Cezar (Caesar). Imię Cezary nosi obecnie w Polsce 45 447osób, a w roku 2021 zostało nadane 952dzieciom.
Damian – imię przejęte z języka łacińskiego, łączone się z imieniem starożytnej bogini Damii lub z greckim czasownikiem δαμάζω (oswajam, ujarzmiam). Imię Damian noszone jest przez 183 726Polaków, a w roku 2021 urodziło się 305dzieci o tym imieniu.
Filip – bardzo stare, greckie imię dwuczłonowe. Jest tłumaczone jako „lubiący konie”. Imię to nosił król macedoński, ojciec Aleksandra Wielkiego. W Polsce imię Filip nosi 162 071 osób, a w roku 2021 zostało nadane 4 884 razy.
Niketerion (medalion upamiętniający zwycięstwo) z wizerunkiem króla Filipa II Macedońskiego, III w. p.n.e., Cabinet des médailles de la Bibliothèque Nationale de France [źródło].
Hermes – imię pochodzące z mitologii greckiej. Odnosi się do boga handlu, kupców oraz złodziei. Obecnie w Polsce żyje 14osób o tym imieniu. Natomiast w 2021 roku nie nadano go żadnemu dziecku.
Hiacynt – imię pochodzenia greckiego, noszone przez postać z greckiej mitologii. Hiacynt to ulubieniec Apollina i Zefira, który przez zazdrość doprowadził do śmierci młodzieńca. Z jego krwi wyrosły kwiaty nazwane hiacyntami. W Polsce żyje tylko 9mężczyzn o tym imieniu, a w 2021 roku nie zostało ono nadane żadnemu noworodkowi. Natomiast imię to funkcjonuje w Polsce dużo częściej w formie swojego odpowiednika Jacek. W Polsce imię Jacek nosi 234 901 osób, a w 2021 roku urodziło się ich 144.
Hektor – imię bohatera wojny trojańskiej, księcia Troi. Imię to w Polsce nosi 200osób, używając pisowni Hektor, oraz 103 w zapisie Hector. W 2021 roku nadano imię Hektor, stosując we wszystkich przypadkach polską pisownię (przez k); imię to otrzymały 22noworodki.
Giovanni Maria Benzoni, Hektor i Andromacha (1871), Metropolitan Museum of Arts, Nowy Jork, inv. no 99.9a, b [źródło].
January – imię pochodzenia łacińskiego, oznaczające urodzonego w styczniu. Odnosi się również do jednego z najstarszych rzymskich bóstw, czyli Janusa. W Polsce imię January nosi 487osób, niestety, w roku 2021 żaden z rodziców nie nazwał tak swojego dziecka.
Marcin – imię łacińskie, odnoszące się do Marsa, boga wojny. Jest tłumaczone jako „poświecony Marsowi” lub „należący do Marsa”. Polaków o imieniu Marcin jest obecnie 451 581. Z danych z 2021 roku wynika, że w owym roku imię to zostało nadane 366razy.
Mars Ultor, II w. n.e., Palazzo Altemps, Rzym [źródło].
Marek – imię pochodzenia łacińskiego, było jednym z imion używanych w Rzymie już w czasach archaicznych. Również to imię wywodzi się od boga wojny, Marsa. W Polsce jest 386 516osób noszących to imię, a w roku 2021 urodziło się 213Marków.
Platon – imię greckie, pod którym znany jest wielki filozof grecki. Pierwotnie było to jego przezwisko, oznaczające człowieka barczystego, krzepkiego. W Polsce według bazy PESEL żyje 173Platonów. W roku 2021 imię to nadano 12 noworodkom.
Platon i Arystoteles, fragment fresku Rafaela Szkoła Ateńska (1511), Muzea Watykańskie [źródło]. Cały fresk można zobaczyć tu.
Tytus – jedno z najstarszych imion łacińskich. Nosił je między innymi syn Wespazjana i Domitilli Starszej, wódz i cesarz rzymski z dynastii Flawiuszy. Obecnie w Polsce imię Tytus nosi 1 899 osób, a w 2021 roku zostało ono nadane 55noworodkom.
Post napisany przez Marię Łysoń, zamieszczony przez Olgę Strycharczyk
Bibliografia:
Henryk Fros, Franciszek Sowa, Twoje imię: przewodnik onomastyczno-hagiograficzny, Kraków: Wydawnictwo WAM, 2000.
On March 22, 2023, we were most pleased to host a special guest at Our Mythical Childhood Seminar at the Faculty of “Artes Liberales”, University of Warsaw: Dr habil. Karoline Thaidigsmann from theSlavic Institute at the University of Heidelberg. Karoline’s research interests comprise inter alia Gulag literature, children’s and YA literature, and Slavic contemporary authors. Her “Habilitationsschrift” was dedicated to the poetics of shifting borders, Poetik der Grenzverschiebung. Kinderliterarische Muster, Crosswriting und kulturelles Selbstverständnis in der polnischen Literatur nach 1989 (Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2022).
Cover of the book by Karoline Thaidigsmann, Poetik der Grenzverschiebung. Kinderliterarische Muster, Crosswriting und kulturelles Selbstverständnis in der polnischen Literatur nach 1989, Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2022.
At the OMC Seminar, she spoke about an adaptation of Anne Frank’s Diary into a graphic novel by Ari Folman with illustrations by David Polonsky. It brings Anne Frank’s legacy closer to contemporary readers and opens it to new audiences.
Anne Frank, Dziennik : (oficyna) : 12 czerwca 1942 –1 sierpnia 1944, ed. Otto Frank and Mirjam Pressler, trans. Alicja Dehue-Oczko, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Znak, 2006 – photo by Katarzyna Marciniak, due to Krzysztof Rybak’s courtesy.
Dutch and Polish editions of Ari Folman’s and David Polonsky’s graphic adaptation of Anne Frank’s Diary – photo by Katarzyna Marciniak, due to Krzysztof Rybak’s courtesy.
The lecture was followed by a Q&A session, and a discussion of impressions and details of the adaptation that speak best to young audiences. The students were able to compare original fragments of the Diary with corresponding passages in the graphic novel to better grasp how the text was adapted, as well as to discuss whether they liked or not what was done and how effective and justifiable the adaptation was in rendering Anne’s personality more vivid for a contemporary readership and at the same time remaining true to the legacy of the Diary.
Karoline Thaidigsmann giving lecture on Anne Frank’s Diary to students of the Faculty of “Artes Liberales”, University of Warsaw – photo by Katarzyna Marciniak.
Our outstanding guest also shed new light on the use of ancient motifs in the graphic novel, and how they were anchored in the original contents of the Diary.
Thank you, Karoline! Looking forward to your next visit!
Bibliographical data on the graphic novel and some of its translations:
Dutch: Ari Folman and David Polonsky, Het Achterhuis graphic novel, Amsterdam: Prometheus, 2017.
English: Ari Folman and David Polonsky, Anne Frank’s Diary. The Graphic Adaptation, [London]: Penguin Books, 2017.
French: Le Journal d’Anne Frank. Roman graphique, trans. Claire Desserrey, Isabelle Rosselin, and Philippe Noble, Paris: Calmann-Levy, 2017.
German: Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank, trans. Klaus Timmermann and Ulrike Wasel, Berlin: S. Fischer, 2017.
Hebrew: אנה פרנק : היומן הגרפי [Anah Franḳ: ha-yoman ha-grafi], trans. and ed. Michal Paz-Klapp, trans. Ḳarlah Perlshṭain, Kineret: Zemorah-Bitan, 2017.
Italian: Anne Frank. Diario, trans. Laura Pignatti, Elisabetta Spediacci, Torino: Einaudi, 2017.
Spanish: El diario de Anne Frank. Adaptación gráfica, trans. Diego J. Puls and Neus Neuno Cobas, Nueva York, NY: Vintage Español (Penguin Random House LLC), 2017.
Danish: Anne Franks dagbog. Graphic diary, trans. Tove Dueholm Nielsen, [Kbh.]: Lindhardt og Ringhof, 2019.
Polish: Dziennik Anne Frank. Powieść graficzna, trans. Kamil Budziarz, Katowice: Stapis, 2019.
Russian: Дневник Анны Франк. графическая версия [Dnevnik Anny Frank: graficheskai︠a︡ versii︠a︡], trans. Мария Скаф, C. Белокриницкая, M. Новикова, Moskva: Mann, Ivanov I Ferber, 2019.
Chinese: 安妮日记 : 漫画版 [An’ni ri ji: man hua ban], trans. Yuchan Lü and Yihui Ye, Zhangsha [Changsha]: Hu nan wen yi chu ban she, 2020.
Post by Marta Pszczolińska, proof-read by Elżbieta Olechowska, placed by Olga Strycharczyk
Dr Sonja Schreiner (ORCID-ID, 0000-0003-2391-5222)is a Neolatinist and comparatist, a researcher in the Department of Classical Philology, Medieval and Neolatin Studies at the University of Vienna and a lecturer in Latin at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, as well as an Associate Member of the Cluster: The Past for the Present – International Research and Educational Programme. Together with her colleagues Prof. Gabriela Kompatscher (Associate Professor for Latin Philology at the University of Innsbruck), who specializes in Medieval Latin philology and Human-Animal Studies, and Dr Svenja Springer, PhD (Messerli Research Institute in Vienna), who researches the growing field of hospice and palliative care in small animal practice and pet owners’ expectations of modern small animal practice, Dr Schreiner has written two innovative handbooks focusing on Human-Animal relationships. Both books are available in Open Access.
Gabriela Kompatscher & Sonja Schreiner, (Un)gleiches Miteinander. Konzepte, Methoden und Ideen zu Mensch-Tier-Beziehungen in einem tierethisch begleiteten Lateinunterricht[(Un)equal Living Together. Concepts, Methods, and Ideas Concerning Human-Animal Relationships in Latin Classes Including Animal Ethics], Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2022, https://www.wbg-wissenverbindet.de/shop/43149/un-gleiches-miteinander.
Cover of the book (Un)gleiches Miteinander by Gabriela Kompatscher and Sonja Schreiner, Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2022.
For millennia, animals (farm animals and house pets), mythical creatures, and fantastic beasts accompany us in our lives. Love characterizes our relationship towards companion animals, but there are also other feelings, such as remoteness, shyness, respect, and fear in case of direct contact with predators and – unfortunately enough – indifference for beings classified as food. Many of us feel compassion for endangered species, but at the same time, we are reluctant and resigned, falsely believing that one individual cannot change much. Because children and young adults have a developed ability to sense the needs of fellow creatures, the integration of animals big and small has a great impact on the successful and lasting result of every lesson. (Un)equal Living Together. Concepts, Methods, and Ideas Concerning Human-Animal Relationships in Latin Classes Including Animal Ethics presents texts, translations, and vocabulary to be used today by Latin teachers who are willing to talk about democratic coexistence as well as asymmetric relationships. The collection is enlarged by vernacular literature, further materials, and working tasks, which encourage students to seek a coexistence profitable for humans and for animals.
Gabriela Kompatscher & Sonja Schreiner, mit einem Beitrag von [with a contribution by] Svenja Springer, (Artger)echtes Leben lehren. Human-Animal Studies im Literaturunterricht und in anderen Fächern [Teaching How to Live a Species-Appropriate, Fair, and Authentic Life. Human-Animal Studies in Class], Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2022, https://www.wbg-wissenverbindet.de/shop/43150/artger-echtes-leben-lehren.
Cover of the book (Artger)echtes Leben lehren by Gabriela Kompatscher and Sonja Schreiner, with a contribution by Svenja Springer, Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2022.
New exciting, alternative teaching methods tend to improve the conditions for animals and humans on our planet. Enriching the already tested teaching material with innovative elements and encouraging young people to be sensitive to other creatures’ needs contributes to the development of empathy. Learning about new views on animals and their (inter)relationships with us, thereby leads to a surprising and eye-opening change of perspectives. Human-Animal Studies offer all this and much more – they become a life-enhancing supplement in all classes, regardless of the subject. Human-Animal Studies support and foster students in the further development of empathy, ethical judgement, high esteem, care and respect for (bio)diversity and contribute to the improvement of other (social) competences. Realistic and attractive content motivates students of all ages to actively contribute by sharing their very personal experience with animals of all kind. The volume, Teaching How to Live a Species-Appropriate, Fair, and Authentic Life. Human-Animal Studies in Class, shows how Human-Animal Studies can be integrated in all classes, thus offering a comprehensive introduction and numerous didactic suggestions for use in daily practice.
Post by Sonja Schreiner, placed by Olga Strycharczyk
Dr. Sonja Schreiner (ORCID-ID, 0000-0003-2391-5222) ist Neolatinistin und Komparatistin, Wissenschaftsreferentin im Institut für Klassische Philologie, Mittel- und Neulatein der Universität Wien und Lehrbeauftragte für Latein an der Veterinärmedizinischen Universität Wien und Associate Member of the Cluster: The Past for the Present – International Research and Educational Programme. Zusammen mit ihren Kolleginnen Prof. Gabriela Kompatscher (Außerordentliche Professorin für Lateinische Philologie an der Universität Innsbruck), die sich mit der Mittellateinischen Philologie und Human-Animal Studies beschäftigt, und Dr. Svenja Springer, PhD (Wissenschaftlerin am Messerli Forschungsinstitut in Wien), die das wachsende Feld der Hospiz- und Palliativmedizin in der Kleintierpraxis und Halter*innenerwartungen an die moderne Kleintiermedizin erforscht, hat Sonja Schreiner zwei innovative Handbücher geschrieben, die auf Mensch-Tier-Beziehungen fokussieren. Beide Bände sind Open Access zugänglich.
Gabriela Kompatscher & Sonja Schreiner, (Un)gleiches Miteinander. Konzepte, Methoden und Ideen zu Mensch-Tier-Beziehungen in einem tierethisch begleiteten Lateinunterricht, Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2022, https://www.wbg-wissenverbindet.de/shop/43149/un-gleiches-miteinander.
Seit Jahrtausenden begleiten Haus- und „Nutz”tiere und mythenumrankte, märchen- oder fabelhafte (Tier)gestalten die Menschen. Liebe und familiäre Bindung zu companion animals stehen neben distanziertem Respekt (nicht selten in Kombination mit Angst) vor Raubtieren und leider indifferenter Haltung zu Lebewesen auf der Speisekarte. Für bedrohte Arten empfinden viele Mitleid, oft aber verbunden mit dem ungerechtfertigten Gefühl, dass man als Individuum nur wenig verändern kann. Kinder und Jugendliche haben ein entwickeltes Sensorium für Mitgeschöpfe, weswegen sich der Unterrichtsertrag durch deren Einbindung spürbar steigern lässt. (Un)gleiches Miteinander präsentiert Texte (mit Übersetzungen und Vokabeln) für den modernen Lateinunterricht, die demokratisches Miteinander und asymmetrische Beziehungen thematisieren. Erweitert ist die Sammlung durch deutsche und fremdsprachige Literatur, Vertiefungsmaterial und Arbeitsaufgaben, immer sensibilisierend für eine Koexistenz, von der neben den Menschen auch die Tiere profitieren.
Gabriela Kompatscher & Sonja Schreiner, mit einem Beitrag von Svenja Springer, (Artger)echtes Leben lehren. Human-Animal Studies im Literaturunterricht und in anderen Fächern, Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2022, https://www.wbg-wissenverbindet.de/shop/43150/artger-echtes-leben-lehren.
Gabriela Kompatscher und Sonja Schreiner, mit einem Beitrag von Svenja Springer, (Artger)echtes Leben lehren, Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2022.
Spannenden Unterricht gestalten und die Welt für Menschen und Tiere lebenswerter machen? Bewährten Lehrstoff um interessante Facetten erweitern und die Empathie von jungen Menschen fördern? Gemeinsam mit Schüler*innen neue Sichtweisen auf Tiere und ihre Beziehungen zu uns kennenlernen und so einen überraschenden Perspektivenwechsel erleben? Das Forschungsfeld der Human-Animal Studies bietet all dies und noch mehr als bereichernde Ergänzung für den Unterricht in allen Fächern. Human-Animal Studies unterstützen die Schüler*innen bei der Entwicklung von Empathie, ethischer Urteilskompetenz, Wertschätzung von Diversität und anderen sozialen Kompetenzen. Darüber hinaus motivieren die lebensnahen und attraktiven Unterrichtsinhalte die Schüler*innen, sich aktiv am Unterricht zu beteiligen, da die meisten jungen Menschen ein persönliches Interesse, nämlich ihre Beziehungen zu Tieren, einbringen können. Wie Human-Animal Studies in den Unterricht integriert werden können, zeigt der vorliegende Band mittels einer Einführung ins Thema und vielfältiger didaktischer Anregungen für die Praxis.
Post von Sonja Schreiner, eingetragen von Olga Strycharczyk
In my post, I would like to draw attention to the names given to women in Poland. Many of these names have their roots in ancient Greece or Rome. I chose some examples of Polish female names whose popularity is evidenced by data from the PESEL register (Universal Electronic System for Registration of the Population), placed annually on the dane.gov.pl website (an official source of the Polish State).
I chose 15 names for this post, but there are many more. It is worth checking where your name comes from – there is a considerable probability it also originates from Antiquity. However, if your name is of different provenance, you probably know at least one person whose name is Greek or Roman. Perhaps one of them appears on my list:
Apolonia – the name of Greek origin, translated as “belonging to Apollo” – the god of music and beauty. There are currently (as of 2022) 7 989 women of this name, and in 2021 it was given to 438 newborns.
Diana – this was the name of the Roman goddess of forests and animals. The name Diana bears 19 887 women, and 373 babies with this name were born in 2021.
Diana of Versailles, 1st or 2nd century AD, Louvre Museum, Paris, inv. no. Ma589 – partially restored Roman copy of the lost Greek bronze original attributed to Leochares, c. 325 BC [source]
Emilia – the name derives from the ancient Roman gens Aemilia. Nowadays, there is a region in Italy called Emilia-Romagna. In Poland, 156 491 women are named Emilia; in 2021, 3 570 baby Emilias were born. This name is today very popular with parents.
Eufrozyna – the name of one of three Charites in Greek mythology (Euphrosyne), goddesses of happy charms and grace. This is the least popular name of those I recall in this overview, as just 164 women bear this name in Poland, and not a single Eufrozyna was born in Poland in 2021.
Euphrosyne, Achilleion palace, Corfu. A bust of Sophocles is in the background [source]
Flora – the name of the Roman goddess of spring and flowers. The name Flora is currently carried by precisely 200 people in Poland; in 2021, 29 of them were newborns.
Flora or Persephone or the Allegory of Spring (1 c. AD), fresco in Villa di Arianna, Stabiae, collection of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, inv. no. 8834 [source]
Gaja – the name of the goddess of the earth from Greek mythology (Gaia). There are 3 800 women in Poland named Gaja, whereas, in 2021, the name was given 744 times.
Helena – the name of Zeus and Leda’s daughter, etymologically linked, inter alia, with brightness or a torch. 172 742 people in Poland currently bear the name of the main heroine of the Trojan War, and in 2021 it was given 2 687 times.
Evelyn De Morgan, Helen of Troy (1898), De Morgan Collection, London, inv. no. P_EDM_0023 [source]
Jolanta – the name associated in Greek with the violet, although this is not a definite etymology. The Polish version of the name Jolanta (once also Jolenta) resembles the mythological name of Iole, the daughter of Eurytus, kidnapped by Heracles. There are 240 095 women in Poland named Jolanta; however, it is losing its old-time popularity and, in 2021, was given to only 21 newborns.
Klaudia – one of the oldest names of Roman origin. It used to be given in the gens Claudia, one of Rome’s greatest patrician families. Today, 138 373 people bear this name in Poland, and in 2021, it was bestowed 386 times.
Laura – a name of Latin origin, referring to a laurel tree. This name is linked with Greek mythology, in which the nymph Daphne, fleeing from Apollo, is turned into a laurel tree – known in Polish also as wawrzyn (bay-tree). Laura is the name of 62 929 Polish women, and in 2021, of as many as 5 569 newborns, thus being the 6th most common name among baby girls in Poland.
Walther Otto Müller, Laurus nobilis, illustration from the book Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen by Hermann Adolph Köhler, ed. by Gustav Pabst, published in 1887–1898 (3 volumes) [source]
Emilio Fiaschi (1858–1941), bust of Daphnewearing a crown of laurel leaves, private collection [source]
Lidia – the name indicating a person from Lydia – a land in Asia Minor. In Poland, the name Lidia is borne by 83 206 women, and 559 Lidias were born in 2021.
Olimpia – the name created in honor of Mount Olympus, the home of the Greek gods, headed by Zeus. 3 363 women bear the name Olympia in Poland, and in 2021 it was given 25 times.
Patrycja – Latin name distinguishing a person who belongs to a patrician family – the noble part of society in ancient Rome. According to the PESEL database, there are 169 015 women named Patrycja in Poland, and in 2021 this name was given to 353 newborns.
Pelagia – a name of Greek origin, translated as “of the sea”. Name associated with the goddess Aphrodite, who used the nickname Pelagia. In Poland, it has been given to 4 885 people, and in 2021 was given 5 times.
Wiktoria – the name of the Roman goddess of victory and glory. The name of 200 469 women in Poland and 3 147 baby girls was born with this name in 2021.
Winged Victory (Nike) of Samothrace, 200–175 BC, Louvre, Paris, inv. no. NIII 2447, discovered in Samothrace in 1863 [source]
Post by Maria Łysoń, placed by Olga Strycharczyk who also prepared its English version, proofread by Anna Olechowski
Bibliography:
“Iole [mitologia]”, Partykuła, https://www.partykula.pl/iole-mitologia (accessed June 28, 2022), according to: Stanisław Stabryła, Słownik szkolny. Mitologia grecka i rzymska, Warszawa: WSiP, 1994.
Henryk Fros and Franciszek Sowa, Twoje imię: przewodnik onomastyczno-hagiograficzny, Kraków: Wydawnictwo WAM, 2000.
Maria Łysoń jest studentką Kolegium Artes Liberales na Wydziale „Artes Liberales” UW. W roku akademickim 2021/2022 uczęszczała na seminarium „Nasze Mityczne Dzieciństwo” i w ramach tych zajęć napisała niniejszą pracę. Interesuje się fotografią. Jej prace można oglądać na Instagramie.
W moim poście chciałabym zwrócić uwagę na imiona, które nadaje się kobietom w Polsce. Okazuje się, że wiele z tych imion ma swoje korzenie w starożytnej Grecji bądź Rzymie. Wybrane przeze mnie imiona są noszone przez Polki, a o ich popularności świadczą dane z bazy PESEL, umieszczane rokrocznie na stronie dane.gov.pl.
Na potrzebę tego posta wybrałam 15 imion, natomiast jest ich o wiele więcej. Warto sprawdzić, skąd pochodzi Twoje imię – istnieje spore prawdopodobieństwo, że również wywodzi się z antyku. Jeśli Twoje imię jest jednak innego pochodzenia, to na pewno znasz choć jedną osobę, która nosi greckie lub rzymskie imię. Może jedno z nich znajduje się właśnie w moim zestawieniu:
Apolonia – imię pochodzące z Grecji, tłumaczone jako „należąca do Apolla” – boga muzyki i piękna. Obecnie w Polsce żyje 7 989 kobiet noszących to imię, a w 2021 roku zostało ono nadane 438 noworodkom.
Diana – to imię nosiła rzymska bogini lasów i zwierząt. Imię Diana nosi 19 887 Polek, a w 2021 roku urodziły się 373 kolejne osoby o tym imieniu.
Diana z Wersalu, I lub II wiek n.e., Luwr, Paryż, nr inw. Ma589 – częściowo zrekonstruowana rzymska kopia zaginionego greckiego orginału z brązu z ok. 325 r. n.e. przypisaywnego Leocharesowi [źródło]
Emilia – imię wywodzące się ze starożytnego, rzymskiego rodu Emiliuszów. Obecnie jeden z regionów Włoch nazywa się Emilia-Romagna. W Polsce imię Emilia nosi 156 491 kobiet, a w 2021 roku przybyło 3 570 małych Emilek. Imię to cieszy się obecnie dużą popularnością wśród rodziców.
Eufrozyna – imię jednej z trzech Charyt z mitologii greckiej, bogiń radosnych uroków oraz wdzięku. Jest to najmniej popularne imię, które przytaczam w tym zestawieniu, gdyż zaledwie 164 kobiety noszą w Polsce to imię, a w 2021 roku nie przyszła na świat w Polsce ani jedna Eurfozyna.
Eufrozyna, pałac Achillion, Korfu. W tle widoczne popiersie Sofoklesa. [źródło]
Flora – imię rzymskiej bogini wiosny i kwiatów. Imię Flora nosi w Polsce obecnie równo 200 osób, a w 2021 roku w naszym kraju przyszło ich na świat 29.
Flora lub Persefona lub Alegoria wiosny (I w. n.e.), fresk w Villa Arianna, Stabie, kolekcja Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, nr inw. 8834 [źródło]
Gaja – imię bogini ziemi z greckiej mitologii. Kobiet o imieniu Gaja jest w Polsce 3 800, natomiast w 2021 roku imię to zostało nadane 744 razy.
Helena – imię córki Zeusa i Ledy, wiązane etymologicznie m.in. z jasnością lub pochodnią. Imię głównej bohaterki wojny trojańskiej nosi obecnie w Polsce 172 745 osób, a w 2021 roku zostało nadane 2 687 razy.
Evelyn De Morgan, Helen of Troy (1898), De Morgan Collection, Londyn, nr inw. P_EDM_0023 [źródło]
Jolanta – imię kojarzone z fiołkiem w języku greckim, choć nie jest to pewna etymologia. Polska wersja imienia Jolanta (dawniej również Jolenta) przypomina mitologiczne imię porwanej przez Heraklesa Iole, córki Eurytosa. Polek noszących imię Jolanta jest 240 095, natomiast imię to traci na dawnej popularności i w 2021 roku zostało nadane tylko 21 noworodkom.
Klaudia – jedno z najstarszych imion pochodzenia rzymskiego. Nadawano je w rodzie Klaudiuszów, należącym do największych patrycjuszowskich rodów Rzymu. Obecnie w naszym kraju imię to nosi 138 373 osób, a w 2021 zostało ono nadane 386 razy.
Laura – imię pochodzenia łacińskiego, odnoszące się do drzewa laurowego. Imię łączy się z mitologią grecką, w której to nimfa Dafne, uciekając przed Apollinem, zostaje przemieniona w laur – roślinę, która w Polsce znana jest też jako wawrzyn. Laura to imię noszone przez 62 929 Polek, a w 2021 roku urodziło się ich aż 5 569, zatem w tym roku imię Laura było szóstym najczęściej nadawanym imieniem wśród nowo narodzonych dziewczynek w Polsce.
Walther Otto Müller, Laurus nobilis, ilustacja z atlasu botanicznego: Hermann Adolph Köhler, Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen, ed. Gustav Pabst, 1887–898 (3 tomy) [źródło]
Emilio Fiaschi (1858–1941), Dafne w wieńcu laurowym, kolekcja prywatna [źródło]
Lidia – imię oznaczające osobę pochodzącą z Lidii, krainy leżącej w Azji Mniejszej. W Polsce imię Lidia nosi 83 206 obywatelek, a w 2021 roku urodziło się ich 559.
Olimpia – imię stworzone na cześć góry Olimp, siedziby bogów greckich z Zeusem na czele. Imię Olimpia noszą obecnie 3 363 Polki, a w 2021 roku zostało ono nadane 25 razy.
Patrycja – imię łacińskie, oznaczające osobę należącą do patrycjuszy, czyli wyższej warstwy społecznej starożytnego Rzymu. Według danych z bazy PESEL Polek o imieniu Patrycja jest 169 015, a w 2021 roku tym imieniem nazwano 353 noworodki.
Pelagia – imię pochodzenia greckiego, tłumaczone jako „morska”. Imię związane z boginią Afrodytą, która posługiwała się właśnie przydomkiem Pelagia. W Polsce imię to nosi 4 885 osób, a w roku 2021 zostało nadane 5 razy.
Wiktoria – imię rzymskiej bogini zwycięstwa i chwały. Imię to noszone jest przez 200 469 Polek, a w roku 2021 urodziło się 3 147 dziewczynek o tym imieniu.
Nike z Samotraki znana również jako Skrzydlata Wiktoria z Samotraki (Winged Victory of Samothrace), 200–175 r. p.n.e., Luwr, Paryż, nr inw. NIII 2447, odnaleziona w 1863 na Samotrace [źródło]
Post napisany przez Marię Łysoń i zamieszczony przez Olgę Strycharczyk
Bibliografia
„Iole [mitologia]”, Partykuła, https://www.partykula.pl/iole-mitologia (dostęp: 28.06.2022), za: Stanisław Stabryła, Słownik szkolny. Mitologia grecka i rzymska, Warszawa: WSiP, 1994.
Henryk Fros, Franciszek Sowa, Twoje imię: przewodnik onomastyczno-hagiograficzny, Kraków: Wydawnictwo WAM, 2000.
The aim of my thesis was to analyse how the classical myth was narrated by Mino Milani, combining philological and pedagogical perspectives.
Mino Milani (1928–2022) was a children’s book writer born in Pavia (Italy), where he lived most of his life. He was a very prolific author and he wrote novels, comic strips, short stories, and more, set in very different eras. His production is held together by the desire and the ability to “stage the adventure”[1]. I chose three novels, published between 1993 and 1995 by EL Edizioni (Trieste): La storia di Dedalo e Icaro (1993), La storia di Orfeo ed Euridice (1994), La storia di Ulisse e Argo (1995). All of them are set in ancient Greece, in the distant and a historical time of gods and heroes.
Illustration by Nella Bosnia for Mino Milani’s La storia di Dedalo e Icaro, Edizioni El, 1993, used with the Publisher’s kind permission, photo by Marta Selleri.
First of all, as an introduction to the analysis of these novels, I analysed some definitions of “myth”, starting from those in common use, with a focus on Mircea Eliade’s studies which highlight, above all, the sacred and significant value of myth, considered by certain societies as a real, active, and living event[2]. Secondly, I analysed the difference between “myth” and “fairy tale”, starting from Vladimir Propp’s considerations on the subject[3]: according to him, fairy tales would derive directly from myth, deprived of its sacredness. This theory has not gained full consensus among researchers. However, may the fairy tale derive from myth or not, it is now accepted that myth has lost its sacred dimension in our society. Myth is depicted as a literary heritage of stories that continue to live in all forms of art in occidental society.
Illustration by Nella Bosnia for Mino Milani’s La storia di Orfeo ed Euridice, Edizioni El, 1994, used with the Publisher’s kind permission, photo by Marta Selleri.
In order to contextualise the aforementioned three novels by Milani, I reviewed the production of mythological topics for children in Italy during the twentieth century: Laura Orvieto – the first Italian writer of mythology for children, Gherardo Ugolini, Gianni Rodari, and Roberto Piumini.
In the second part of my thesis, I provided a textual analysis of Milani’s books, with a close comparison – when possible and appropriate – with classical sources. In addition to classical authors such as Homer, Virgil, Ovid, Valerius Flaccus, Apollonius Rhodius, Apollodorus, and Diodorus Siculus, it was sometimes necessary to refer to authors such as Dante – a crucial reference for Milani, Alessandro Manzoni, and the operas by Christoph WillibaldGluck. Milani’s writing is very rich in intertextual references and allusions. In this way, he succeeded in restoring the profound stratification of these stories. Among the many possible ones, I chose some thematic strands. Through them, I was able to explore the three stories transversally (e.g., the protagonists’ childhood, the initiation, the plots, the fairy-tales elements, the animals, the death and the kingdom of the dead). My aim was to identify the texts that were at the basis of Milani’s narrative choices in terms of vocabulary, characters, plots, imagery, and tones.
Illustration by Paolo D’Altan for Mino Milani’s La storia di Ulisse e Argo, Edizioni El, 1995, used with the Publisher’s kind permission, photo by Marta Selleri.
Subsequently, I used two pedagogical tools to analyse the stories. The first one is the “inactual” – a pedagogical principle theorised by Giovanni Maria Bertin in 1977 and based on Friedrich Nietzsche’s thought. Bertin claims that the pedagogical idea must be “inactual”: this means that it does not have to respond to or coincide with the prevailing tendencies of the present, but rather has to highlight the possible inconsistencies and partiality of these tendencies. This idea has to propose – within the present tendencies or against them – alternative instances[4]. The second tool is Edgar Morin’s paradigm of complexity, which suggests an overcoming of the classical, simple logical system[5]. In particular, it is employed and studied as an educational paradigm which is now indispensable in educational practice, based especially on metacognition – meaning the need for knowledge to reflect on itself – and on the intersection of interpretative and recontextualising methods.
Map for Mino Milani’s mythological stories – illustration by Marta Selleri.
By using these tools, I finally identified the classical myth narrated by Milani as an adventure tale that is both inactual and complex. In fact, myth – also beyond Milani – narrates situations where “it is not possible to dominate a contradiction or a tragedy”[6], and as such they are complex, detached from simplifying logic, perhaps also because they arose at a time when this logic had not been created yet. Milani transformed this mythical matter into the genre of adventure, which has important characteristics of “inactuality”. The presence of adventure as a genre in children’s bookshelves is decreasing and the heroism, the ability to make a choice, and to deal with death are often removed from children’s imaginary. However, adventure, in whatever place or time is set, can offer the readers a deep and real growth, a passage to an “elsewhere”[7], in which that growth is an existential one.
All these things considered, the mythological adventure told in Mino Milani’s novels – which, as it has been shown, can be defined both inactual and complex – can therefore play an important role in a pedagogical perspective, as it allows young readers to confront themselves to relevant issues and to gaze at contemporary society and beyond.
References
[1] “Anche quando scrive romanzi storici o sceneggiature di fumetti, in realtà, fondamentalmente, mette in scena l’Avventura” (Giorgia Grilli, “Scrivere d’avventura per ragazzi. L’opera di Mino Milani”, Oblò 3, 2018, 55).
[2] Mircea Eliade, Mito e realtà, trans. Giovanni Cantoni, Torino: Boria, 1966 (ed. pr. Paris 1963).
[3] Vladimir Propp, Morfologia della fiaba, ed. and trans. Gian Luigi Bravo, Torino: Einaudi, 1966 (ed. pr. Sankt-Peterburg 1928).
[4] Giovanni Maria Bertin, Nietzsche. L’inattuale, idea pedagogica, Firenze: La Nuova Italia, 1977.
[5] Edgar Morin, Introduzione al pensiero complesso, trans. Monica Corbani, Milano: Sperling & Kupfer, 1993 (ed. pr. Paris 1990).
[6] Morin, Introduzione al pensiero complesso, 63.
[7] About “elsewhere”: Antonio Faeti, I tesori nelle isole non trovate, Bergamo: Junior, 2018.
Post by Marta Selleri, placed by Olga Strycharczyk
On April 26–28, 2022 L-Università ta’ Malta hosted “The Child and the Book Conference: The Role of the Child as Citizen: Constructing Childhood through Agency and Activism”, where I had the pleasure of giving a talk entitled: We Support Girls Today so They Change the World Tomorrow. Shaping Girls’ Agency in the Contemporary Polish Magazine “Kosmos dla Dziewczynek” (“Cosmos for Girls”).
Presentation by Gabriela Niemczynowicz-Szkopek We support Girls Today so They Change the World Tomorrow. Shaping Girls’ Agency” in the Contemporary Polish Magazine “Kosmos dla Dziewczynek (“Cosmos for Girls”) – photo by Piotr Mikusek, used with permission.
It was a fantastic time! During the three days of the conference I met amazing people from all over the world who, regardless of their age or academic background, shared a passion for children’s literature and art, both past and more contemporary. However, it was not only the love of books for young readers that made this conference so special, but above all the sense of mission and the belief, expressed among others by Meg Rosoff, American author of books for children and adults, during the conference, that dealing with children’s literature is not only a privilege, but also a duty. I also cannot count how many times words like agency and activism were mentioned. The conference was outstanding, the speakers were compelling and the sessions I attended were very informative. I also enjoyed the networking as I was able to meet people who have been for years giving direction to both Polish and foreign research on children’s literature, as well as beginners who, like me, are just starting their adventure with children’s literature.
Presentation by Gabriela Niemczynowicz-Szkopek We support Girls Today so They Change the World Tomorrow. Shaping Girls’ Agency” in the Contemporary Polish Magazine “Kosmos dla Dziewczynek (“Cosmos for Girls”) – photo by Piotr Mikusek, used with permission.
If I were to try to briefly sum up “The Child and the Book 2022 Conference”, I would say: countless inspirations, pages of scribbled notes, and reaffirming once again how important children’s literature is. And all in a unique atmosphere and a real willingness to act.
A narrow street in the center of Valletta leading to the sea – photo by Gabriela Niemczynowicz-Szkopek.
St. Publius in Floriana – photo by Gabriela Niemczynowicz-Szkopek.
An important element creating the atmosphere of the event was Valetta itself with its wonderful Mediterranean climate, diverse cuisine, and fascinating culture. I am very happy that I was able to participate in “The Child and the Book 2022 Conference” and I am already looking forward to other academic opportunities and challenges.
Gabriela Niemczynowicz-Szkopek on the day of the conference – photo by Piotr Mikusek, used with permission.
View of the sea from Valetta’s ancient walls – photo by Gabriela Niemczynowicz-Szkopek.
Post by Gabriela Niemczynowicz-Szkopek, placed by Olga Strycharczyk
We are happy to present the results of the stage “Hope” of the Our Mythical Childhood project (ERC Consolidator Grant No 681202). The volume Our Mythical Hope: The Ancient Myths as Medicine for the Hardships of Life in Children’s and Young Adults’ Culture, edited by Katarzyna Marciniak, Warsaw: University of Warsaw Press, 2021, 836 pp., is available in Open Access on the Publisher’s website.
More books gathering the research results of all the stages of the Our Mythical Childhood Programme (est. 2011):
Loeb Classical Library Foundation Grant (2012–2013):
Katarzyna Marciniak, ed., Our Mythical Childhood… The Classics and Literature for Children and Young Adults, vol. 8 in the series “Metaforms: Studies in the Reception of Classical Antiquity”, Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2016, 526 pp., Open Access
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Alumni Award for Innovative Networking Initiatives (2014–2017) and ERC Consolidator Grant (2016–2022):
Katarzyna Marciniak, ed., Chasing Mythical Beasts: The Reception of Ancient Monsters in Children’s and Young Adults’ Culture, vol. 8 in the series “Studien zur europäischen Kinder- und Jugendliteratur / Studies in European Children’s and Young Adult Literature”, Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2020, 623 pp., Open Access
ERC Consolidator Grant (2016–2022), in the series “Our Mythical Childhood” at the University of Warsaw Press:
Lisa Maurice, ed., Our Mythical Education: The Reception of Classical Myth Worldwide in Formal Education, 1900–2020, published 2021, 580 pp., Open Access
Katarzyna Marciniak, ed., Our Mythical History: Children’s and Young Adults’ Culture in Response to the Heritage of Ancient Greece and Rome (forthcoming)
Elizabeth Hale and Miriam Riverlea, illustrations by Steve K. Simons, Classical Mythology and Children’s Literature… An Alphabetical Odyssey (forthcoming)
Susan Deacy, illustrations by Steve K. Simons, What Would Hercules Do? Lessons for Autistic Children Using Classical Myth (forthcoming)
Sonya Nevin, ed., Teaching Ancient Greece: Lesson Plans, Animations, and Resources (forthcoming)
Katarzyna Marciniak, ed., Our Mythical Nature: The Classics and Environmental Issues in Children’s and Young Adults’ Culture (forthcoming)
Our Mythical Childhood Blog 