Note to Disney: These Ancient Stories Came First!

Mithradates, the subject of Adrienne Mayor's excellent book, THE POISON KING,  became legendary for not only taking Rome down a peg or two, but for surviving countless assassination-via-poisoning attempts throughout his lifetime. How’d he do it? By imbibing just a little bit of poison every day until his body got used to it. In modern terms, he built up a tolerance, which made him seem indestructible. 

The story kept nagging at me. Where had I heard something similar? And then it came to me.

Before there was this:    

The dashing hero of The Princess Bride, Wesley, made himself immune to poison by taking a little bit of each day, thus tricking the bad guy, Vizzini.

There was this: 

Mithradates protected himself from assassins by making himself so toxic, few poisons had any chance of working on him. But Mithradates wasn't the only ancient character that inspired modern tales. Consider...

Before there was this: 

Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer's Apprentice in Fantasia.

There was this:

Mickey's adventure was actually inspired by a story from ancient Egypt. See an earlier post of mine for a look at how similar the stories really are: 

http://historywithatwist.blogspot.com/2009/04/waitdisney-stole-from-ancients.html

Before there was this:

There was this:

The story of Rhodopis and the Slipper is the story of a Greek woman who was turned into a slave in Egypt. The Pharaoh wanted her, but she could only be identified by a missing red slipper. Since the story can be dated to Ptolemaic times (when the Greeks ruled Egypt) it was really a political metaphor justifying Greek rule in Egypt. Disney, though, turned it into the sticky-sweet love story we think of Cinderella today. 


It's fascinating to me how many of Disney's movies have their roots in ancient stories. Still, it explains why they always seem so timeless.


And it also explains why I kept craving popcorn while reading Mayor's book!

                            

Book Review: KING OF ITHAKA

To be fair, I was predisposed to like this book. A lot. After all, I love just about any and all retellings of the ancient myths and legends. So, when I heard the premise of Tracy Barrett’s, KING OF ITHAKA, I was already sold.

            The story of Odysseus’ return told through his son, Telemachus? Brilliant!

            A centaur side-kick? Love it!

       A son of Odysseus that hates the sea and sailing? Ha, perfect!

And, of course, there is the terrific cover. My own thirteen-year-old took one look at the it, and exclaimed, “Whoa! Let me see!”

Thankfully, the story lives up to the arresting cover.  Telemachus comes across as a very real teenager, fighting competing impulses to do the right thing versus just kicking back and enjoying himself. He is pushed beyond his comfort level to search for his father, even though he has ambivalent feelings about his possible return.

The mythological creatures—especially his best friend, the centaur, Brax—are vividly drawn, so much so that I found myself wishing there were more of them. Meeting familiar characters from the Odyssey—including Penelope, Odysseus’s father, the boorish men eating them out of palace and home, and even Odysseus’s old dog, Argos—felt both familiar and enjoyable.

And therein lies the risk in retelling the great stories: falling into the predictability of the  “familiar and enjoyable.” Barrett, however, deftly sidesteps this pitfall with a series of surprises that I found both plausible and thought-provoking. I’d love to share them with you but I don’t want to give them away. Just trust me on this—you may find yourself looking at some of the characters in the Odyssey in a whole new way.

For those parents and teachers wondering what to suggest to kids who have outgrown the the Rick Riordan (THE LIGHTNING THIEF) series, KING OF ITHAKA is an excellent choice. Highly recommended!