#000443
Famous Myths of the Golden Age
Retold by Beatrice Alexander; illustrated by Florian
*Famous Myths of the Golden Age* is a mid-century children's retelling of Greek mythology, the kind of handsome, sturdily illustrated volume that introduced a generation to Pandora, Midas, and the labors of Hercules. Beatrice Alexander retells the great stories—the Gorgon's head, Phaeton's disastrous ride, the Golden Fleece, Cupid and Psyche, the wanderings of Ulysses—in clear, kid-friendly prose, and the artist known simply as Florian supplies color and black-and-white pictures in the warm, decorative style of 1947. Published by Random House, it belongs to that lineage of postwar mythology books that treated children as capable of real stories rather than watered-down ones. There's nothing scholarly about it, and it smooths the myths' rougher edges, but it does what a good first mythology should: it makes the old tales vivid and inviting. A nostalgic pleasure and a fine gateway for young readers.
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The book
Famous Myths of the Golden Age is a 1947 Random House volume in which Beatrice Alexander retells classic Greek (and a few Roman) myths for young readers. Its roughly sixty pages gather the durable favorites—Pandora's box, the Gorgon's head, King Midas, Phaeton and the horses of the sun, the Golden Fleece, Cupid and Psyche, the labors of Hercules, Persephone's pomegranate seeds, and the wanderings of Ulysses—each told simply and briskly.
The illustrations
Much of the book's character comes from the artist credited only as "Florian," whose color and black-and-white pictures give it the decorative, storybook look of its era. For collectors of vintage children's books, the illustration is a large part of the appeal.
How it has aged
As a piece of scholarship it is nothing; as a first door into mythology it is charming and effective. It tidies the myths for children—softening their violence and eros—in the manner of its time, which is exactly why it feels nostalgic now. It remains a warm introduction and a pleasant object in its own right.
For more context
Readers can graduate to fuller retellings such as those of Bulfinch or the D'Aulaires, and eventually to Ovid and Homer.
Sources - Biblio - Boston Public Library
- Type
- Book
- Author / Maker
- Retold by Beatrice Alexander; illustrated by Florian
- Publisher
- Random House
- Place of publication
- New York
- Year
- 1947
- ISBN
- None
- Shelf
- Fiction
- Location
- Colorado
Places