La Fontaine’s Reeds
La Fontaine’s Reeds

Adapting Greek Mythical Heroines to Model Resilience

Author(s): Krishni Burns
Subject(s): Pre-WW I & WW I (1900 -1919), Interwar Period (1920 - 1939), WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Transformation Period (1990 - 2010)
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Theseus and the Minotaur; Ariadne; Helen of Troy; Trojan War; young adult literature; resilience; psychology
Summary/Abstract: This chapter explores the behaviors and attitudes displayed by female characters in juvenile novelizations of Greek myths that promote psychological resilience. Four novels are analyzed using the American Psychological Association’s guidelines for the promotion of resiliency in children and youth. Two novels focus on the Trojan cycle, "Inside the Walls of Troy: A Novel of the Women Who Lived the Trojan War" by Clemence McLaren and "Goddess of Yesterday" by Caroline Cooney, while the other two, "Lost in the Labyrinth: A Novel" by Patrice Kindl and "Dark of the Moon" by Tracy Barrett, adapt the Minotaur myth. In each case, the female main characters experience traumatic events, but use recognized psychological coping mechanisms to endure with fortitude.

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