Tengerek, szigetek, mítosz: A kortárs magyar gyerekpróza antikvitásképe

The aim of the article is to give a panoramic view about the reception of ancient culture in contemporary Hungarian children’s literature. Because of the almost total disappearance of Latin and Greek instruction from secondary school education, the only way to present Antiquity to this generation is through literature, which carries genuine aesthetic and ethic messages. This analysis focuses on short stories and novels written in the last decade for children aged 8-12, highly influenced by the international trends of films and computer games which adapt Greek mythology for a popular entertaining narration (see the detective stories of F. Lenk or the action thriller series Percy Jackson by R. Riordan). The works analysed (Ida and the Golden Fleece by K. Baráth, Csoda and Kósza by Z. Czigány, the Siren-episode of J. Berg’s Rumini, Diabaz the Thunderbolt-throwing by E. Szakács, The Garden of Malena by K. R. Molnár), on the contrary, offer the up-to-date versions of Greek myths retold in a poetic or humorous register. Making the children acquinted by the most important elements of greco-roman culture, by the transmission of the humaniora, they help as well to create a humanistic attitude.The aim of the article is to give a panoramic view about the reception of ancient culture in contemporary Hungarian children’s literature. Because of the almost total disappearance of Latin and Greek instruction from secondary school education, the only way to present Antiquity to this generation is through literature, which carries genuine aesthetic and ethic messages. This analysis focuses on short stories and novels written in the last decade for children aged 8-12, highly influenced by the international trends of films and computer games which adapt Greek mythology for a popular entertaining narration (see the detective stories of F. Lenk or the action thriller series Percy Jackson by R. Riordan). The works analysed (Ida and the Golden Fleece by K. Baráth, Csoda and Kósza by Z. Czigány, the Siren-episode of J. Berg’s Rumini, Diabaz the Thunderbolt-throwing by E. Szakács, The Garden of Malena by K. R. Molnár), on the contrary, offer the up-to-date versions of Greek myths retold in a poetic or humorous register. Making the children acquinted by the most important elements of greco-roman culture, by the transmission of the humaniora, they help as well to create a humanistic attitude