This die-cut book is part of a collection by María Paz López that explores Greek papyri through story-telling. Beautiful illustrations in an evocative palette by Carmen Sáez bring to life the content of lesser-known papyri to a younger audience.
Las aventuras de Calígone y las Amazonas is based on papyri P. Oxy 5355 and PSI 981, and it presents a fictional interpretation of the characters, territories and stories they contain. Having read this book to my younger children, who are six and eight, I can attest to its allure. They found the story appealing and asked plenty of questions about the illustrations. Telling them that these stories had been buried in the sand for hundreds of years certainly added to the excitement! But this is more than a children's book: if you follow the QR, you can immerse yourself in María Paz's research of Greek novels and papyrology. You can listen to her talking about the project in this video.
I have reviewed the Spanish copy, but it has also been translated into German, modern Greek, Catalan, Persian, and English. The website has some of the versions, but at the moment of writing this is still in the process of being published.
This book will appeal to those interested in classical reception and literature for young people. It would also be an excellent addition for Classical departments, particularly in schools with bilingual students who might enjoy reading in a second language.
Nino may well be the first novel of which we have notice in the Western world. However, many of us will not have heard about it and, most probably, do not keep it as part of our teaching repertoire. I dare to say that, thanks to this momentous project by the University of Alicante, this is about to change.
María Paz López has been immersed in the philological study of Greek novels and papyri for over 30 years. This is more than a cute die-cut traditional children's story: it is a retelling of a work that has been sleeping for 2000 years, and it gives us a broader new perspective of the world of Greek speakers, a world that stretched beyond our traditional views of Greece and Rome in the first century BC and AD. Nino starts off in Mesopotamia, but then travels to Armenia and returns via Colchis, and even gets to spend time amongst the Amazons. The illustrations by Mar Gisbert evoke popular Assyrian reliefs and bring the time and place to the fore.
The book has been translated into German, modern Greek, Catalan and English, and the website – in Spanish at the time of writing – contains a very useful variety of materials that can be used to prepare to teach the topic, including philological reviews, podcasts, videos and the books themselves. Of particular notice are the readings in the original of the Greek papyri on which the book has been inspired: PBerol. 6926 + PGen. 85 and PSI 1305.
This book and accompanying resources, which can be easily accessed through the QR codes throughout, will be very useful for those teaching Classical Civilisation at all levels of the curriculum, particularly to support the study of the Persians, where resources can be scarcer.
At first sight, this traditionally looking cut-die book appears to be just another story about ancient Egypt. However, like the other titles in this collection, thorough philological work has taken place behind the story, which brings back to life a corpus of papyri that new discoveries and knowledge are now making more accessible.
This tale is based on the Greek story in the papyri P. Oxy. 1826, P. Oxy. 2466, P. Oxy. 5262, P. Oxy. 3319 and P. Oxy. 5263. The novel is one of the best documented, but until now the lacunae and scattered nature of the papyri made it difficult to access for a younger audience. María Paz has experimented with the format of traditional children's books to create a hypothetical interpretation of the plot, and she has indeed achieved a fantastic modern version that is appealing, educational and a pleasure to read. To add to this, the colourful illustrations by Joaquín González Dorao transport the reader to the world of the Southern Mediterranean and ancient Egypt in particular. Overall, the book gives the Greek novel depth and context and purpose, and helps the reader move through time and space in a fun and easy way. It has also been translated into German, modern Greek, Persian, Catalan and English.
NB: at the time of writing, the information for this book was not accessible on the accompanying website, but please see the reviews for Las aventuras de Calígone y las amazonas and Nino: las aventuras del Rey de Nínive to get an idea of what they will include when active. If you want to read about it in the meantime, I found the following article very useful: https://www.academia.edu/90534092/_La_traves%C3%ADa_del_fara%C3%B3n_Sesoncosis_Hip%C3%B3tesis_de_reconstrucci%C3%B3n_del_texto_de_la_novela_griega_ (accessed 19th April 2024).
This is a work of contemporary art based on María Paz López's investigative work on the Greek novel Parthenope. The artistic presentation is by Dalmau & Górriz, but it also contains additional sections to introduce the story and the process of recreating a lost narrative through fragments and ancient translations.
The book contains the following: a section on the context and the characters of the novel by the philologist María Paz López; an artistic reflection on the fragmentary narrative by Dalmau & Górriz; the illustrated work itself by Dalmau & Górriz, which mixes photographic collage with expanded illustrations and image synthesis; an appraisal of their project by Aramis López; and finally, two sections by María Paz López on the texts, their transmission and the reconstruction of the plot, including useful bibliographical references. Like the other books in the collection, a QR code gives access to additional resources, including a podcast about the papyri and two academic articles.
Bringing forth a fragmentary ancient novel through poetry and contemporary art is an interesting but challenging approach, and it is fantastic to see philology and art interacting in exciting new ways. From the aesthetical perspective, I must confess I did not find the artwork enticing and, particularly regarding the covers, it somewhat detracted from the meticulous and thorough work behind the project. However, this is the humble opinion of a philologist, not an art historian, and I may well not have fully understood the artwork. I encourage Classicists to engage directly with this piece and keep the conversation going. This book is especially recommended for those interested in classical reception and for Classicists with an interest in art, particularly A Level students who are also taking art courses.
Open access
