Browsing through different storybook topics, I've had a hard time narrowing down ides for my storybook. I know I would like for my storybook to focus on a single group of characters. I want the stories in my storybook to be continuous, like individual excerpts from one big story, but beyond that I'm still looking at a variety of characters from different periods and cultures.
The first topic I have become interested in revolves around the story of Hypermnestra, a Grecian woman, one of 50 sisters fathered by Danaus. There are several parts to her story. Her and her sisters are charged by their father with murdering their husbands on their wedding night and Hypermnestra is the only one who fails to go through with it. Her father tries to have Hypermnestra taken to court and tried for her life, but her life is saved and she is eventually reunited with her husband Lynceus. I don't know many of the details of the story, but I love the bones of it. There are so many different parts to this story: Danaus's plan, Hypermnestra and Lynceus' wedding night and why she chooses not to kill him, Hypermnestra's arrest, Lynceus's plan for revenge, the fate of Hypermnestra, Lynceus, and the rest of the characters. I love the idea of working from the points of view of both Hypermnestra as well as her husband Lynceus. I think it would be cool to learn the story from a mixture of points of view. Hypermnestra's story is told in many different forms by many different authors. There are several versions of the story translated online. Further part of Hypermnestra's story is told in Aeschylus's The Suppliant Women. Geoffrey Chaucer also wrote a prose poem describing the legend of Hypermnestra, which is available online. One part of Hypermnestra's story is told in a letter from Hypermnestra to Lynceus in The Epistles of Ovid. I would love to remake this letter and include a story behind it in my storybook.
Hypermnestra to Lynceus P. Ovidius Naso's The Epistles of Ovid retold in prose by London J. Nunn (1813).
Another set of characters I came across that interested me were those in the Gaelic Fenian cycle of mythology. I particularly liked the characters Diarmuid, Grainne, and Fionn. There are many different stories including Diarmuid and Fionn, but I particularly like the story of The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne. This story outlines the meeting of these three characters. Grainne is betrothed to Fionn, who is older even than her father. She instantly becomes enamored with one of his warriors (Diarmuid) and convinces him to run away with her. This story is also interesting because it is thought to have influenced the story of Tristan and Iseult. Whether I would note that as an interesting point, try to entwine the stories together, or tell them parallel to each other, I'm not sure, but I do think the connection is interesting. Diarmuid was a warrior of the Fianna, part of the Fenian cycle of Irish mythology. There are many different translations of The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne online, as well as many translations of stories from the Fenian cycle of Irish mythology. Many of these stories include characters which are also present in The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne. I would be interested in using the different stories from the Fenian Cycle in order to get ideas for minor characters which may have played a role in the stories of Diarmuid and Grainne.
The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne, Ethna Carbery's In the Celtic Past (1904).
I really love Hector and Andromache from Ancient Greek stories. I like the idea of making a storybook about them, and including stories about them together, as well as stories about Helen of Troy and Paris told from each of their perspectives. After Hector's death, Andromache goes on to live a long life in which she is married to two other men and bears 5 more children. In this storybook I would include stories of Andromache after Hector's death. I would love to include the episode from the Iliad in which Andromache and Hector see each other one last time before battle. I think this story is a beautiful representation of the loyalty and love that was between them, and I think it is an important story in order to understand the motivations, the values, and the dynamics of both Hector, Andromache, and their relationship.
Hector and Andromache, Homer's Iliad retold by Alfred J. Church (1907).
I also love stories of the King Arthur and the knights of the round table. I would love to focus on either King Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere, and Morgan le Faye, or a combination of those four characters. There are many different accounts of the Arthurian legends, and many different stories within them. One of the stories I would like to include is part of the Lancelot Propre portion of the Vulgate cycle of the Arthurian legends. This story tells of the first kiss of Guinevere and Lancelot. It explains much about how their affair started, and I think it would be a cool story to explore in order to give some insight into the motives and mind of Guinevere particularly, but Lancelot as well. There are so many different tellings of the stories of King Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere, and the rest of the Arthurian characters. There are several different translations of the French prose Lancelot, as well as many manuscripts in its written French which are available online. The UnTextbook also includes a unit including stories from King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang.
The First Kiss, Timeless Myths (Arthurian Legends) Jimmy Joe. (1999).
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