Stories from Greek mythology as an adventure world and as a classic educational asset. Paths to mythology in primary and lower secondary education against the background of multimedial children’s culture

Abstract

This article explores the question of how children access themes and motives from Greek mythology today. Children’s media experience and results of representative empirical studies on reading and media behavior are outlined. Furthermore the connection between the appropriation of myths by East German writers (Peter Hacks, Heiner Müller, Christa Wolf) and the creation of adaptations for children and adolescents is described. In this context, the poetological and poetic work of the writer Franz Fühmann is outlined. His conception of myths as models of human experiences is laid out as the basis for the conceptual development of literary projects with younger children. Using teaching models focusing on the topic of the Trojan War as an example, children’s pathways into the topic matter of Greek mythology are described and the results of the children’s reception and production processes are presented.