living in a land of myths

I don’t know if you realize this but I live in a land of myths and legends. Zeus, Poseidon and Hercules are regular guests in my home. Think you see a five-headed hydra? Don’t worry – my son has you covered. That’s right – mythology is the latest craze around here.

Six months ago it was all sharks, all the time. We have read books about sharks until their pages fell out. We have assorted sharks that have had many an adventure and my son can tell you each of them by name. Ocean boat to go exploring? We’ve got that too. He’s monopolized the attention of the zoo keeper in the aquarium area for 20 minutes asking questions. The boy likes sharks.

He’s still fascinated by sharks but the majority of his current focus – and believe me, when he wants to this boy can focus – is all about mythology. His sisters (and me) have been reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. They are very fun books. On par with Harry Potter – dangerous quests, loyal friends, suspense. They reference and weave mythology into the story enough that I bought a mythology book for the kids to better understand the references. They all like that book too.

A few weekends ago we went to see the movie based (loosely based) on the first book of the series. I took J along because it was rated PG and while the monsters were pretty darn scary he handled it well and I was left with only minor bruises where he squeezed my arm at the scary parts. Since that movie his free imaginative play is all about the Greek gods, heroes and monsters. He’s built tridents and lightning bolts out of legos. He’s made up a Hercules costume. This week’s letter at preschool was “Z” and he was beside himself with excitement to draw a picture of what Z is for – Zeus of course.

I’ve heard other parents of young boys say these obsessions are normal. And I can tell you they are quite different from the obsessions of young girls. My girls played a lot of princesses in their day but never with quite the all-consuming fervor that my son plays, reads and talks about his latest craze. Apparently this week at preschool J even gave his class his interpretation of the Hercules myth – and according to his teachers it was pretty accurate.

He’s soaking it up. It seems like a funny thing for a five year old to like but it’s right up his alley. He’s always liked things that focus on the battle of good vs evil (super heroes, star wars etc). Now he’s got a whole new spectrum of characters and stories to delve into. Who knew mythology could be so fun?