Classical Antiquity is a particularly important field in terms of “Hope studies” […]. For centuries, the ancient tradition, and classical mythology in particular, has been a common reference point for whole hosts of creators of culture, across many parts of the world, and with the new media and globalization only increasing its impact. Thus, in our research at this stage, we have decided to study how the authors of literary and audiovisual texts for youth make use of the anci...

One day, according to the Ancient Greek author Xenophon, the hero Hercules “went out to a quiet place and sat, pondering”. This book explores what happened here and how and why it can resonate with autistic young people. The book presents a set of ten lessons, each dealing with an aspect of what happened when Hercules entered the quiet place, met two women (or goddesses, or personifications…) and was tasked to make a choice between two paths, literal and metaphorical. The les...

This work is a fascinating attempt to probe deep into the socio-cultural ramifications of the visual artefacts of ancient India, which has a rich heritage of iconographic treasures of varying sizes and styles. The art objects selected for analysis are mainly from the Mathura region of the Kushan era and belong to a period between 50–60 and 300 of the Common Era. This period is perceived as that of ‘multicultural environment’ enriched with different streams of tradition. Ac...

Why do: Dutch babies seem so content, and sleep so well? Dutch parents let their kids play outside on their own? The Dutch trust their children to bike to school? Dutch schools not set homework for the under-tens? Dutch teenagers not rebel? What is the secret of bringing up the happiest kids in the world? The secret of bringing up the happiest kids in the world. In a recent UNICEF study of child well-being, Dutch children came out on top as the happiest all-round. In Growing ...