Brainstorming Storybook Styles (Week 3)

Epimetheus by Peter Paul Rubens

Topic: My Storybook will be about the children of Clymene.  I was thinking of doing something like a family reunion or maybe like a day in the life of the separate children in modern times.  I would definitely include Prometheus, Atlas, Phaethon, and then maybe a story combining Epimetheus and Menoitios.  The story of Phaethon is one that I would pull from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.   With Prometheus, there is the obvious story about him stealing the fire, but I think I will focus on him being a champion for humanity and being subjected to his punishment.  For Atlas, I will go with the most famous story.  As punishment for being against the gods, he was to hold up the heavens.  Also, I want to include something about him being tricky.  The last two are a little bit harder to find stories about.  Menoitios was sent to the Underworld as punishment for siding with Atlas and the titans.  Epimetheus was supposed to help Prometheus full the earth.  He created the animals and married Pandora.

Bibliography:

The story of Phaethon:

Prometheus: 

Prometheus Theoi Page 

Atlas Theoi Page

Possible styles:

I think that I would like to tell the stories from the third person (omniscient) points of view of the children of Clymene.  I think that I will try to set it as if the characters are preparing for a family reunion.  It would give them their own individual stories and perspective while still focusing on the group as a whole.  I also think it would make for a really interesting story.  I am thinking that I would like to connect the stories with a frame-tale.  I think the frame would be something along the lines of all of the characters sitting down over dinner and then the individual stories would be them recalling their days. 

Another possibility would be to center the stories around Phaethon’s funeral and I could use that as the frame for the other stories.  This could be interesting, however it might be harder to tie in each individual story.

Another possible style would be Menoitios watching or hearing about his siblings from within the Underworld.  This version would be more of a storytelling than the others.  I could do this one from the first person point of view and have someone tell him about the happenings with the others.

                The last possibility would be for a frame-tale from the first person point of view of Clymene, looking down on the happenings of her children.  This would be fairly easy to do, however it would probably be less creative than the other options I’ve listed out above.