Padraic Colum (1881-1972) was an Irish poet, playwright and storyteller of the Irish Literary Revival, whose early plays, among them The Land (1905), were staged by the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. He moved to the United States in 1914 and became one of the best-known retellers of myth and legend for young readers, with books including The King of Ireland's Son (1916), The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy (1918), The Children of Odin (1920) and The Golden Fleece (1921). He also published many volumes of poetry and lived and taught for years in New York.
Notable works
The King of Ireland's Son (1916)
The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy (1918)
“He sang how at first Earth and Heaven and Sea were all mixed and mingled together. There was neither Light nor Darkness then, but only a Dimness. This was Chaos.”
The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles is Padraic Colum's retelling for young readers of the voyage of the Argo, with many other Greek myths woven into it as stories told by the heroes on the way. It was published in New York by Macmillan in 1921, with illustrations by Willy Pogány, and was named a Newbery Honor book in 1922.
