It’s an old city, yet so modern. There, on the junkyard’s edge. A city entirely made of tin cans. They call it… what else? Ntenekedoupoli [city of tin cans]. Here is where Melenios was headed on his Great Journey. Enchanted by a daisy and the stories of the well-travelled mouse, tired of sleeping on the shelf of the old storage shed, he ventured out onto the road and threw himself into the adventure towards freedom. He came across mountains, trees, and birds; he met the wise old Kalamari. He wasn’t fooled by pompous leaders; he wasn’t afraid of a figure made of straw with bulging eyes set up to scare him. He went on to meet Sardela, Militsa, and Boutirenio, to live equally among them and to join forces for justice.
A few words about the story: Melenios’s great journey to Ntenekedoupoli is a coming-of-age allegory. Our hero, a modern-day Odysseus, thirsty for knowledge and a genuine life, leaves behind a purposeless daily life and boldly plunges into adventure in search of a world that is free, just, and filled with values that seem to have been lost.
