In preparation for the Summer term, the home learning is to read a variety of Greek myths and legends, such as Theseus and the Minotaur or Sparta and the Athenians, to name but a few. Then to write a review of one or more of the myths and legends on the Year 5 class blog, found on the Class 5 webpage (right0hand side).
Show your understanding and thoughts by answering these questions:
- What did you predict the myth would be about?
- Where there any surprises?
- Who were the main characters and were they heroes or villains?
- Was there any unfamiliar or ambitious vocabulary that you could magpie for your writing?
- Generate a question about the myth to challenge the class next term.
Well done for giving it a go. I wonder which myth is legendary and why?
Theseus.
Greek hero, especially national hero of Athens; slayer of the Minotaur.
It was by lifting a boulder that Theseus, grandson of the king of Troezen, first proved himself a hero. Theseus was sixteen at the time. He had been raised by his grandfather and his mother, Princess Aethra. One day the princess called Theseus to her side. It was time, she said, that he learned of his father, who was ruler of a mighty kingdom. This was news to Theseus, who had been under the impression that his father was one of the gods.
“Before I divulge his identity,” said the princess, “you must meet the challenge your father has set you.”
Years ago, the king had hefted a mighty stone. Underneath he had placed something for his son to find – if he could lift the weight. Aethra guided Theseus to a forest clearing, in the midst of which was a boulder. Theseus proceeded to lift the stone easily, or so the myth-tellers generally assume. But like most myths, this one is vague about the details. According to one theory, Theseus would have had trouble with a task involving brute strength.
This theory was advanced by Mary Renault in her novel The King Must Die. It is based on the tradition that Theseus invented “scientific” wrestling. This is the discipline by which even a lightweight can beat a stronger adversary by fancy footwork, trick holds and using the opponent’s momentum to advantage. Theseus would have had little cause to invent such tactics if he’d been capable of beating his adversaries by sheer physical strength. Therefore one may deduce that the hero was a lightweight. So when it came to lifting boulders, Theseus was at a disadvantage. Resourcefulness, another heroic trait, must have come to his aid. He would have looked for some mechanical means to multiply his physical strength.
Beneath the stone Theseus found certain tokens left by his father. His name, Aethra now revealed, was King Aegeus of Athens. Prompted by a sense of heroic destiny, Theseus set out forthwith to meet this parent he had never known. He determined to journey to Athens by land, although his mother argued for the safer route by sea. And in fact the landward route proved to be infested by an unusual number of villains, thugs and thieves. Theseus quickly adopted the credo of doing unto these bad guys what they were in the habit of doing to others.
Setting out from Troezen, his birthplace, the first community of any size through which he passed was Epidaurus. Here he was waylaid by the ruffian Periphetes. Periphetes was nicknamed Corynetes or “Club-Man”, after his weapon of choice, a stout length of wood wrapped in bronze to magnify its impact upon the skulls of his victims. Theseus merely snatched this implement from Periphetes and did him in with it. Some say that this incident was manufactured to account for depictions of Theseus carrying a club like his cousin Heracles, one of a number of instances on Theseus’s part of heroic imitation.
The next malefactor who received a dose of his own medicine was a fellow named Sinis, who used to ask passers-by to help him bend two pine trees to the ground. Why the wayfarers should have wanted to help in this activity is not disclosed. Presumably Sinis was persuasive. Once he had bent the trees, he tied his helper’s wrists – one to each tree. Then he took a break. When the strain became too much, the victim had to let go, which caused the trees to snap upright and scatter portions of anatomy in all directions. Theseus turned the tables on Sinis by tying his wrists to a couple of bent pines, then letting nature and fatigue take their course.
Then, not far from Athens, Theseus encountered Sciron. This famous brigand operated along the tall cliffs which to this day are named after him. He had a special tub in which he made each passing stranger wash his feet. While they were engaged in this sanitary activity, Sciron kicked them over a cliff into the ocean below, where they were devoured by a man-eating turtle. Theseus turned the tables on Sciron, just as he had turned them on Pine-Bender.
Perhaps the most interesting of Theseus’s challenges on the road to adventure came in the form of an evildoer called Procrustes, whose name means “he who stretches.” This Procrustes kept a house by the side of the road where he offered hospitality to passing strangers. They were invited in for a pleasant meal and a night’s rest in his very special bed. If the guest asked what was so special about it, Procrustes replied, “Why, it has the amazing property that its length exactly matches whomsoever lies upon it.”
What Procrustes didn’t volunteer was the method by which this “one-size-fits-all” was achieved, namely as soon as the guest lay down Procrustes went to work upon him, stretching him on the rack if he was too short for the bed and chopping off his legs if he was too long. Theseus lived up to his do-unto-others credo, fatally adjusting Procrustes to fit his own bed.
When at last Theseus arrived in Athens to meet his father King Aegeus for the first time, the encounter was far from heartwarming. Theseus did not reveal his identity at first but was hailed as a hero by the Athenians, for he had rid the highway of its terrors. In honor of his exploits, he was invited to the palace for a banquet. Serving as hostess was his father’s new wife, Medea.
This was the same Medea who had helped Jason harvest a crop of armed warriors and steal the Golden Fleece out from under the nose of the dragon that guarded it. Jason had eventually abandoned Medea, and she had grown understandably bitter. Now she sized up Theseus and decided that he was a threat to her own son’s prospects of ruling Athens after King Aegeus. In fact, Medea’s magic disclosed the identity of Theseus. Years before, she had aided Aegeus, who was desperate for an heir. It was Medea’s power that ensured the birth of Theseus to Princess Aethra of Troezen. Though he left instructions with Aethra should a child be born, Aegeus had either forgotten the incident or despaired of a birth.
Now Medea played on the king’s insecurity. Surely the stranger at the banquet was too popular for the good of the throne. With the people behind him, he might well seize it for himself. Medea persuaded King Aegeus to serve Theseus poisoned wine. And the hero, unawares, would have drunk it had he not paused first to carve his dinner. This, at any rate, is the prosaic version of the myth. Romantics claim that Theseus drew his sword not to mince his boar’s meat but because he had chosen the dramatic moment to reveal his identity.
In any case, Aegeus recognized the pattern on the sword’s hilt. This was his own weapon, which he had left under a rock for his son to discover. Aegeus dashed the poisoned cup to the ground. Medea, meanwhile, stormed out and made her escape in a chariot pulled by dragons.
Theseus was now the recognized heir to the kingdom of Athens. Thus he was on hand when King Minos of Crete arrived to collect his periodic tribute of young men and maidens to be sacrificed to the Minotaur. Because his son had died while in the safekeeping of the Athenians, Minos exerted the power of the Cretan navy to enforce this onerous demand.
The Minotaur was a monster, half-man, half-bull, that lived in the center of a maze called the Labyrinth. It had been born to Minos’s wife Pasiphae as a punishment from the gods. Minos had been challenged to prove that he was of divine parentage, so he called on the sea god Poseidon to send him a sign. The god obliged, and a beautiful white bull emerged from the sea. Minos liked it so much that he neglected to sacrifice it to the gods, as he should have done. As a punishment, Poseidon caused the king’s wife to fall in love with the bull. She had the master craftsman Daedalus build her a hollow cow in which to approach the beast. As a result, the Minotaur was born. The monster is generally depicted as having the head of a bull and the body of a man. But in the Middle Ages, artists portrayed a man’s head and torso on a bull’s body.
Some say that Theseus expressed his solidarity with his fellow citizens of Athens by volunteering to be one of the victims. Others maintain that Minos noticed the handsome young prince and chose him to be sacrificed. In any case, Theseus became one of the fated fourteen who embarked with the Cretan fleet.
The sea upon which they sailed was the domain of Poseidon, who together with his brothers Zeus and Hades were the three most powerful gods of the Greek pantheon. They divided up creation, Zeus taking Mount Olympus and the sky, Hades the Underworld and Poseidon the sea. But there were other deities of the watery depths, notably the “old man of the sea”, the god Nereus, with his fifty daughters, the Nereids. When Theseus was en route to Crete, he encountered one of these divinities.
As the tribute ship drew near to harbor, King Minos made rude advances to one of the Athenian maidens and Theseus sprang to her defense, claiming this was his duty as a son of Poseidon. (Theseus, of course, also claimed to be the son of King Aegeus, but a true hero could be inconsistent in such matters.) Minos suggested that if Theseus’s divine parentage were anything but a figment of his imagination, the gods of the sea would sponsor him. So Minos threw his signet ring overboard and challenged Theseus to dive in and find it.
This Theseus did, being abetted indeed by the deities of the depths. Not only did he retrieve the ring from the underwater palace into which it had fallen, but he was given a jewelled crown by one of the Nereids, either Thetis or Amphitrite.
It was not long after he arrived in Crete that the hero encountered Princess Ariadne, daughter of King Minos. She fell in love with him at first sight. It was Ariadne who gave Theseus a clew which she had obtained from Daedalus. In some versions of the myth it was an ordinary clew, a simple ball of thread. It was to prove invaluable in his quest to survive the terrors of the Labyrinth.
The maze had been so cleverly and intricately contrived by the master builder Daedalus that once thrown inside, a victim could never find the way out again. Sooner or later, he or she would round a corner and come face to face with the all-devouring Minotaur. This was the fate which awaited Theseus.
It is clear from the myth that the Labyrinth was a maze from which none could escape because it was so diabolically meandering. Hence the Minotaur was not just its monster but its prisoner. But how exactly this worked as a practical matter with regard to the victims is less clear. Some versions of the myth have it that they were “enclosed” in the Labyrinth, as if it were a box.
But surely if the procedure were simply to push the victims in and then slam the door behind them, they would have cowered by the entrance rather than proceed into the terrors of the maze. Even if the guards threatened them with swords, it seems likely that some would have preferred the known death to being devoured alive by a monster. Nor could the guards have escorted the victims deep into the maze without getting lost themselves, or risking a run-in with the Minotaur.
Maybe Daedalus built a roof over his invention, so that the victims could be dropped through a trap door into the very center. But perhaps on the whole it’s better not to inquire too closely into the mechanics of the mythological.
When Theseus first entered the maze he tied off one end of the ball of thread which Ariadne had given him, and he played out the thread as he advanced deeper and deeper into the labyrinthine passages. Many artists have depicted Theseus killing the Minotaur with his sword or club, but it is hard to see how he could have concealed such bulky weapons in his clothing. More probable are the versions of the tale which have him coming upon the Minotaur as it slept and then, in properly heroic fashion, beating it to death with his bare fists. Then he followed the thread back to the entrance. Otherwise he would have died of starvation before making his escape.
Theseus now eloped with Ariadne, pausing only long enough to put holes in the bottom of her father’s ships so that he could not pursue. But Theseus soon abandoned the princess, either because he was bewitched by a god or because he had fallen in love with her sister Phaedra. Some say that he left Ariadne on the island of Naxos, but others maintain that such was his haste that he left her on the small island of Dia, within sight of the harbor from which they had sailed. The deserted and pining Ariadne has been a favorite theme of artists down through the ages.
As the ship bearing Theseus and his liberated fellow Athenians approached the promontory on which King Aegeus watched daily for his return, Theseus forgot the signal which he had prearranged with his father. The vessel’s sails were to be black only if the expedition concluded as on all previous occasions, with the death of the hostages. In the exultation of triumph, or in anguish over the loss of Ariadne, Theseus neglected to hoist a sail of a different hue, and King Aegeus threw himself from the heights in despair.
Theseus was now both king and bona fide hero, but this did not put an end to his adventuring. On one occasion he visited the Amazons, mythological warrior women who lived on the shores of the Black Sea. The Amazons were renowned horseback riders and especially skilled with the bow. They lived apart from men and only met with them on occasion to produce children for their tribe.
Some say that Theseus had encountered the Amazons before, on another post-Minotaur adventure in the company of Heracles. Heracles had been challenged to bring back the belt of the Amazon queen. The queen, for all her reputation of man-hating, had willingly given it to him. But the goddess Hera, who despised Heracles, stirred up trouble. A great battle ensued in which many Amazons were killed.
Now Theseus visited the Amazons on his own. Their leader, fearless and hospitable, came aboard his ship with a gift. Theseus immediately put to sea and kidnapped her. Unfortunately, the dubious nature of this achievement was matched if not exceeded in another of the hero’s quests.
It was the custom in early Greek historical times for the younger sons of noble houses to embark, in the fine sailing months of autumn, upon the honorable occupation of piracy. When Theseus received word that one such pirate and his crew were making off with the royal Athenian herds at Marathon, he raced to the seaside plain. He grabbed the miscreant by the scruff and spun him around to give him what for. But the moment king and pirate laid eyes upon one another, their enmity was forgotten.
“You’ve caught me fair and square,” said Peirithous, for this was the pirate’s name, and he was of the royal house of the Thessalian Lapiths. “Name your punishment and it shall be done,” said he, “for I like the looks of you.”
The admiration being mutual, Theseus named as penance an oath of perpetual friendship, and the two clasped hands upon it. And so, in the fullness of time, when Theseus decided to carry off young Helen of Sparta, Peirithous agreed to lend a hand. This was the same Helen whose face would “launch a thousand ships” when, as Helen of Troy, the lover and captive of the Trojan Paris, she caused the allies of her husband Menelaus to wage the Trojan War to bring her home.
At the time of Theseus’s contemplated abduction, however, she was a mere lass of thirteen. And Theseus, having succeeded in spiriting her off with Peirithous’s assistance, left her with his mother for safekeeping while he went about his business and she grew of marriageable age. But before this had come to pass she was rescued by her brothers, the hero twins, Castor and Pollux, whose conjoined starry constellation still brightens the night sky between fellow heroes Orion and Perseus.
One day not long after this escapade, Peirithous drew Theseus aside and spoke to him earnestly. “Remember when I agreed to help you with Helen?” he inquired, “and you pledged to help me in turn in any little outing of a similar nature?”
Theseus nodded and muttered yes.
“Good,” responded Peirithous. “Spoken like a true pal. Well, I’ve picked my little exploit. I’ve decided to make off with Persephone, wife of Hades, King of the Dead.”
Theseus was speechless at the very idea of this sacrilege, but a pledge is a pledge. And so the two set off for the Underworld via one of the convenient caverns leading thereto. And at length they fetched up before the throne of Hades. Lacking any false modesty, Peirithous boldly stated his business, adding that he was sure the god would concede that Persephone would be happier with himself.
Hades feigned consent. “Very well,” he said. “If you love her that much and you’re sure the feeling’s mutual, you may have Persephone. But first, join me in a cordial. Please, take a seat.”
He gestured at a bench nearby, and the two heroes, little thinking it was bewitched, seated themselves upon it. And here they stuck like glue. Meanwhile, Hades loosed a flock of torments upon them in the form of serpents and Furies and the fangs of the hellhound Cerberus, not to mention the infamous water of Tartarus that recedes as parched lips draw near.
And here the two heroes would be stuck today, were it not that Heracles happened to be passing by in furtherance of one of his Labors. Seeing his cousin Theseus’s plight he freed him with one heroic yank, leaving only a small portion of his hindparts adhering to the bench. But Heracles couldn’t or wouldn’t free Peirithous. And so Theseus’s pal pays for eternity the price of his heroic audacity
This is amazing stamina Zach. Which website or book did you refer to? I’d love to know.
Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology: Theseus – Mythweb
Pandora box.
Here are some names that I frowned, Promethazine, Epimetheus, Zeus, Pandora,Deceed, jealousy, hate, de spare, war,hope.
1: I thought it would be about someone opening a box.
2: yes the surprise was that there was evil in the box.
3: the main characters were Pandora and Zeus.
4: no only the names.
5: who were the main characters.
I like that you’ve been concise with your understanding of the myth plot. Have a read of the other comments in the class. What do you notice about what they’ve written, especially the question?
I don’t have a prediction and every one has: a prediction is something that you think the text/story is about. I don’t know what the question is, because my mum through it in the bin
Not to worry Fin. Well done for re-reading your home learning. We’ll talk about this tomorrow, but it was about the punctuation.
Daedalus and The Labyrinth
I predicted that this story, myth, legend thing is about a guy who went into a maze and died by a huge spider that stabbed him in the back with his fangs.
There were surprises because Daedalus didn’t go into The Labyrinth, he built it!
Daedalus is famous for being an inventor, he invented the Labyrinth for King Minos. He also invented wings so he and his son Icarus could escape from a tower where he was imprisoned because King Minos didn’t want Daedalus telling the public about the Labyrinth.
Daedalus created the wings by collecting feathers from seagulls and using candle and ear wax to stick the feathers together. Daedalus gave one pair of the wings to his son Icarus and told him; “Don’t fly too close to the sun and don’t fly to close to the waves because if you fly too close to the sun the wax will melt and if you fly too close to the waves the sea foam will ruin the feathers and you will fall and drown”.
The next day they flew into the sky and Icarus, forgetting his father’s advice, soared up into the sky and the sun melted the wax and the feathers fell apart and Icarus plunged down into the sea and drowned…
This story encourages others to consider the long-term consequences of their own inventions with great care, as those inventions can do more harm than good.
So my question is… Can you think of any other inventions that can create more harm than good???
Ooh, I REALLY love your evaluative question, as I have to really think hard about inventions. I think that the Atomic Bomb is one of the most fatal and cruel invention, because of it’s purpose. What’s your’s Sammy?
Medusa and the god Athena
I predict that the story was about a girl who made a god angry and Medusa might regret it .
The surprise was that i would have thought Medusa
would know not to speak harshly about a god when they believed that there gods were real ……
The main characters are Medusa and Athena the god of wisdom . I was not quite sure if there were any villains or heroes but i think that Athena was a hero because she banished Medusa so that Medusa could not harm anyone with here eyes because Athena had changed Medusa into a monster .
I think i could use the word innocent and fade because they give a lot of description and i think fade sound mysterious ….
Do you think Medusa regrets what she has done or do you agree with Medusa that she is more beautiful and powerful than Athena ???
I like the question Sapphy as you’ve given a choice of answers. What do you think?
Rhomulous & Rhemus
Princess Rhea Silvia had twin boys, Rhomulous & Rhemus.
Mars – God of War – was afraid that one day the boys would overthrow him, so he had them put in a basket & floated down the Tiber River. He was sure that they would drown & die.
A she-wolf rescued the boys & raised them with her cubs. One day some shepherds were walking & came across the she-wolf & one of them decided to take Rhomulous & Rhemus to live with him & his Wife.
When the boys were older & Rhemus was walking around a local village, he was captured & taken to the King.
When his Brother heard about this, he gathered some shepherds in a rescue attempt. They killed the King & saved Rhemus.
When the townspeople found out who the boys were, they wanted to crown them joint Kings, but the boys refused. They wanted to build their own town.
They argued which hill to have the town on – Rhemus wanted it on Palatine Hill and his Briother wanted it to be on Aventine Hill. They declared that they would wait for the Gods to give them a sign as to which Hill to choose.
When Rhemus saw six vultures & his Brother saw twelve, this was the sign they were waiting for which meant that Rhomulous had won.
Rhemus was jealous so he jumped up onto Rhomulous’ wall to show him that any enemies could easily attack. Rhomulous got so cross that he ended up killing his Brother.
Rhomulous went on to complete his town and on April 21st BC753 he finally finished his city.
Question for the class:
What do you think Rhomulous named his city?
(Hint; this city still exists today in Italy).
WOW – you’ve used a lot of effort Milli. I wonder if everyone can remember the Latin learning with Mrs Parsons on our Victorian day or back to your working in Year 4 with Miss Chall?
Another question for everyone…
Which body part on all of us is still named after the hero of a Greek Myth?
If you got that; can you find the real, medical, anatomical name?!
Ooh, I can’t wait to see what ideas we all have about your question Milli. I predict that it could be the cranium (head) as it sounds like an ancient Greek word. Am I right Milli? Don’t give it away, so that we can all have a go and you can check who is close. I love your independence with this task. Great thinking skills! ;o)
Pegasus
Pegasus was a flying horse. He was the son of Poseidon, the lord of the sea. His mother was the almighty monstrous Medusa with vicious snakes as hair.
It didn’t bother Pegasus that he was a horse, he felt special, after all he could fly! Pegasus had one problem… people were trying to kidnap him. Therefore, he was a flying horse! The gods always got involved when people tried to kidnap him, to keep him safe of course.
Pegasus was entirely safe under the gods protection, but he was very lonely. It was impossible to live with his dad under the sea. But most of all he really didn’t want to live with his mother, he hated snakes. In fact, he wasn’t fond of his mother either.
The other horses shied away from him. They thought of him as different and that he belonged nowhere. To satisfy himself he saved others wounded from battle. There are many stories of Pegasus carrying wounded and weak Greek soldiers safely from battle.
One day, Zeus decided to adopt Pegasus as his honorary friend and horse. He brought him to live on mount Olympus with him. Pegasus became the famous horse as their friendship grew. Not only where they friends the grew to become best friends. Pegasus finally had a home and a new best friends that Zeus could count on. Their friendship became the stuff of… myth.
I like the summary of the story Maddie. Look again at the task, have you completed all of the questions?
Ok Mrs Simpson i’ll do it now.
Wowh that must have taken you ages zackery !
THE STORY OF HADES AND PERSEPHONE.
The story of Hades and Persephone is a very popular story for the Greeks.
Hades was brother of Zues and God of the underworld.
Persephone was daughter of Demeter (goddess of nature) also known as Mother Nature.
The first time Hades eyes ever saw Persephone he instantly fell in love with her and wanted her to be with him in the underworld. So he decided to kidnap her. The myth says that it is one in rare times that he ever left the underworld, he traveled to the overworld to secretly Purseu her.
Hades confided his secret brother (Zues) and together they hatched a perfect plan so that when Persephone went into the flower field where Hades first saw Persephone the ground would break beneath her feet and send her plummeting down into the underworld,and it was there where Hades forced her to marrie him and live there forever.
But over the time Persephone grew to love the cold blooded Hades and it was like that for the rest of there life.
The myth of Hades and Persephone also has a different side when Persephone was kidnapped dementer was presant this story is called Persephone and the flower nicusieeus.
I like this myth because it has lots of drama and there is two sides of the story.
I liked your final sentence about why your liked the myth. Do you have a question to challenge someone in Year 5? Read the other comments to give you an idea of what your could ask?
Medusa and Athena.
This myth is the story of medusa and how vain she is. Medusa is always looking in the mirror and boasting to her friends how beautiful she is. One day she goes to the temple of the Greek Gods and starts being rude and saying she is more beautiful than Athena. Athena appears and tells her she is vain and foolish and turns her into a ugly monster with snakes on her head. She tells her that anyone she looks at will turn to stone, including herself if she looks in a mirror.
I liked this myth but thought they were both mean and vain, more like villains.
What happened to Medusa in the end?
I liked your evaluation at the end of your review. What do you think ‘vain’ means Luke?
worried about how they look.
The Greek myth I have chosen is Zeus, Hera, and little Io.
I thought the story might be about a Mum, a Dad and a small child.
I was surprised to find out that little Io was actually a lady Zeus fell in love with.
The main characters were Zeus, who was the God of the sky, Hera was Zeus’s wife and little Io, a lady Zeus fell in love with.
There was a lot of descriptive language such as “hurling thunderbolts”, “a glint on the river”, and “river nymph”.
The question I would ask the class is “What sea did Hera name after Io?”.
I also read Icarus and Daedalus, Andromeda, Perseus and the sea god Poseidon, Athena and Poseidon and Theseus and the Minotaur. The web link I used was http://greece.mrdonn.org I used this link as the stories were put into simpler terms and made them easier to understand. My Mum said she learnt a lot from me as being able to understand the stories helped me to retell them to her.
I really love that you shared your reading with your mum and that you used a range of resources to help you understand the plots and characters Bailey. Bravo!
i am doing Pandoras box
here is the story
Once up a time, a long time ago, there were two brothers named Epimetheus and Prometheus. They were good gods. They had good hearts. They were good friends.
One day, Prometheus got in trouble with Zeus. Angry over something or other, Zeus had declared that man did not deserve fire. Because he had a kind heart, and he knew how much man needed fire for food and warmth, Prometheus gave man the secret of fire even though Zeus had told all the gods not to do that. Zeus was furious that his order had been ignored. As punishment, Zeus chained Prometheus to a rock for many years.
But that was not enough punishment, not for Zeus. Once Prometheus was chained to a rock, Zeus went after Prometheus’ brother, the gentle, kind-hearted Epimetheus. Zeus did not chain Epimetheus to a rock. Zeus had a more sneaky punishment in mind.
First, Zeus ordered the gods’ handyman, the maker of things – Hephaestus – to make Zeus a daughter. Hephaestus made a woman out of clay, a beautiful woman. He brought her to life, and then brought her to Zeus. Zeus named his lovely new daughter Pandora.
Zeus knew that Epimetheus was lonely. Zeus told Epimetheus that his brother, Hephaestus, had to be punished and that’s why he was chained to a rock, but he felt sorry that this punishment left Epimetheus without the company of his brother. That’s why Zeus had decided to give Pandora in marriage to Epimetheus. It was not the truth of course, but then nearly everyone in the ancient Greek world knew better than to believe the mighty Zeus.
Epimetheus was kind-hearted and gentle and thoughtful, but he was no fool. He knew Zeus was up to something. But he loved Pandora at first sight.
Zeus gave the newlyweds a gift. Some say it was a jar. Some say it was a box. Whatever it was, it was locked. It came with a note. The note said: “DO NOT OPEN.” Attached to the note was a key. It was all very curious.
You can guess what happened next. It was Pandora whose curiosity got the better of her. One day, she used the key to open the box. As she raised the lid, out flew all the bad things in the world today – envy, sickness, hate, disease. Pandora slammed the lid closed, but it was too late.
Epimetheus heard her weeping. He came running. Pandora opened the lid to show him it was empty. Quickly, before she could slam the lid shut, one tiny bug flew out. He gave Pandora a big buggy smile in thanks for his freedom and flew away. That tiny bug was named Hope. And Hope made all the difference in the world.
answers
1. when i first saw the titel i thought the story was about a girl with a box with lots of treasures in it and it gets lost and she tries to find it but dosent succeed
2.no because i am already familiar with this story
3. v:villan
h:hero
epimetheus h v
prometheus h v
zeus h v
pandora h
4. the names
envy,buggy i could use them aswell
5.if you were pandora would you have opened the box or not?
I love your question. What would you have done Halle?
Jason and the Argonauts
I thought that the myth was about Jason and his crew sailing the seas in search of the Golden Fleece which I originally thought might be some kind of jumper. I also concluded that he might be trying to prove something.
I was surprised at the end of the story that the whole quest had been part of a big trick devised by the goddess Hera, to get revenge on Pelias. I was also surprised that Hercules left the crew to search for his squire because I thought that she was just his servant.
Main Characters:
Jason (Hero)
Medea (good)
Hera (villain)
Pelias (villain)
Hercules (good)
Zeus (good)
Interesting vocabulary:
Oracle – someone or something that provides answers or useful and believable information
Ignominy – Disgrace or Shame
Poseidon – Greek God of the sea
Question for the future:
Lots of people and monsters were killed by Jason and the Argonauts. Were all the killings necessary and intentional?
I love the vocabulary glossary Emily. This will really help us with our writing this term.
Thank you!🤗
The Myth I am studying is Medusa:
1. My prediction was that she boasted about herself every single day she thought she was so pretty ; because i have studied this myth before so i had good knowledge on the story beforehand.
2.I found the most surprising part of the story was when the figure that medusa was staring at changed to goddess Athena. I also found Athena changing Medusa into a petrifying monster a surprising part of the plot.
3. The main characters in the story were The Gorgan Sisters, the blind monsters, Athena and Medusa.
4. Vain and Gazing are descriptive adjectives and adverbs to portrait Medusa’s addiction to her beauty.
5. My Challenging question is: Why do you think Medusa had the inner confidence and belief that she was so beautiful? Where did this security come from?
MEDUSA! 🐍🐍🐍
Medusa broke her vow to live hidden by marrying Poseidon. As a punishment she became ugly and her once golden locks transformed to poisonous snakes.
Her eyes turned stonelike and blood shot and her skin coloured green. She fled to Africa where young snakes fell to the ground and that’s how Africa became a hot bed of venomous reptiles. If the evil Medusa set eyes on you, you would be paralysed to stone.
I. Why was Medusa punished in the first place?
Good question Noah. What’ another way of saying ‘in the first place’?
II. Medusa was villainous as was her husband Poseidon A.K.A Neptune because he was the God of the sea and could cause earthquakes where as Medusa transformed you in to stone..
III. My unfamiliar vocabulary is loathsome which means revolting and repulsive, and abhorred which means something that you really don’t like. Other words I could magpie are venomous, repulsive and tinge.
IV. I was surprised that Medusa was an innocent and kind young girl before she became a monster. I didn’t predict what was going to happen!
II. Medusa was villainous as was her husband Poseidon A.K.A Neptune because he was the God of the sea and could cause earthquakes where as Medusa transformed you in to stone..
III. My unfamiliar vocabulary is loathsome which means revolting and repulsive, and abhorred which means something that you really don’t like. Other words I could magpie are venomous, repulsive and tinge.
IV. I was surprised that Medusa was an innocent and kind young girl before she became a monster. I didn’t predict what was going to happen as the title of the myth is just the name of the main character!
Theseus and the Minotaur
Where there any surprises?
When Prince Theseus went in to the maze with the seven girls and six boys to fight the Minotaur i thought he was going to dye because that is what some times happens in films and also books so i was expecting him to dye from the monstrous beast!
Who were the main characters and were they heroes or villains?
The main characters:
Prince Theseus – He was a hero because he killed the Minotaur and saved the children of Athens.
Princess Ariadne – She is a hero because she helps the prince kill the Minotaur by giving him some items such as: a ball of string and and a sword!
King Minos – He is a villain because he kept a monstrous beast called the Minotaur and he always attacked the Athens for no reason at all.
King of the Athens – He is a hero because he always got threatened by King Minos and always had to follow his orders but also his village was attacked by King Minos’s Armada.
Minotaur – He was a villain because he was a monstrous beast that ate people.
Where there any unfamiliar or ambitious vocabulary that you could magpie for your writing?
Unfamiliar words:
Crete
Athens
Ambitious words:
Athens
What is the most important thing in the princess’s note to the prince?
I like your use of the word ‘most’. What word class is it Bethan?
Theseus and the Minotaur!
1. I thought the myth would be about a minotaur (half man, half bull) who roamed a village peacefully along with many people. What actually happened was the so called ‘ beast ‘ was trapped in the middle of a vast maze. The Minotaur should go along to Narnia and fight against the devilish king.
2. The surprise was that the Minotaur ate the living flesh of seven people who were unlucky enough to have such a gruesome end.
3. King minos , Athens the minotaur , Theseus the kings son and Aegeus the other king.
4. Well there was:
tribute.
5. How did Theseus slay the minotaur?
How would you defeat the Minotaur Perran?
Pegasus
1. I didn’t know much about the story at first. But I knew Pegasus was a flying horse and I he was one of a kind.
2. I was surprised at the fact that Pegasus was the son of Medusa; the goddess with hissing snakes as hair!
3. The main characters were: Pegasus, Zeus, Medusa and Poseidon, although the story was based on Pegasus and how he became best friends with Zeus.
Pegasus: (hero)
Medusa: (villain)
4. I found some brilliant vocabulary that I would love to magpie for my writing.
ambitious word choices:
Shied (verb)
protection: (adverb)
in fact: (conjunction)
fond: (adjective)
satisfy: (verb)
honorary: (adjective)
‘Their friendship became the stuff of myth’ I like this ending sentence because it ends the story well. I wasn’t unsure about any words, I understood the meaning of all of them.
5. How did Pegasus change his circumstance?
I’ve completed the questions Mrs Simpson. 🙂
I really like how you re-read the home learning task. I really like the question, especially your word choice, e.g. ‘circumstance’.
Thank you mrs Simpson
POSIDEN
1.I thought it would be about the sea but no
2.not all about the sea
3.posiden
4.no
5.who were the main character
Re-read your final sentence. What do you notice Willow?
Heracles and the Hydra
In a swamp a shadow of a mysterious nine-headed serpent called the Hydra lived. one day ,the son of greek god Zeus ,Heracles, went to slaughter the Hydra. when he got to the cave where Hydra was he took a big swing at the serpents head and then the head fell on the with a thump. But then the just grew back. Heracles thought this was his end. But just as the serpent went to strike at him, his friend Lolus come down with an flaming touch and together they killed Hydra!
1. i thought it would be about Medusa and her son
2. yes i didn’t think his friend would come out of no where
3. the main characters was Hydra, Heracles and Lolus but Hydra was the villain
4. Yes slaughter i thought it meant behead
5. How do you think Heracles felt went Lolus came to help?
1. I predicted a myth would be a story thats not true
2. There were a lot of surprises
3. yes there was a villain and a hero monertor I cant remember.
4.no
5.what was the setting like?
The Argonauts were a group of heroes who followed Jason in search of the mythical Golden Fleece in order to marrie the Kings daughter.
1 ???
2 yes medusa head turned to snakes which turned people into stone.
3 Jason and Hercules were heroes and medusa was a villain.
4 yes Argonauts which was an expedition for the Golden Fleece
The story of the cyclops
One day some Greeks came to a island and found a cave with huge sheep and cheese. They set a fire and ate. But a cyclops came in while they were sleeping.
He rolled the stone and blocked the entrance.
He saw them and ate them until one day they whittled one of the spare poles so sharp and set it on fire and stuck it in its eye.
The next day they hung underneath the sheep and the sheep went out for eating and they got on their bout and sailed away.
Well done for summarising a myth William, but your target for this term will be to complete all the questions for home learning. If you get “slumped”, what could you do to be resourceful? Come and tell me or record your ideas on the blog.