Transcript Myths and legends

Myths and legends
Heroes of the past
St’4
December 2011
Project description
• Class: ST4
A few words…..
• Teacher: Apostolaki Efi
After reading and talking about
myths and legends in their book,
the students were asked to find
information about a legendary
person or myth that they liked,
and produce an article with what
they learnt.
• Age of students: 11-12
• Level: 4 years of English
• Aim: to write an article on a
legendary person or myth
Some examples of their work are
given in the following pages.
Enjoy…
Theseus
By Nickolas Katsaounis
St’4
Theseus was the mythical founder-king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered
by Aegeus and Poseidon, both of whom Aethra had slept with in one night.
Theseus was a founder-hero, like Perseus, Cadmus, or Heracles, all of whom
battled and overcame foes that were identified with an archaic religious and
social order.
Theseus was the Athenian founding hero, considered by them as their own
great reformer: his name comes from the same root as thesmos, Greek for
institution.
He was responsible for the settlement, the political unification of Attica under
Athens, represented emblematically in his journey of labours, subduing highly
localized ogres and monstrous beasts. Because he was the unifying king,
Theseus built and occupied a palace on the fortress of the Acropolis that may
have been similar to the palace that was excavated in Mycenae. Pausanias
reports that after the settlement, Theseus established a cult of Aphrodite
Pandemos ("Aphrodite of all the People") and Peitho on the southern slope of
the Acropolis.
In “The Frogs”, Aristophanes credited him with inventing many everyday
Athenian traditions.
Plutarch's Vita of Theseus makes use of varying accounts of the death of the
Minotaur, Theseus' escape and the love of Ariadne for Theseus, in order to
construct a literalistic biography.
The touch of Midas
By Ioanna Tsekoura
St’4
• King Midas was popular for his “gift”. Everything and
everyone he touched became gold. Other names given to
him are “Golden touch” or “Midas touch”.
• Later, he understood that he couldn’t eat or drink
anything. He begged the man who gave him this gift to
solve the spell and that’s what he did.
• Midas got to the river Pactulous to wash it away. Since
then, the river has had a golden colour.
• Midas became very popular because of this.
• What follows is a cartoon presentation of the story.
King Midas and his Golden Touch
A Greek Myth
Cartoon by Gareth Pitchford
King Midas was a foolish and greedy man.
He wanted to be the richest man in the
world.
One day an old satyr came to King Midas' Instead of sending Silenus away King
palace. Midas recognised him as Silenus, a Midas invited him to stay and enjoy his
friend of the god Dionysus.
hospitality.
The god Dionysus was pleased Midas had King Midas wished that everything he
helped his friend and offered to grant Midas touched would turn to gold. Then he would
a wish.
be the richest man in the world.
The god kept his promise and sure enough, But Midas' wish turned against him. He
everything Midas touched turned to gold. found that he couldn't eat or drink as all his
He went round his palace using his new
food and wine turned to gold when he
power.
touched it!
Midas begged Dionysus to remove the
spell. Dionysus told Midas how he could
get rid of the gift.
Midas washed his 'golden touch' away
in the river Pactolus. Even now the soil
along the riverbank has a golden
gleam.
Hercules and the lion of Nemea
By Aggeliki Kontodiou
St’4
• Hercules was an ancient mythical hero. He was born in Thiva and he
was the son of Zeus and Alkminis.
• As a first labor, king Eurystheus ordered Hercules to kill the
enormous lion of Nemea, which was killing men and animals. His
pelt was so strong, that even the iron weapons could not
penetrate it.
• The arrows, which Hercules used at first, proved unable to kill the
lion and so Hercules took his club and followed the lion in a cave,
which had two entrances. He closed one entrance with stones and
from the other he went in to find the lion. Without using his club, he
twisted and broke the lion's neck, with the supernatural strength of
his arms.
• To commemorate his feat, Hercules altered the Nemean games to a
celebration in honor of Zeus. Afterwards Hercules brought the lion
to Eurystheus. From the lion's pelt, he made his famous panopl.y
Pandora’s Box
By Giota Douka
St’4
• In Classic Greek Mythology the myth of Pandora‘s box talks about
the box that she opened, which released the evils of the world.
• Pandora was the first woman on earth. Zeus ordered Hephaestus,
the god of craftsmanship, to create her, so he did, using water and
earth. The gods endowed her with many talents: Aphrodite gave her
beauty, Apollo gave music and Hermes , persuasion. The gods also
gave her the gift of curiosity.
• When Prometheus stole fire from heaven, Zeus took vengeance by
presenting Pandora to Epimetheus , Prometheus' brother. With her,
Pandora was given a beautiful box which she was not to open under
any circumstances.
• Impelled by her curiosity given to her by the gods, Pandora opened
the box-jar, and all evil contained escaped and spread over the
earth. She hastened to close the lid, but the whole contents of the jar
had escaped, except for one thing that lay at the bottom, which was
Hope.
• Pandora was deeply saddened by what she had done, and was afraid
that she would have to face Zeus' wrath, since she had failed her
duty. However, Zeus did not punish her, because he knew this would
happen.
Icarus
By Dimitra Baira
St’4
• There is an interesting story about how the Ikaria
Sea was named.
• Icarus was the son of Daidalos and Naucratis. While
Daidalos was living in the Minoan palace in Crete , he
met Naucrati and they had a son named Icarus.
• Daidalos also helped Queen Pasify to give birth of
Minotaur . Minoas got very angry and prisoned
Daidalos and Icarus in the maze / labyrinth that
Daidalos had made for Minotaur. But being so clever,
he managed to take himself and his son out of their
prison.
• Then he made two pairs of max wings for them so that
they could fly away from Crete. He told Icarus that he
should be very careful and not to fly very high near the
sun ,because the heat would destroy his max wings.
• Young Icarus got so excited by the fact that he could fly
and didn’t pay attention to his father’s advice .He flew
so high that the sun melted his max wings.
• Unfortunately he fell to the sea and drowned. This sea
was named after him, Ikaria Sea.
Hercules – a mythical hero
By Irene Manioti
St’4
• Hercules was the strongest man on earth. He was the son of Zeus
and Alcmena, the wife of Amphitryon, who was the king of Tiryns.
• When Amphitryon died, king Eurystheus gave Hercules a series of
12 difficult and dangerous tasks known as the Twelve Labors of
Hercules. These were his most famous feats.
• The hero's first task was to kill the Nemean Lion, a monstrous
beast that terrorized the countryside and couldn’t be killed by any
weapon. Hercules strangled the beast and made its skin into a cloak.
• The second labor was to kill the Lernaean Hydra, a big monster
with nine heads that lived in a lake. One of the heads was immortal
and the others grew back when Hercules cut them off. His friend
Iolaus helped Hercules to burn the wounds of heads that Hercules
had cut off. He buried the immortal head under a great rock.
• The third labor was to capture the Cerynean Hind, a goldenhorned deer that was sacred to the goddess Artemis. He was
hunting the deer for a year. Finally, Hercules caught the deer and he
took it to Tiryns. The hero promised to Artemis that the deer
wouldn’t be harmed, so Artemis didn’t hurt the hero.
• The fourth labor of Hercules was to catch the Erymanthian Boar,
an animal that run the lands around Mount Erymanthus. Hercules
chased it until it became so exhausted that he could catch it easily.
• The fifth labor was to clean the Augean Stables in one day. The
stables hadn’t been cleaned for many years. Hercules diverted the
river through the stables.
• The sixth labor was to get away the Stymphalian Birds, a flock of
birds that ate humans and that were terrorizing the countryside. The
goddess Athena helped Hercules to force the birds from their nests
and shot them with his bow and arrow.
• Eurystheus next ordered Hercules to seize the Cretan Bull and
bring it back to Tiryns alive. This bull was a gift from Poseidon to
King Minos of Crete. The king gave Hercules permission to catch it
and take it away.
• The eighth labor was to bring the Horses of Diomedes, who was
the King of Thrace. The horses ate human flesh. Hercules killed
Diomedes and fed him to the horses. Then the hero brought them
back to Eurystheus.
• The ninth labor was to steal the Girdle of Hippolyte, the queen of
the Amazons. Hippolyte liked Hercules and she gave him the girdle.
• The tenth labor was the Cattle of Geryon, a monster with three
bodies that lived in the far west. After a difficult journey, Hercules
killed Geryon, a herdsman, and an enormous guard dog. He then
took the cattle and returned with them to Tiryns.
• The eleventh labor was to bring back the golden Apples of the
Hesperides, a group of nymphs who lived in the far west. Hercules
asked for help from the Hesperides' father, the giant Atlas, who held
up the sky. Hercules said to Atlas: “If you want me to help you, bring
me the apples from your daughters”. Atlas agreed and brought the
apples, but then he refused to take back the sky. Hercules cheated
Atlas, grabbed the apples and ran away.
• Hercules' final task was one of the most difficult and dangerous. He
had to go to the kingdom of Hades and capture Cerberus, the
fierce three-headed dog that guarded the gates to the underworld.
Hades said Hercules could take Cerberus if he used no weapons.
Hercules gave him drugged food and carried him to Eurystheus.
• Hercules joined the expedition of Jason and the Argonauts as well.
• Later in his life, Hercules married Deianeira, who poisoned him at
the end, because he had fallen in love with another woman. He
ordered his son to build a pyre and the hero lay down upon it. As the
flames of the pyre grew, a great cloud appeared, a bolt of lightning
struck, and the body of Hercules disappeared. Hercules, now an
immortal god, had been taken to Mount Olympus to be with his
father, Zeus, and the other gods. Even Hera welcomed him and
allowed him to marry her daughter Hebe.
Cerberus
By Peter Tsiggos
St’4
• A DOG WITH THREE HEADS AND A BREATH WHICH
THREW FIRE WAS GUARDING THE GATE OF THE
UNDERWORLD BUT ONE DAY HERCULES CAME AND
KILLED HIM, WHICH WAS VERY DIFFICULT FOR HIM.
• HE THOUGHT THAT HE WOULD NEVER ESCAPE THE
UNDERWORLD BUT HE GAVE HIM DRUGGED FOOD
AND THAT’S HOW HE MANAGED TO BEAT HIM.
• THIS IS MY PROJECT ABOUT CERBERUS, THE FIERCE
DOG WITH THE THREE HEADS!!!