Myths and legendsHeroes of the past

St’4 December

2011

Project description

• Class: ST4

• Teacher: Apostolaki Efi

• Age of students: 11-12

• Level: 4 years of English

• Aim: to write an article on a legendary person or myth

A few words…..

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.

Some examples of their work are given in the following pages.

Enjoy…

TheseusBy Nickolas KatsaounisSt’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 MidasBy Ioanna TsekouraSt’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 TouchA Greek MythCartoon 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' palace. Midas recognised him as Silenus, a friend of the god Dionysus.

Instead of sending Silenus away King Midas invited him to stay and enjoy his hospitality.

The god Dionysus was pleased Midas had helped his friend and offered to grant Midas a wish.

King Midas wished that everything he touched would turn to gold. Then he would be the richest man in the world.

The god kept his promise and sure enough, everything Midas touched turned to gold. He went round his palace using his new power.

But Midas' wish turned against him. He found that he couldn't eat or drink as all his food and wine turned to gold when he 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 NemeaBy Aggeliki KontodiouSt’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 BoxBy Giota DoukaSt’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.

IcarusBy Dimitra BairaSt’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 heroBy Irene ManiotiSt’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 golden-horned 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.

CerberusBy Peter TsiggosSt’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!!!