UNIT OVERVIEW
This seminar is designed to introduce students to the figures and stories of Greek and Roman mythology, and the cultures, civilizations, and geography that shaped them. The core text of the unit will be Edith Hamilton's Mythology, which offers concise and comprehensive, albeit dry and arbitrarily chosen, retellings of the myths and legends of ancient Greece and Rome. Using excerpts from this text, students study the major and minor gods and goddesses that played a significant role in the religious, ritualistic, and storytelling traditions of Greek and Latin culture, from cosmogonic myths and romance tales to hero quests and epic battles. We will also glance at select tales from a masterpiece of Latin poetry, Ovid's Metamorphoses, a mythological work that had a profound and far-reaching impact on literature and learning during the Middle Ages. In one multi-day lesson, students will apply their knowledge of allusions to a comparison of Pieter Bruegel's painting Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, W.H. Auden's poem "Musée des Beaux Arts," and Ovid's retelling of the myth of Icarus in The Metamorphoses; students will observe differences in tone and will explain each work's take on human suffering. Finally, we will survey certain mythic and archetypal motifs that classical poets and dramatists demonstrate such a keen grasp of, such as the slaying of the father, the descent into the underworld, the parent-quest, and the "star-crossed" lovers, among others. These archetypes will be revisited in all upcoming units, including our reading of Lord of the Flies and Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet.
This seminar is designed to introduce students to the figures and stories of Greek and Roman mythology, and the cultures, civilizations, and geography that shaped them. The core text of the unit will be Edith Hamilton's Mythology, which offers concise and comprehensive, albeit dry and arbitrarily chosen, retellings of the myths and legends of ancient Greece and Rome. Using excerpts from this text, students study the major and minor gods and goddesses that played a significant role in the religious, ritualistic, and storytelling traditions of Greek and Latin culture, from cosmogonic myths and romance tales to hero quests and epic battles. We will also glance at select tales from a masterpiece of Latin poetry, Ovid's Metamorphoses, a mythological work that had a profound and far-reaching impact on literature and learning during the Middle Ages. In one multi-day lesson, students will apply their knowledge of allusions to a comparison of Pieter Bruegel's painting Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, W.H. Auden's poem "Musée des Beaux Arts," and Ovid's retelling of the myth of Icarus in The Metamorphoses; students will observe differences in tone and will explain each work's take on human suffering. Finally, we will survey certain mythic and archetypal motifs that classical poets and dramatists demonstrate such a keen grasp of, such as the slaying of the father, the descent into the underworld, the parent-quest, and the "star-crossed" lovers, among others. These archetypes will be revisited in all upcoming units, including our reading of Lord of the Flies and Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
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LITERARY TEXTS
Anthology
Poetry
Art, Music, & Media
INFORMATIONAL TEXTS
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ONLINE RESOURCES
- Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece, hosted by the British Museum, uses artifacts from its collection to present a rich picture of the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece
- Theoi Project, a comprehensive reference guide to the gods, spirits, and fabulous creatures and heroes of ancient Greek mythology and religion
- Encyclopedia Mythica, an internet encyclopedia of the mythologies, folklore, and religions from six geographical regions: Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Middle East, and Oceania
TERMINOLOGY
Allusion
Archetype Bronze Age Classical |
Cycle
Greco-Roman Legend Motif |
Myth
Mythology Olympian Titan |
The World ... As the Greeks Knew It
A worldview is a particular philosophy of life or conception of the world. In the Greek worldview, cosmologically speaking, the world was flat, but circular, like a paper plate. At the center of the Universe was Greece. Their world was divided by the Mediterranean, which means "Middle of the Lands" in Latin. The river Ocean flowed around the world in a clockwise motion.
In the north lived the Hyperboreans -- an extremely happy people for whom life was sweet. When the old people became tired of living, they threw themselves into the sea. This was a land of constant pleasure where people were said to live for 1,000 years. In the south lived the Ethiopians. In Greek drama and Homeric epics, mention is often made of various gods being in Ethiopia, meaning really far away. The Ethiopians were said to be on good terms with the gods and liked to entertain them. To the west were the Elysian Fields. This was the closest the Greeks got to the idea of heaven; only the best and brightest of the dead people got to go there. |
What events occurred within the cosmological arena outlined above is the stuff of myth -- literally.
Of the many gifts passed on to us from the Greeks and Romans, their myths are surely one of our most persistent and important cultural legacies. Because of the enduring appeal of these traditional stories about gods and heroes, modern audiences are exposed to a steady supply of mythically inspired popular and highbrow culture in a variety of media, from animated movies to operas. With surprising regularity, modern audiences also still turn directly to an ancient source for their myth. Somewhere in the world right now a play of Euripides is being staged, the appearance of new translations of Homer's epics can still cause critical and popular stirrings (and sell a lot of books), and visitors to museums gaze daily in rapt fascination at Greek and Roman sculptures and painted vases depicting mythical figures.
Classical mythology, which originates with the Greeks and is further developed and transformed by the Romans, not only makes for interesting and fascinating storytelling, but is the foundation of allusion and character genesis in literature and other art forms.
Of the many gifts passed on to us from the Greeks and Romans, their myths are surely one of our most persistent and important cultural legacies. Because of the enduring appeal of these traditional stories about gods and heroes, modern audiences are exposed to a steady supply of mythically inspired popular and highbrow culture in a variety of media, from animated movies to operas. With surprising regularity, modern audiences also still turn directly to an ancient source for their myth. Somewhere in the world right now a play of Euripides is being staged, the appearance of new translations of Homer's epics can still cause critical and popular stirrings (and sell a lot of books), and visitors to museums gaze daily in rapt fascination at Greek and Roman sculptures and painted vases depicting mythical figures.
Classical mythology, which originates with the Greeks and is further developed and transformed by the Romans, not only makes for interesting and fascinating storytelling, but is the foundation of allusion and character genesis in literature and other art forms.
GLOSSARY : A Short List of Terms Related to the Study of Mythology
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Pandora
John William Waterhouse, 1896 Prometheus
Scott Eaton, 2007 |
MAP GALLERY
Click on the maps of Ancient Greece and Ancient Italy to enlarge them.
Click on the maps of Ancient Greece and Ancient Italy to enlarge them.
VIDEO GALLERY
The Tragic Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice
TED Ed Video by Brendan Pelsue (4m 41s) |
The Myth of Cupid and Psyche
TED Ed Video by Brendan Pelsue (5m 32s) |
The Myth of Daedalus and Icarus
TED Ed Video by Amy Adkins Homeric Hymn to Demeter (Audio)
A Reimagining of How This Poem Would Have Sounded in the Original Greek |
Mything Links: Part 3 Guided Tutorial
A Screencast by Mr. Wheeler Hesiod's Theogony
A Cartoon Summary of the "Birth of the Gods" |