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Home , Augeas, Cretan Bull, Erymanthian boar, Eurystheus, Geryon, Greek mythology

An Introduction to: Greek

Year 6 into 7

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Welcome to Key Stage Three English!

We that you enjoy reading the Greek in this booklet. The activities are designed so that you can:  Read and enjoy famous Greek myths.  Learn new vocabulary.  Explore characters and storylines.  Explore how writer’s use language for effect.  Write your own mythical description. Please complete the tasks in this booklet and bring to your English lesson when you begin at Orchard Mead after summer. We are really looking forward to seeing what you are able to produce.

Contents: Page 4: Vocabulary. Page 5-6: Hercules Story. Page 7: Hercules’ 12 Labours activity. Page 8: Hercules knowledge quiz and language effects questions. Page 9: Talking Point- What is a ? Page 10: Optional extras.

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Hercules: Vocabulary

You may have heard the story of Hercules before, but you probably haven’t read this version. Please look through this list of words and definitions to help you with your understanding. You can read the meanings before, during and even after your reading of the story. They are written in that they appear in the story – the words are bold in the story. WORD DEFINITION

Oracle An important person with authority to give advice or . Atonement The action of making amends for doing wrong. Invincible Too powerful to be defeated. Unfathomable Impossible to overcome. Devoured To eat quickly/greedily. Impervious Not able to be affected. Cauterize To burn flesh to stop bleeding or infection. Ravaged Severely damaged. Livestock Farm animals. Trenches Deep ditches dug into the ground. Foes Enemies. Carnivorous To eat the flesh of animals. Impenetrable Impossible to pass or enter. Rampage To move in a violent/uncontrollable way. Exploits Bold and daring actions. Complied To obey or agree. Descended To move in a downwards direction. Toil Hard work. Divine The holy temple for the . Primordial Existing since the beginning of time. Thrive To grow or develop well.

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Hercules: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIIjhAuC76g

Hercules, son of and champion of humankind, gazed in horror as he realized he had just committed the most unspeakable crime imaginable. The , who hated Hercules for being born of her husband’s adultery, had stricken him with a temporary curse of madness. And his own family were the casualties when he murdered them all while he was mad.

Consumed by grief, Hercules sought out the of , who told him the path to atonement lay with his cousin, King of , a favourite of Hera’s. Eurystheus hoped to humiliate Hercules with ten impossible tasks that pitted him against invincible monsters and unfathomable forces. Instead, the king set the stage for an series of adventures that would come to be known as the .

The first labour was to slay the Nemean , who kidnapped women and devoured warriors. Its golden fur was impervious to arrows, but Hercules cornered the lion in its dark cave, stunned it with a club, and strangled it with his bare hands. He found no tool sharp enough to skin the beast, until the goddess suggested using one of its own claws. Hercules returned to Tiryns wearing the lion’s hide, frightening King Eurystheus so much that he hid in a wine jar. From then on, Hercules was ordered to present his trophies at a safe distance.

The second target was the Lernaean , a with many heads. Hercules fought fiercely, but every time he cut one head off, two more grew in its place. The battle was hopeless until his nephew Lolaus thought to cauterize the necks with fire, keeping the heads from regrowing. The dead serpent’s remains became the Hydra .

Instead of slaying a beast, Hercules next had to catch one, alive. The Ceryneian Hind was a female deer so fast it could outrun an arrow. Hercules tracked it for a year, finally trapping it in the northern land of . The animal turned out to be sacred to , goddess of the hunt, and Hercules swore to return it. When Eurystheus the hind, he demanded to keep it instead, but as soon as Hercules let go, the animal ran to its mistress. Thus, Hercules completed his task without breaking his promise.

The fourth mission was to capture the , which had ravaged many fields. Advised by the wise , Hercules trapped it by chasing it into thick snow.

For the fifth task, there were no animals, just their leftovers. The stables where King kept his hundreds of divine cattle had not been maintained in ages. Hercules promised to clean them in one day if he could keep one-tenth of the livestock. Augeas expected the hero to fail. Instead, Hercules dug massive trenches, rerouting two nearby rivers to flow through the stables until they were spotless.

Next came three more beastly foes, each requiring a clever strategy to defeat. The carnivorous nested in an impenetrable swamp, but Hercules used Athena’s special rattle to frighten them into the air, at which point he shot them down. No mortal could stand before the ’s mad rampage, but a chokehold from behind did the trick. And the mad King , who had trained his horses to devour his guests, got a taste of his own medicine when Hercules wrestled him into his own stables. The ensuing feast calmed the beasts enough for Hercules to bind their mouths.

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But the ninth labour involved someone more dangerous than any beast, , Queen of the . Hercules was to retrieve the belt given to her by her father , the of war. He sailed to the Amazon land of Themyscira prepared for battle, but the queen was so impressed with the hero and his exploits that she gave the belt willingly.

For his tenth labour, Hercules had to steal a herd of magical red cattle from , a giant with three heads and three bodies. On his way, Hercules was so annoyed by the Libyan desert heat that he shot an arrow at the . The sun god admired the hero’s strength and lent his for the journey to the island of Erythema. There, Hercules fought off Geryon’s herdsman and his two-headed dog, before killing the giant himself.

That should have been the end. But Eurystheus announced that two labours hadn’t counted: the Hydra, because Lolaus had helped Hercules kill it, and the stables, because he’d accepted payment. And so, the hero set about his eleventh task, obtaining golden from the garden of the .

Hercules began by catching the Old Man of the and holding the shape-shifting water-god until he revealed the garden’s location. Once there, the hero found holding up the . Hercules offered to take his place if Atlas would retrieve the apples. Atlas eagerly complied, but Hercules then tricked him into trading places again, escaping with apples in hand.

The twelfth and final task was to bring back , the three-headed hound with teeth as sharp as blades, guarding the . Helped by and Athena, Hercules descended and met himself. The lord of the dead allowed Hercules to take the beast if he could do it without weapons, which he achieved by grabbing all three of its heads at once. When he presented the hound to a horrified Eurystheus, the king finally declared the hero’s service complete.

After 12 years of toil, Hercules had redeemed the tragic deaths of his family and earned a place in the divine pantheon. But his victory held an even deeper importance. In overcoming the chaotic and monstrous forces of the , the hero swept away what remained of the ’ primordial order, reshaping it into one where humanity could thrive. Through his labours, Hercules tamed the world’s madness by atoning for his own.

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Hercules’ 12 Labours

In order to gain forgiveness for his sins, Hercules had to complete 12 labours. Re-read the story to complete this grid showing WHO Hercules defeated and HOW he did it.

LABOUR WHO WAS DEFEATED? HOW DID HERCULES DO IT? 1

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Hercules Multiple Choice Knowledge Quiz: (reread the story for answers!)

1. What was Eurystheus’s relationship to Hercules? A. Brother B. Father in law C. Cousin D. Son 2. Why didn’t Hercules give the Ceryneian Hind to Eurystheus? A. He’d sworn to return it to Artemis. B. He wanted to keep it himself. C. Eurysthesus was scared of it. D. It disappeared 3. What special item did Hercules need to defeat the Stymphalian birds? A. ’s hide B. Athena’s rattle C. Hippolyta’s belt D. ’s box 4. Which god helped Hercules reach Geryon’s island? A. B. Helios C. Hermes D. Zeus 5. Which of the following labors was deemed invalid by Eurystheus? A. The Ceryneian Hind B. The Hydra C. Cerberus D. None of these

Effects of language:

Write the correct language feature next to each quotation. Choose from: simile, alliteration and effective adjectives. Eurystheus hoped to humiliate Hercules A herd of magical red cattle With teeth as sharp as blades

Explain how the writer uses language for effect in the quotations – the first one is a model to help:

Eurystheus hoped The writer uses alliteration to emphasise how much Eurystheus wants to to humiliate embarrass Hercules. The fact that he “hoped” to “humiliate” him shows that Hercules Eurystheus was not a good friend or cousin and wanted the worst outcome for Hercules. This might make readers even more determined to support Hercules’ battles and feel happy when he finally overcomes all the labours. Eurystheus’ plan to humiliate Hercules backfires because Hercules ends as a hero. A herd of magical red cattle

With teeth as sharp as blades

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Talking Point: What is a Hero? Throughout the story, Hercules is described as being a ‘hero’. Discuss with someone at home the qualities of a hero and consider who you perceive to be a hero and why. It could be someone you know or someone in the media, what is it that makes them your hero?

What qualities would you expect

a hero to possess?

Here are some conversation stems to help!

In my opinion, I think a hero is someone who…

I also consider…

Perhaps it could be argued that…

More importantly, a key quality would be…

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Optional Extra tasks:

If you would like to hear more Myths, here are more videos from the TEDed collection:

Prometheus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_u91SjrEOE

Cupid and : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjj_-CPxjCM&t=2s

Orpheus and : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhaepLsP5eg&t=7s

Icarus and : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s2QPQnuaGk

Arachne: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvUHcsZOhJ8&t=37s

You may also feel inspired to do some creative writing:

Based on Hercules:

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