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About the Author About the Author Frank T. R. Edgar, Professor of History at Culver-Stockton College, has thirty-six years of teaching experience in both public and private institutions, teaching courses in history, government, geography, anthropology, economic history, world literature, English composition, and gramma. In addition, he has worked with young people through counsel- ing and tutorials for history, social science, and education majors. Edgar received a B.A. in history from the University of Denver, a B.S. in education (social studies) from Northern Illinois University, and completed his Ph. D. work in history at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1966. He is the recipient of two awards for excellence in education. GREEK AND ROMAN MYTHOLOGY BY FRANK EDGAR, Ph.D. SELECTED ART BY SHERI LEIGH LEWIS COPYRIGHT © 1994 Mark Twain Media, Inc. ISBN 978-1-58037-818-5 Printing No. 1829-EB Mark Twain Media, Inc., Publishers Distributed by Carson-Dellosa Publishing Company, Inc. The purchase of this book entitles the buyer to reproduce the student pages for classroom use only. Other permissions may be obtained by writing Mark Twain Media, Inc., Publishers. Permission for the use of selected artwork from Costumes of the Greeks and Romans by Thomas Hope was obtained from Dover Publications, Inc., New York. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Greek and Roman Mythology TABLE OF CONTENTS What is a Myth? .......................................................................................................................... 1 The Great Gods: Olympians and Others .................................................................................... 4 The Great Gods Crossword Puzzle ............................................................................... 10 Greek and Italian Geography.................................................................................................... 11 Map of Ancient Greece .................................................................................................. 14 Map of Ancient Italy ....................................................................................................... 15 Map of Greece and Italy in Mediterranean Setting ........................................................ 16 The Myths (Roman myths are in italics.) Creation .................................................................................................................................... 18 Prometheus Gives Fire to Man ................................................................................................. 21 How Evil Came Into the World .................................................................................................. 25 How the Seasons Came ........................................................................................................... 28 The Horses of the Sun .............................................................................................................. 32 Glorious Apollo ......................................................................................................................... 36 White Goddess of the Moon ..................................................................................................... 40 Star-Myth .................................................................................................................................. 43 Love and the Soul ..................................................................................................................... 46 King Midas and the Golden Touch ............................................................................................ 51 Narcissus and Echo .................................................................................................................. 55 The First Aviators ..................................................................................................................... 58 The Youth of Hercules ............................................................................................................... 61 The Twelve Labors of Hercules: Part One ................................................................................ 65 The Twelve Labors of Hercules: Part Two ................................................................................. 69 The Twelve Labors of Hercules: Part Three .............................................................................. 72 Hercules Crossword Puzzle ........................................................................................... 76 Perseus and Medusa ................................................................................................................ 77 Perseus and Andromeda .......................................................................................................... 81 Bellerophon and Pegasus......................................................................................................... 85 The Trojan War: Part One ......................................................................................................... 88 The Trojan War: Part Two .......................................................................................................... 91 The Trojan War: Part Three ....................................................................................................... 94 The Trojan War: Part Four ......................................................................................................... 97 The Trojan War Crossword Puzzle ............................................................................... 101 The Odyssey: Part One .......................................................................................................... 102 The Odyssey: Part Two ........................................................................................................... 106 The Odyssey: Part Three ........................................................................................................ 110 The Odyssey Crossword Puzzle .................................................................................. 114 The Beginning of Rome .......................................................................................................... 115 Myth Making ........................................................................................................................... 119 Star Attractions ....................................................................................................................... 120 Star Chart ............................................................................................................................... 121 Answers to Quizzes ................................................................................................................ 122 Further Reading/Answers to Star Attractions ......................................................................... 126 © Mark Twain Media, Inc., Publishers ii Greek and Roman Mythology What is a Myth? When you look up at the sky, you see the sun, moon, clouds, meteors, comets, planets, and stars. You may recognize certain star patterns (called constellations) such as the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper (also called the Big Bear and the Little Bear). You might know the names of the nine planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Did you know that many of the names of these heavenly bodies come from myths? What are myths? Myths are stories of a special kind. They are created to give values to persons, places, and things. Myths respond to our need for some kind of reassurance and meaning in the universe. Myths are traditional tales of a particular people—Indians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and others—and are especially connected with religious beliefs and rituals performed at public festivals. These rites were believed to invoke a type of magic that would aid the growth of crops and promote stability in the land. Out of these rituals came songs, poems, and stories which explained how people acquired basic things like simple speech, fire, grain, wine, oil, honey, agriculture, metal work, and other skills and arts. A myth is an attempt to explain other things, as well, such as a certain custom or practice of a human society (like a religious rite), or a natural process, like the apparent daily motion of the sun across the skies. In their imaginations the Greeks of ancient times saw a man driving across the heavens in a chariot drawn by fiery horses. When evening came, he dipped into the western ocean, and while he slept he was carried back eastward along the earth’s northern rim in a golden boat shaped like a bowl. Even today children might hear their parents say at sunset: “Now he’s going down—now his feet, now his body, and now the top of his head.” Sometimes it’s fun—even for modern people—to give human characteristics to non-human objects. Myths were passed down by storytellers from generation to generation. © Mark Twain Media, Inc., Publishers 1 Greek and Roman Mythology What is a Myth? Myths are mixtures of morals, poetry, and history that were used to teach humans proper behavior. Mythical gods, the Higher Powers, with all their own shortcomings, had certain standards, rules, and expectations with regard to mortal men and women—they must show hospitality to strangers, and they must keep pride within reasonable bounds (in the eyes of the gods, excessive pride, or hubris, was the worst offense and deserved the worst punishment). Myths, then, are stories
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