The Big 12 Gods and Goddesses

STATION #1 “The Big 12” Gods and Goddesses

 Go to www.mythweb.com  Click on the link “Gods” on the right.  You will find a picture of the 12 most important and influential gods and goddesses. Click on each one’s picture for a description, and fill out the chart below.

GOD/GODDESS SYMBOL RESPONSIBILITIES INTERESTING FACT Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Demeter Dionysus Hephaestus Hera Hermes Poseidon Zeus

 After you read all of the descriptions, decide which one most closely fits your own personality. Write it down and give an explanation of why you chose this god/goddess. ______Station #2 Mythology

What is Mythology? It is a group of stories dealing with the gods, demigods, and legendary heroes, used to explain things in nature that the Greeks did not have a reason for. Remember: They didn’t have science technology like we do today. For instance, when there was an earthquake, the ancient Greeks had no way of knowing what it was or what caused it. Therefore, they had a myth about Poseidon and how he stamped his foot upon the earth, causing it to shake. When the sun rose each morning, they believed it was because Apollo had begun to drive his chariot of fire up into the sky.

In this activity, you will create your own modern myth in the style of one from ancient Greece. To do this, you will first read several myths, analyze and discuss them with your group, to make sure that you all understand the purpose of mythology. Click on the links below and read the 3 Greek myths. When you are finished, discuss them with your group to make sure you all understand their purpose. Then, write your own myth that explains one of the following: a natural disaster, phenomenon or occurrence, a current or historical event, or some aspect of modern life that would be inexplicable to someone from ancient Greece.

______STATION #3 What Is a Hero?

Famous Heroes, Everyday Heroic Traits Past and Present Heroes

Complete the chart above. Reflect on what you have listed, then write a paragraph describing your idea of a hero. What does he or she look like? How do they act? What traits make them heroic? ______

STATION #4 Business Cards

RAFT: Gods and Goddesses

ROLE A Greek God or Goddess AUDIENCE Prospective Clients FORMAT Business Card/Yellow Page Ad TOPIC Why should you hire me?

In the space below, design a business card or yellow page ad for a Greek God or Goddess. Remember that you are trying to persuade people to hire this God or Goddess. Business Cards for Greek Gods & Goddesses

Echo and Narcissus

Echo was a very talkative nymph. She could chatter on for hours. Zeus decided to use this to his advantage. He used Echo to distract Hera, his jealous wife, so he could steal away with other nymphs. Hera was furious when she discovered that Echo was helping her husband with his infidelity. To punish Echo, Hera made it so that Echo could no longer start a conversation. She could not speak first, but had to be spoken to before she was able to say anything. Even then she could only repeat the words which the other person had said.

One day, while out in the countryside, Echo spied a very handsome young man. His name was Narcissus, son of Cephissus, a river god, and Liriope, a nymph. He was a very conceited young man, who had rejected the advances of many possible mates. Echo watched him from a distance, frustrated that she could not speak to him. After he had lost his hunting party, he called out, “Is anyone here?” Echo repeated back, “Here”.

Narcissus yelled out, “Let us come together”.

Echo replied, “Let us come together,” and rushed at him with open arms.

Narcissus pushed Echo away stating that he would rather die than make love to her.

Echo was so crushed that she withered away, not able to eat or sleep. Eventually, she turned to stone, and only her voice remains today, haunting the mountains.

Narcissus later also died in a similar manor of an unreturned love. One of Narcissus’ rejected suitors prayed to the gods that Narcissus would feel the same pain of unreturned love. One day Narcissus stopped for water at a pool on Mount Helicon. He saw his reflection and fell in love with this beautiful man. Yet every time he reached for the image, it would disappear. He was so infatuated with the beauty of the image he could not pull himself away. He died of starvation staring into the pool.

Today we have the term narcissistic personality, meaning someone who is too wrapped up in themselves to the exclusion of all others. Abduction of Persephone

Persephone was the daughter of Demeter and Zeus. Persephone was picking flowers one day when Hades saw her. He was so captivated by her beauty that he took her by force to the underworld.

Demeter, goddess of the harvest and fertility searched for her daughter when Persephone went missing. Once she realized Persephone was taken to the underworld, she protested the abduction by stopping her work with the crops. Before this time, food in Greece was always plentiful, but now crops failed and food was scarce. Zeus and the other gods tried to convince Demeter to lift her curse on the land, but she would not until her daughter was released.

Zeus then sent Hermes to Hades urging him to the release Persephone. Hades understood this as a demand that he needed to follow. Before releasing her, Hades had her eat seeds of the pomegranate. Because she ate fruit from the underworld she was now tied to the underworld and to Hades.

Zeus was forced to make a compromise between Demeter and Hades in their claims to Persephone. He arranged a plan for Persephone to spend four months with Hades as his queen, one for every seed of the pomegranate she had eaten. The other eight months she would return to her mother. Demeter continued to allow the crops to fail when Persephone was with Hades. This myth of Persephone was used by the Greeks to explain the cycle of fertility in nature. Creation of Man

Two stories of the creation of man are found in the Greek myths. One was that man was created out of the earth. The second is the story of Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus.

Zeus gave the task of creating man and the animals to the Titan Prometheus (name means forethought) and his brother Epimetheus (name means afterthought). Epimetheus was to give all the animals special gifts for protection, such as shells for turtles and claws for bears, and so on. He gave out all the special gifts to the animals and there was nothing left when it came to man.

Prometheus created man in the likeness of the gods. He wanted to give man fire but Zeus would not permit it. Prometheus defied Zeus and stole fire from the gods and brought it down to man. Zeus was so mad that he chained Prometheus to a rock. Each day an eagle tore out and ate his liver during the day which grew back each night.

Zeus believed man needed to be weakened after the power of fire was given to him. He ordered Hephaestus to create woman for this task. Hephaestus created woman in the likeness of the goddesses. Every deity contributed to the creation of woman and gave her not only beauty, grace, and charm but also the art of lies, seduction, and guile. The first woman was named Pandora.

Zeus gave Pandora to Epimetheus as a gift. Prometheus warned Epimetheus not to receive gifts from Zeus, but he took her as his bride anyway. Zeus give Pandora a box which she was forbidden to open. Pandora could not resist her curiosity about what was in the box. She opened it and out came all the plagues of mankind, such as disease, pain, envy, sorrow and death. Pandora quickly shut the lid, trapping hope inside. Today the expression of a Pandora’s box is often used to refer to to something that produces danger or unforeseen trouble or confusion.