Is It a Myth?

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Is It a Myth? Lesson 91 PairedIs It with a Phaethon’s Myth? Ride Written by Sharlene Petersen Illustrated by Jim Madsen Lexile®: 830L, 413 words How does the sun move across the sky? Where did the ocean come from? People throughout history have always asked such questions, but most of the time they didn’t have the answers. So, to explain their world, people in the past came up with stories as explanations. Some of these stories came from ancient Greece and are called myths. Greek myths have the same characteristics. They often explain why something happens in nature, like lightning. Or they tell why something exists, such as why turtles have shells. Greek myths also have characters called gods and goddesses who have power to make amazing things happen. For example, in one myth, the goddess Demeter caused the seasons. When she was happy, people felt the warm weather of spring, but when she was unhappy, they felt the cold of winter. Finally, Greek myths include characters who get into trouble because of their pride. Long ago, a story was told about a proud woman named Arachne. Let’s see if her story can be called a myth. Arachne was a fine weaver, and it was said that the pictures of animals she wove into her cloth seemed to come alive. Because she was very proud of her work, Arachne bragged to her friends, “I am the finest weaver in the world.” Her friends warned her, “Be careful what you say because the goddess Athena might hear you.” “I can weave even better than Athena, so I don’t care who hears me,” said Arachne. Later that day, an old woman came to watch Arachne weave. “Can you teach me how to weave?” asked the old woman.

“Of course not,” said Arachne. “I am too talented to waste time on you— why don’t you ask Athena to teach you?” Suddenly the old woman’s crouched body grew tall and straight. Her gray hair turned golden yellow, and her old clothes turned into fine silk. Athena, goddess of wisdom and crafts, stood before Arachne. “If you pride yourself in weaving so much,” said Athena angrily, “then you will weave for eternity. But instead of admiring your creations, people will tear them down.” And with those words, Athena turned Arachne into the first spider. Now you decide if the story of Arachne is a myth by asking these questions: Does it tell why something exists? Does it include a god or goddess? Does pride get the main character in trouble? If the answers are yes, then the story of Arachne must be a myth.

ACCURACY: # of reading errors: ______(Indep. = 0–8, Instr. = 9–21, Frust. = 22+) SPEED: To calculate: 24780 ÷ ______(Reading time in seconds) = ______WPM

Is It a Myth? Lesson 91 Paired with Phaethon’s Ride

Discover Story Vocabulary god and goddess, pride, weave Glossary Words gods and goddesses, pride, wove

Question Type Question

Cause In the myth about Demeter and the seasons, what caused the seasons to change?

a. Demeter’s family b. Demeter’s feelings c. Demeter’s strength

Cause Why did the goddess Athena turn Arachne into a spider?

a. Arachne had said that she was a better weaver than Athena. b. Athena was the goddess of all small insects. c. Arachne wanted to weave beautiful webs forever.

Vocabulary In the sentence “I am too talented to waste time on you—” what does the word “talented” mean?

a. good at doing something b. busy working c. poor and lonely