Slide 1

Its Story TimeLets call this one The Creation Story (according to the Greeks)

I say myth, you say ologyMYTH!Learning Objectives:Students will learn the basics of the Greek Creation story.Students will practice note-taking skills, using the visual map as an aid.Students will share insight or questions as they develop.Students will further their knowledge on mythology, as this story will be referenced for the duration of the semester.

It all sounds so exciting!We cant wait to get started!But we are sort of wonderingIs there anything more we need to know about mythology in general before we get to the story?Yes!!! There are some things you will need to keep in mindFirst of allKeep in mind that we are studying mythology asLiterature, which deals with characters, plot, themes, and the beliefs of the people who created the stories, Religion, which deals with matters of personal faith.NOT asRemember that game, TELEPHONE, that you played when you were a kid?Keep in mind that myths were spread through oral tradition over hundreds of years before ever being written down.Secondly,

What happens to the message as it passes from person to person? Go aheadtry it outThe same thing happened to myths as they passed from one person to another. So, dont be surprised if you read one version of a myth and find that it differs slightly from another version of the same myth. Thats normal when working with myths.

Finally,Keep in mind that myths are symbolic stories. They are not governed by the rules of nature, logic, science, and time. Therefore, if you try to make literal sense of the stories, youll drive yourself crazy! So

Sit back,

Relax,

and

Suspend your disbeliefSnap JudgmentWhat cant you wait to learn about associated with mythology? In other words, youre losing sleep over wanting this knowledge. DISCUSS!

Chaos(shapeless void of confusion: had the elements of the worldearth, sky, and seaall jumbled together, none of which had their own identity)At first there was only one thing that existed:

ChaosGaiaTartarusErosNyx (Night)entityErebus (Darkness)entity(Underworld)entity (Love)entity (Mother Earth)being Here come the 5 elements:

Mommy, where did Uranus come from?Wellthats an interesting situation, although not the MOST interesting, as youll come to seeGaia brings another being into the worldand marries him:

Gaia, the first Great Goddess (Mother Earth), has Uranus as her son (Ruler of the Sky)People drew a connection between womens ability to have kids with Earths ability to give birth to plants, so Earth was always seen as feminine early Greeks worshipped female deities Gaia & Uranus start a family, and yes, its quite dysfunctional

Thank you Gaia and Uranus for making us look normal!The Little Ones

Gaia=UranusThe ultrasound is in: they are the proud parents of triplets!!!Butthey all have 100 hands and 50 headsThe Hundred-Handed GiantsI have the worst headache!3 more were born soon afterthey were giants with 1 eye in the middle of their foreheadsThe Cyclopes

Uranus is threatened by his kids because they are big and scary, and he fears that they will take him over, causing him to lose his power, sohe sends them to Tartarus, where he intends for them to be imprisoned for eternity. That eventually comes back to haunt him, but Ill fill you in on that later.

Whoa, these kids are way too scary for me!

Wait, Dadwhat are you doing? DadNOI dont want to stay in Tartarus forever!!!! AHHHHH

Gaia, on the other hand

How DARE he lock my kids away!!!!WHO does he think he IS?!?!Just you wait, Uranus! Im going to wait for my chance, and when the time is right, youll get what you deserve and Ill release my babies!!!But she cant do anything right nowUranus has gained the upper hand. Bring in the patriarchal societiesAAARRRGGGH!!!The Titans are BornOceanusGod of the seaHyperion (Helios)God of the sunSeleneGoddess of the moonThemisGoddess of prophecyPrometheus forethoughtEpimetheus afterthoughtAtlasstrongest Titan (gets in BIG trouble with Zeus later)Rhea (Cybele)Great Goddess Cronus (Saturn)youngest, brightest, and most clever of Titans; god of the sky and ruler of Titans after Uranus (WAIT UNTIL YOU HEAR THAT STORY)

Snap JudgmentSpielberg is making a movie about the Titans: which actors/actresses is he hiring to play who? Come up with at least two he should hire.DISCUSS!

Gaia develops a plan and confronts her kids for help; of course, they are scared of their father and dont want to challenge him, but Cronus decides hes up for the challenge, so he steps forward and goes along with his moms plan.Its not likely his dad would EVER forgive him for this one.

Ive had enough!Now is the time to act!!!There comes a time when

Gaia gives Cronus the necessary tool to implement their planShe tells him to hide it until the time is right. She then seduces Uranus on the seashore.Then, taking the sleeping Uranus by COMPLETE surprise, Cronus carries out the plan.

WARNING: What you are about to see is graphic if you have a vivid imagination, so feel free to cover your eyes, especially if youre a male

He uses the sickle his mom created to emasculate his father not exactly father-son bonding!

Snap JudgmentGaia: a strong, no-nonsense woman who teaches men not to mess with her, or a complete creep?DISCUSS!

Cronus threw his dads severed body parts into the sea where it began foaming on the surface of the water.

NextFrom the foam rose Aphrodite, goddess of passionate love and beauty, whose name literally means foam born. From the blood of Cronus seeping into the ground, rose the Giants and the Furies, three fearsome monsters who tormented sinners, expecially those who killed their parents.

How does this connect to Matriarchal societies?Mythology is a reflection of what happens in societyIn Matriarchal societies, the Great Goddess dismembered the Sacred King after he was killedhis blood was used to fertilize the soil (of Mother Earth) and make it grow Cronus emasculating his father is similar because Uranus blood from the accident allowed life to springthe Giants and the FuriesThe Next Generation: The OlympiansCronus marries his sister Rhea and they go on to have 5 kids. HOWEVER, hes a total hypocrite, because much like his father, he feared losing power, so he swallowed all of his kids whole right after they were born, or so he thought. Hestia (Vesta)virgin goddess of hearth and home; kindest and most loved of gods because a guardian of the homeDemeter (Ceres)goddess of grain; Great Goddess like RheaHades (Pluto)ruler of the underworld; lord of the deadPoseidon (Neptune)god of the sea; creates earthquakesHera (Juno)goddess of marriage and childbirth; queen of OlympusNot born yet, but a sneak peak: Zeus (Jupiter)god of the sky (after Cronus), ruler of gods; youngest, most intelligent and powerful of gods; maintains order in the world of mortals; protects strangers and guestsThere are some parallels to Matriarchal ceremonies here: Cronus eating his kids as babies might stem from how female priestesses ate the flesh of sacred kings for fertility purposes; again, this just shows that mythology is a reflection of what occurred in societies

Rhea and Gaia have more in common than their genes: Cronus ignores Rheas wishes to allow her to have her children in her life, so she finally goes to her mom for help.

Mom, I need help immediately. My husband is a CREEP and is swallowing my babies!I have a plan, but were going to need the next kids help. I think its going to be a male who will be a better leader than his father and grandfather both. (The fact that hes male and will dominate over the other gods/goddesses might represent the shift from matriarchal to patriarchal societies).

The PlanImmediately after giving birth to the 6th child, Zeus, Rhea hands Cronus the baby, which he immediately swallows.

Had he paid more attention, he would have noticed that Rhea really handed him a rock and sent baby Zeus off with Gaia for protection until it was safe for him to return.Eventually, Zeus came back as a grown god and with the help of his mother and good old Grandma Gaia, they offered Cronus a drink that made him vomit up his 5 siblings.Thus began THE WARSnap JudgmentHow do Cronus actions resemble humankind today?DISCUSS!

Cronus went to the Titans for help on his side, but many were not interested in helping him fight the Olympianseventually though, Atlas was named the leader of the Titan army.

Mount Olympus OlympiansMount Othrys Titans Vs.

They fought for 10 years, with the battle going back and forth, and seemingly, there was no end to the fighting, until Grammy Gaia comes to the rescue, once again, for Zeus

Zeusy Boy, heres what you do. I miss my kidsthe Hundred-Handed Giants and the Cyclopesand Im sure theyre sick of Tartarus. If you and the Olympians release them, I bet theyd be willing to help your side in the war, considering Cronus betrayed them. What do you say? Im in; Ill take my sibs with me and well bring them backZeus uncle monsters joined in the fight and gave the Olympians weapons they made while in the Underworld to show their thanks: -Zeus got thunder/lightning-Poseidon got the trident to cause earthquakes-Hades got the invisibility helmet Finally the Olympians won and those that fought in the Titan army were sent to Tartarus, except for Atlas (the leader), who got a special punishment; Zeus made sure he would spend eternity using his strength to hold up the sky. THAT WOULD GET OLD, DONT YOU THINK?

29Zeus married his sister Hera and continued the Olympian family:Ares (Mars)god of war (Olympian); had an affair with Aphrodite, Hephaestus wife, and Eros (Cupid) was born: arrows that find loveThe Romans mocked love and appreciated war, hence adored Mars (Ares in Greek)The Greeks cherished love and hated war, thus didnt like Ares because he represented the destructive part of warHephaestus god of fire and forge (Olympian); the one and only ugly god; the peace maker amongst godsIlitheia goddess of childbirth (not really considered an Olympian even though part of this generation)Snap JudgmentWhich god or goddess are you most intrigued by at this point? Why?DISCUSS!

Zeus is unfaithful to Hera and has several more kids with other women: With Leto, he has twins: Apollo god of sun, music, medicine, poetry, archerythe ideal Greek, BEAUTIFUL, god; associated with the sunArtemis virgin goddess of the hunt; associated with the moonwatched over women as they make transitions; born right before Apollo and helped deliver himThe Virgin Goddess ReviewHestiahighly respected in every single home; people depended on her to keep them safeArtemisfierce and vengeful woman thats not tied down by anyoneAthenathe most respected of all Olympians for her wisdomOther Women...Heraat times, she can viewed as a joke: she rarely does anything too useful since shes so busy trying to sabotage the lives of her husbands mistresses and children (AKA-Shes THAT girl)

Aphroditegets involved in several love triangles, allowing men to string her along at times (AKA-Shes THAT OTHER girl)

Etc.

What does this imply about the virgin goddess, or goddesses without men in their lives?More kidsWith Metis (he swallowed her)/on his own, he had Athena, virgin goddess of wisdom and warZeus had a headache and called Hephaestus over (blacksmith) to help; he cut Zeus head open and she popped out fully grown and in armor; his favorite childWith Maia he has Hermes the messenger of gods; tricksterWith Semele, a human, he has Dionysos god of wine and revelry/enjoyment; only god with 1 human parent: Zeus promised Semele hed do anything for her, and she asked to see him in his full glory, which saddened him because no human could see him this way and live, so he showed her anyway, as promised, and she died immediately. He grabbed the unborn baby and hid him in his thigh until ready to be born and gave to nymphs to raise

Impromptu quizCan you guess the identity of the following Olympians?

Zeus has more kidsPersephoneshes the daughter of Demeter and her husband is Hades. Lets just say she would have left him at the altar if that was option, but Ill explain more about that later.Congratstheyre triplets The Fates! Talk about having power. They decided the lifespan of peoples lives via spinning thread. One spun the thread, one measured the thread, and one cut the thread. This determined the fate of ones life. The Muses they were children of Mnemosyne, and brought about an appreciation for the arts. Each of the nine Muses was responsible for one branch of the arts.The Graces daughters of Eurynome; they bring grace and beauty wherever they go. They were literally the life of the party.

Wowthat was quite the story

There is plenty more to hear, but well call it quits for now. Take this time to work with a partner, and add any needed material to your Greek family tree. We have a lot more mythology to look forward to. I CANT WAIT!Snap JudgmentWhy do you think high school students should or should not study mythology? Think of as many different explanations as you can.DISCUSS!