Real Connections between the Twenty-First Centuryand Greek Mythology
Curriculum Project for 2008 Summer Fulbright-Hays Seminar in Greece and Bulgaria –Greece and Bulgaria: A Shared Past and a Common Future
Contact:
Janna GartlandEnglish TeacherProsser Career AcademyChicago ILjanna.gartland@hotmail.com
Unit Description:
The following unit was created for a high school English class exploring GreekMythology. The purpose of this unit is for the students to make a
real
connection withthe mythology and discover the
real
meaning of mythology. Many students seem tothink of Greek Mythology as a collection of fanciful stories and don’t realize howsteeped in history, religion, and culture Greek Mythology is; instead they sometimesbelieve the teacher has made up these stories for them and they have to memorizethe gods and goddesses for no particular reason. In an effort to combat this notion, Ihave created a unit that focuses on Greek history: some of the real places where themyths take place; religion: discuss religion during the ancient Greek times; andculture: explore the region of the Greeks, their thought process, and life back inancient Greek.
Skills:
1. Students will learn the pantheon of the Greek gods2. Students will explore Greek life through outside readings and outline texts3. Students will develop a vocabulary used when discussing Greek Mythology4. Students will make connections between their culture and ancient Greek culture5. Students will be able to find allusions and influences from Greek Mythology inEnglish Literature
Resources / Texts:
For this unit, I will be using two main texts. First will be Edith Hamilton’s mythologybook, which is a standard text used in high schools to teach mythology. The secondtext that I will require the students to read is the travel blog that I created whiletraveling through Greece this past summer. Feel free to use this source yourself, if you find it useful. My blog may also give you an idea of what you may want to doyourself when traveling abroad. Blogs are easy to create through blogger by visitingwww.blogger.com.Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. New York: Back Bay Books, 1998.
1
Gartland, Janna. Schoolhouse Global Rock. 2008. <http://schoolhouseglobalrock.blogspot.com>.All the pictures mentioned in the unit plan can be found on my blog along with thedescriptions of meanings of specific places, etc.
Overview of Unit Activities:
1. Students will focus on reading Edith Hamilton’s Mythology and taking notes.2. Students will view pictures from blog and on the transparency in class. During thesetimes of viewing, I will ask questions about what the students see and many times askthe students to write down things they notice, how they feel, or have them write ajournal describing their feelings if they were in the scene.3. Students will read and take notes on the blog and come back to class to discuss thetopics they read about and make connections to these topics with the textbook.4. Students will create their own creation story.5. Students will write a more formal piece of writing on which god or goddess theywould want to be their patron if they were living in ancient Greece.6. Students will watch specific clips from the movie
Troy
.7. Students will create a final poster project with a partner, which they will thenshare in front of the class after they finish.8. Students will have a final discussion on the transition between ancient Greece tomodern-day Greece.
Unit Plan:
DAY 1: Introduction to Mythology – View pictures from Greece trip on transparencyprojector. (Pictures may be found on blog). Have students view several:* Picture of the Parthenon* Picture of Mycenae* Picture of Olympic Stadium* Picture of Delphi* Picture of Sphinx* Picture of AphroditeQuestions to ask: What is this? Where is this? What does this remind you of? What doyou think this was used for? Who is this? What does this have to do with GreekMythology?Begin reading “Introduction to Classical Mythology” (Hamilton)DAY 2: Creation StoriesAsk the students to talk about different creation stories they have heard about andmake a list on the board. Then make a separate list on the board for stories that theyhave heard about for why we have seasons, etc. They
may
be able to do this if theyhave heard some of the mythology stories before. If not, let them guess. They may beable to come up with stories from
Gilgamesh
,
Popoh Vuh
, or the
Bible
.Discuss why we have these collection of stories.
2
* What do these stories mean?* Why were they important to the Greeks?* Why are they important to us now?Remind students that these stories were part of the
religion
of the people.View map of Greece and discuss specific places they have heard of before (Athens,Olympia, Sparta, Delphi, etc).Tell students the basic creation story of the world with Gaea and Uranus. Begincreating a family tree on the board.HOMEWORK: Have students think of some natural phenomenon or animal and write ashort story of how a person without scientific knowledge of the world could havedescribed how this thing / animal was created.DAY 3: The Pantheon – Begin reading Chapter 1 (Hamilton)* Read about Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Athena, Apollo, and ArtemisHOMEWORK: Read Day 4, 5, and 6 of Schoolhouse Global Rock blogDAY 4: The Pantheon Continued – Continue reading Chapter 1* Read about Aphrodite, Hermes, Ares, Hephaestus, Hestia, the Lesser Gods,and the Gods of the WaterHOMEWORK: Read Day 7 of Schoolhouse Global Rock blogDAY 5: Athena and the Akrolopis – Discuss blog entry from Day 7 and view pictures of the Akropolis.* Why would the ancient Greeks build such a temple for Athena?* How is she different than maybe some of the other goddesses?Discuss story of the origin of the name of Athens: the fight between Poseidon andAthena. Athena’s protection was the Olive Tree. Show the picture of the Temple of Aesculapius where the supposed original Olive Tree stands and where Poseidon’sthunderbolt supposedly crashed through the ceiling.HOMEWORK: Finish Chapter 1 reading about HadesDAY 6: Demeter – Read Chapter 2 about Demeter.DAY 7: Dionysus. In-class writing assignment: Based on the gods and goddesses youknow so far, pretend that you were a person living in ancient Athens. Whichgod/goddess would be your patron god/goddess? Why?Begin reading about Dionysus in Chapter 2HOMEWORK: Finish reading Chapter 2DAY 8: The Greek World – View picture of Delphi and the Temple of Athena and Apollo.Discuss why people visited Delphi and the Oracles. (Information comes from Blog Day12).
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| Upload Date: | 05/28/2009 |
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