Textual Aids

Graphic Organizers

- Are visual displays of key content information designed

- Fisher & Shumaker, 1995

Kinds of Graphic Organizers

- Categorized according to the way they arrange information

> hierarchical > sequential

> conceptual > cyclical

1. Concept map
- Shows a central idea with its corresponding characteristics
- Excellent for brainstorming, activating prior knowledge, or generating synonyms

2. Flow Diagram or Sequence Chart

- Shows a series of steps or events in order in which they take place
- Excellent for teaching the steps necessary to reach a final point

3. Compare/ Contrast // Venn Diagram

- To identify the similarities and differences between two or more concepts
 4. Cause and effect Diagram
- Highlights the direct relationship between different events or concepts
- One of the most beneficial because of its many applications in all areas

Icarus and Daedalus

Truths :

- Daedalus was hired by Queen Pasiphae to invent a wooden cow for her
- Daedalus invented wings so they could escape from the labyrinth
- Icarus was told not to go far from Daedalus because the wings are delicate

Misconceptions :

- Daedalus designed a flaxen thread to hold the Minotaur

- Icarus fell from the sky but was saved by the gods and goddesses

Oral tradition

- the stories, beliefs, etc., that a group of people shares by telling stories and talking to each other
- a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas, and cultural material is
received, preserved and transmitted orally from one generation to another.
- transmission is through speech or song and may include folktales, ballads, chants, prose, or
verses.
Possible Writers:

Ovid :

- Latin poet, was born in 43 B.C. and died in A.D. 17

- birthplace was Sulmo, east of Rome, where he came of a family of knightly
(equestrian) rank.
- learned rhetoric at Rome

Hesiod :

- poor farmer was believed to have written in the ninth, sometimes eighth century.
- author of several significant poems including Theogony.

Hearing vs Listening

Hearing

- Ability to perceive sounds, by receiving vibrations through ears

- An ability
- Physiological act
- Primary and continuous in nature
- Receipt of message through ears
- Passive bodily process
- Concentration is not required
- Occurs at a subconscious level
Listening

- Something done consciously, involve analysis and understanding what you hear
- A skill
- Psychological act
- Secondary and temporary in nature
- Interpretation of message received by ears
- Active Bodily Process
- Concentration is required
- Occurs at conscious level

Notes :
 ICARUS & DAEDALUS

Daedalus -- his name means "skilled worker" -- was a famous architect, inventor, and master craftsman
known for having created many objects that figure prominently in various myths. He had a beloved son
named Icarus.

Among the many inventions and creations crafted by Daedalus were the wooden cow he constructed
for the queen Pasiphae, the Labyrinth of the Minotaur at Knossos on the island of Crete, artificial
wings for himself and his son Icarus, and he was even said to have invented images.

The infamous Labyrinth was so cunningly crafted that Daedalus himself could barely find his way out
after constructing it. With countless winding passages and turns that opened into one another, the
Labyrinth appeared to have neither beginning nor end. Daedalus built the maze to imprison the
Minotaur, half man - half bull.

His homeland was Athens but his parentage is uncertain. Alcippe, Merope and Iphinoe are all
mentioned at different times as being his mother. His father's identity was never precisely established
but many claim that it was Metion, son of Erectheus.

For a short time, his apprentice was his sister's son Perdix. But Daedalus was so proud of his
achievements that he could not bear the idea of a rival. His sister had placed her son Perdix under his
charge to be taught the mechanical arts.

Perdix was an apt scholar and showed striking evidence of ingenuity. Walking on the seashore, he
picked up the spine of a fish. According to Ovid, imitating it, he took a piece of iron and notched it on
the edge, and thus invented the saw.

Perdix also put two pieces of iron together, connecting them at one end with a rivet, and sharpening
the other ends, and made a pair of compasses.
Daedalus was so envious of his nephew's accomplishments that he seized an opportunity to toss him
from the hill of the Acropolis. As he was plunging to his death, however, the goddess Athena turned
Perdix into a partridge to save him.

Other sources claim instead that his apprentice was his nephew Talos. They say that it was Talos, at the
age of twelve, who displayed a skill that nearly rivaled his mentor's. Daedalus, fearing that the boy
would surpass him in talent, murdered the boy by tossing him from the Acropolis of Athens.

He was then tried at the Areiopagus, which was the ancient Greek court, and banished from his home
city of Athens. He fled to the island of Crete, where he began to work at the court of King Minos and
Queen Pasiphae, in the magnificent palace of Knossos.

It is said that Daedalus was the first to conceive masts and sails for ships for the navy of Minos, helping
Crete become a naval power. The statues he carved were so exquisite, they looked as if they were alive.
It is said that they would have escaped were it not for the chain that bound them to the palace wall.

Daedelus also constructed a wooden cow for the queen to hide in to satisfy her amorous longings for a
white bull sent by Poseidon, and by which she became pregnant with the Minotaur. Long story.

When the dreadful Minotaur was born, Daedalus built the Labyrinth to contain the monstrous
half-man, half-bull. For years Minos demanded a tribute of youths from Athens to feed the creature as
punishment for the accidental killing of his son while he was visiting Athens.

Eventually, the Athenian hero Theseus came to Crete to attempt to slay the Minotaur. Princess
Ariadne, daughter of king Minos and queen Pasiphae, fell in love with Theseus and asked Daedalus to
help him.

Daedalus gave her a flaxen thread for Theseus to tie to the door of the Labyrinth as he entered, and by
which he could find his way out after killing the monster, simply by following the thread back. Theseus
succeeded, and escaped Crete with Ariadne.
Minos, enraged at the loss of his daughter, not to mention the killing of his pet Minotaur, shut
Daedalus and his son Icarus into the Labyrinth, knowing that Theseus could not have accomplished
the deed without inside help.

Daedalus managed to get out of the Labyrinth - after all, he had built it and knew his way around.
Daedalus decided that he and his son Icarus had to leave Crete and get away from Minos, before he
brought them harm.

However, Minos controlled the sea around Crete: the king kept strict watch on all vessels, permitting
none to sail without being carefully searched by his soldiers

Since Minos controlled the land and sea routes, and there was no route of escape there. Daedalus
realized that the only way out was by air. But only the gods could fly!

To escape, Daedalus built wings for himself and Icarus, fashioned with feathers held together with wax.
Daedalus tried the wings on himself first and was satisfied that his plan would work.

Before taking off from the island, Daedalus warned his son to follow closely behind him. He sternly
cautioned Icarus not to fly too close to the sun, as it would melt his wings, and not too close to the sea,
as it would dampen them and make it hard to fly.

They successfully flew from Crete, but Icarus grew exhilarated by the thrill of flying and began getting
careless. The father and son passed the islands of Samos, Delos, and Lebynthos, and the further away
from Crete they flew, the cockier became Icarus.

Forgetting his father's stern advice, Icarus flew too close to the sun god Helios, pulling the sun behind
his chariot high in the sky.

The wax holding together his wings softened and melted from the heat and, try as he might, Icarus
could not prevent the feathers from falling off his body. Furiously he flapped his arms, but soon no
feathers at all were left and he fell to his death, drowning in the sea, as his helpless father with anguish
watched his son perish.
His father cried, bitterly lamenting his own arts, and called the land near the place where Icarus fell into
the ocean Icaria in memory of his child. The Icarian Sea, where he fell, was forever named after him
and it is said that the great hero Heracles (Hercules), who was passing by, gave him proper burial.

Daedalus grieved for his dead son and then continued to Sicily, where he came to stay at the court of
Cocalus in a place called Camicus. On the island's south coast Daedalus built a temple to Apollo, and
hung up his wings, as an offering to the Olympian god.

But vengeful King Minos wasn't quite done -- he then went in pursuit of Daedalus, hoping to locate
and trick the great inventor into revealing himself.

At each city he visited, Minos offered a reward to whomever could thread a spiral seashell, a seemingly
impossible task. Eventually, Minos came to Camicus in Sicily and presented the contest at Cocalus'
court.

Cocalus knew of Daedalus' talents, and gave the shell to him. The clever Daedalus tied the string to an
ant, place the ant at one end of the shell, and allowed the ant to walk through the spiral chambers until
it came out the other end.

When Minos saw that someone had solved the puzzle, he demanded that Cocalus surrender Daedalus,
for he insisted that only he would have been inventive enough to solve the task. King Cocalus promised
to do so, but he persuaded Minos to first take a bath and stay for some entertainment.

Minos agreed, and was consequently murdered by Cocalus' daughters, who had been totally impressed
by the toys and gifts which Daedalus had bestowed upon them and did not want any harm to come to
him.
In some versions of the myth, Daedalus himself poured boiling water on Minos and killed him.

Daedalus eventually left Camicus, much to the dismay of king Cocalus and his daughters, and ended
up in Sardinia with a group led by Iolaus, who was a nephew of Heracles.

This tragic theme of failed ambition, complacency and hubris contains similarities to that of Phaëthon,
the son of sun god Helios, who wildly and recklessly flew his father's sun chariot and was killed for his
foolishness.

Perseus and Medusa

Perseus, one of the most famous of the legendary heroes of ancient times, was the son of Zeus and
Danae, daughter of Acrisius, king of Argos. An oracle foretold to Acrisius that a son of Danae would
be the cause of his death, so he imprisoned her in a tall tower in order to keep her isolated from the
world. Zeus, however, descended through the roof of the tower in the form of a shower of gold, and
the lovely Danae became his bride.

For four years Acrisius had no idea this happened, but one evening as he happened to walk by Danae’s
room, he heard the cry of a young child from within, which led to the discovery of his daughter’s
marriage with Zeus. Enraged, Acrisius commanded the mother and child to be placed in a chest and
thrown into the sea.

But it was not the will of Zeus that they should die. The chest floated safely to the island of Seriphus,
where Dictys, brother of Polydectes, king of the island, was fishing on the seashore and saw the chest
abandoned on the beach. Pitying the helpless condition of its unhappy occupants, he led them to the
palace of the king. Polydectes knew he wanted Danae as his wife the instant he laid eyes on her. Yet for
many years Danae and Perseus remained on the island, where, unbeknownst to Polydectes, Perseus
received an education suitable for a hero from the best teacher available–Achilles’, Hercules’, Jason’s,
and Theseus’ teacher, Chiron the Centaur.
As he grew up, Perseus believed Polydectes was less than honorable, and protected his mother from
him; then Polydectes plotted to send Perseus away on a long, impossible task to humiliate him, or even
better, kill him so that he would stop interfering with his plan to marry Danae. He held a large banquet
where each guest was expected to bring a gift, but Perseus was unaware of this custom, so he asked
Polydectes to name the gift; he would not refuse it. Polydectes held Perseus to his reckless promise and
demanded the head of the only mortal Gorgon, Medusa, whose gaze turned people to stone.

To accomplish this, Athena, the patron of heroes, advised him to find the Hesperide Nymphs, whom
only the Grææ knew where they lived. Perseus started on his expedition, and, guided by Hermes and
Athena, arrived, after a long journey, in the far-off region, on the borders of Oceanus, where the Grææ
lived. The Grææ were three very old, gray-haired women, sisters of the Gorgons, who shared one eye
and tooth. He at once asked them for the necessary information, and on their refusing to grant it he
stole their single eye, which he only gave back to them when they gave him full directions with regard
to his route. He then proceeded to the land of the Hesperides, from whom he may obtain the objects
crucial to his purpose.

From the Hesperides he received a bag to safely contain Medusa’s head. Zeus gave him an adamantine
sword and Hades’ helm of darkness to make him invisible. Hermes lent Perseus winged sandals to fly,
and Athena gave him a polished shield. Perseus then proceeded to the Gorgons’ cave.

Equipped with the magic items, he attached to his feet the winged sandals and flew to the land of the
Gorgons, whom he found fast asleep in a cave. Now as Perseus had been warned by his heavenly guides
that whoever looked upon these weird sisters would be transformed into stone, he stood with his face
turned away from the sleepers, and looked at them through the reflection in his bright metal shield.
Then, guided by Athena, he cut off the head of the Medusa, which he placed in his bag. As soon as had
he done that, from Medusa’s headless body there sprang forth the winged horse Pegasus, who flew up
into the sky. He now hurried to escape the pursuit of the two surviving sisters, who, awoken from their
sleep, eagerly rushed to avenge the death of their sister.
His invisible helmet and winged sandals here came in handy; for the former concealed him from the
view of the Gorgons, while the latter carried him swiftly over land and sea, far beyond the reach of
pursuit. In passing over the burning plains of Libya the drops of blood from the head of the Medusa
oozed through the bag and falling on the hot sands below produced many-colored snakes, which
spread all over the country. Droplets of blood that landed in the Red Sea created coral reefs
underwater.

Perseus continued his flight until he reached the kingdom of Atlas, of whom he begged rest and shelter.
But as Atlas protected the Garden of the Hesperides, where every tree produced golden fruit, he was
afraid that this hero who just killed the monstrous Medusa might also destroy the dragon which
guarded it and then steal his treasures. He therefore refused to grant the hospitality which the hero
demanded. So, Perseus, irritated at Atlas’ refusal, reached into his bag and pulled out the head of the
Medusa, and holding it towards the king, transforming him into a stony mountain. Beard and hair
erected themselves into forests; shoulders, hands, and limbs became huge rocks, and the head grew up
into a rocky peak which reached into the clouds.

Perseus then resumed his travels. His winged sandals carried him over deserts and mountains, until he
arrived at Ethiopia, the kingdom of King Cepheus. Here he found the country filled with disastrous
floods, towns and villages destroyed, and everywhere signs of devastation and ruin. On a projecting cliff
close to the shore, he noticed a lovely maiden chained to a rock. This was Andromeda, the king’s
daughter. Her mother Cassiopeia, having boasted that her beauty surpassed that of the Nereides,
caused the angry sea-nymphs to appeal to Poseidon to retaliate, and thus the sea-god devastated the
country with terrible waves, which brought with it a huge monster who consumed all that came in his
way.

In their distress, the unfortunate Ethiopians begged the oracle of Zeus, Ammon, in the Libyan desert,
and received the response that only by the sacrifice of the king’s daughter to the monster could the
country and people be saved.
Cepheus, who fondly loved his dear daughter Andromeda, at first refused to listen to this dreadful
proposal; but overcome at length by the prayers and begging of his unhappy citizens, the heartbroken
father gave up his child for the welfare of his country. Andromeda was then chained to a rock on the
seashore to serve as a prey to the monster, while her unhappy parents watched her sad fate on the beach
below.

On being informed of the meaning of this tragic scene, Perseus proposed to Cepheus to kill the
monster, on condition that the lovely victim should become his bride. Overjoyed at the possibility of
Andromeda’s release, the king gladly accepted, and Perseus raced to the rock, to breathe words of hope
and comfort to the frightened girl. Then putting on once more the helmet of Hades, he jumped into
the air and waited for the approach of the monster.

The sea opened, and the shark’s head of the gigantic beast raised itself above the waves. Lashing his tail
furiously from side to side, he leaped forward to bite his victim; but the courageous hero, watching his
opportunity, suddenly darted down, and bringing out the head of the Medusa from his bag held it
before the eyes of the dragon, whose hideous body became gradually transformed into a huge black
rock. Perseus then unchained Andromeda and led her to her now happy parents, who, anxious to show
their gratitude, ordered immediate preparations to be made for the marriage feast.

Perseus then left the Ethiopian king, and, accompanied by his beautiful bride, returned to Seriphus,
where Perseus returned to give King Polydectes the “gift” he requested. When he did not find his
mother in his court, and Polydectes would not reveal where she was, Perseus pulled out Medusa’s head
from the bag. Polydectes revealed that he locked her in a dungeon, just before his mouth and whole
head turned to stone.

After he rescued his mother, he then sent a messenger to his grandfather, informing him that he
intended to return to Argos; but Acrisius, fearing the fulfillment of the oracle’s prophecy, fled for
protection to his friend Teutemias, king of Larissa. Anxious to return to Argos, Perseus followed him.
But here a strange accident occurred. While taking part in some funeral games, celebrated in honor of
the king’s father, Perseus, by an unfortunate throw of the discus, accidentally struck his grandfather,
and thereby was the innocent cause of his death.

After celebrating the funeral rites of Acrisius, Perseus presented the head of the Medusa to his divine
protector Athena, who placed it in the center of her shield. Later on, as happens to demi-gods, when
Perseus’ mortal half died, he was taken up to the heavens and became a constellation, and afterwards
Andromeda was also taken to the sky to shine near his stars, along with her mother, Cassiopeia.

Oedipus Rex By Sophocles

Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex begins as a Priest of Apollo asks King Oedipus of Thebes to help end the
plague that is ravaging the city. In response, Oedipus reveals that he has already sent his brother-in-law,
Creon, to consult with the oracle of Apollo at Delphi on the matter. Creon returns with the message
that in order for the plague to end, the murderer of Laius, the previous king of Thebes, must be
brought to justice. According to the oracle, the murderer still resides within the city. Oedipus, who
arrived in Thebes after Laius’s death, asks Creon for the details of the murder. Creon explains that
Laius was killed by thieves while on his way to consult an oracle.

Oedipus vows to exact revenge against the murderer and end the plague. In order to find the murderer,
Oedipus summons the blind prophet Teiresias. When Oedipus asks about the identity of the murderer,
Teiresias is cryptic at first. He laments that there is little point in knowing the truth when the truth will
bring nothing but misery. However, when Oedipus insults Teiresias and accuses him of the murder,
Teiresias angrily reveals that Oedipus himself killed Laius. Oedipus assumes that Teiresias is working on
behalf of Creon to dethrone him, and he angrily rebukes the prophet. He accuses Teiresias of being
talentless and boasts that he was the one who saved Thebes.

When Oedipus arrived, Thebes was held captive by a sphinx. In order to make her leave, Oedipus
solved her riddle. After successfully freeing the city, Oedipus was made king. Teiresias angrily rebukes
Oedipus for not trusting in his skills as a prophet, and he enigmatically reveals that Oedipus’s parents
trusted his talents. As Teiresias departs, he delivers one final prophecy: Oedipus is both the father and
brother of his children, implying that he has married his mother. After Teiresias leaves, Oedipus angrily
confronts Creon, whom he believes is conspiring against him. He tells Creon to either leave Thebes or
die.

Their argument is interrupted by the arrival of Jocasta, Oedipus’s wife and Creon’s sister. She scolds
them for arguing when there are more important matters to attend to. Creon departs, leaving Jocasta
and Oedipus to discuss the conflict. Jocasta chides Oedipus for baselessly accusing Creon of treason
and advises him to distrust prophecies. As evidence, she cites Teiresias’s prophecy that her former
husband, King Laius, would be killed by his own son. In response, Jocasta and Laius sent their child
away to die on a mountain. Laius was later killed by thieves on his way to visit a prophet.

Jocasta’s recounting of Laius’s murder startles Oedipus. He recalls his journey to Thebes, in which he
participated in an incident similar to the murder Jocasta describes. He begins to fear that he truly is the
man who murdered Laius. He tells Jocasta to send for the only survivor from Laius’s traveling party.

When Jocasta questions Oedipus further, he explains the circumstances that brought him to Thebes.
Oedipus was raised in Corinth by King Polybus and Queen Merope. One day, he overheard someone
say that Oedipus was not truly their son. To obtain answers, Oedipus visited the oracle of Delphi, who
did not confirm his parentage but instead foretold that Oedipus would murder his father and marry his
mother. In order to circumvent the prophecy, Oedipus fled Corinth.

On his way to Thebes, in the same location where Laius was murdered, he encountered a traveling
party who threatened to run him off the road. In retaliation, Oedipus killed them all, save for one
survivor, who got away. Oedipus is troubled by the connections between Laius’s murder and his own
actions. Jocasta urges him to avoid assumptions until he has had the chance to the talk to the survivor.
Soon after, a messenger arrives from Corinth to inform Oedipus that King Polybus is dead. Oedipus
and Jocasta take this news as further proof that prophecies are inaccurate, because Oedipus was
prophesied to be his father’s murderer. However, the messenger then reveals that Polybus was not
Oedipus’s real father. Instead, the messenger, who was previously a shepherd, received the baby
Oedipus from one of Laius’s herdsman. Oedipus asks Jocasta if she could identify the herdsman, but
she begs Oedipus not to pursue this line of inquiry.

Assuming that Jocasta is simply embarrassed to be married to someone of unroyal ancestry, Oedipus
continues his inquiry and calls for the herdsman to be brought before him. Jocasta then departs,
promising to be “silent evermore.” The herdsman then arrives and confirms that he gave the infant
Oedipus to the messenger. However, upon being questioned about the infant’s origins, he remains
stubbornly silent.

When Oedipus threatens to have him killed, the herdsman reluctantly admits that the infant was Laius
and Jocasta’s son. Laius and Jocasta told the herdsman to kill the child, who was prophesied to murder
his father and marry his mother. However, the herdsman took pity on the infant Oedipus and instead
gave him to the messenger, believing that the child could do no harm if he was raised in another city.
Oedipus, realizing that he has indeed murdered his father and married his mother, runs offstage in
grief. A second messenger then enters the stage and reports on what has happened inside the palace.
Jocasta, no longer able to deny the truth, hanged herself.

Oedipus, upon finding her dead, used the pins of her dress to blind himself. An inconsolable Oedipus
then re-enters the stage and bemoans the tragedy of his life. When Creon arrives, Oedipus asks to be
exiled for his sins. He also asks Creon to look after his young daughters, Antigone and Ismene. As
Oedipus is led away, the Chorus laments his fate. Oedipus’s story continues in Sophocles’s Oedipus at
Colonus.