Adrianne Mae T.

Bacus January 29, 2021

Sir James Liven B. Amoro EL 109 Mythology and Folklore

LESSON 1.OUT-A. Overview of Folk Literature

Myth as Relevant Artifact in History

Myth or “Mythos” in Greek, had always been a part of our history where our ancestors
and grandparents share and tell stories about it which relates the beginning of creation of the
world and how people and animals living here on earth were formed or exist. For starters,
Mythology is a study and interpretation about a fable or a sacred tale which tells about the
various aspects of human condition: good and evil, the suffering of humans, origins of the world
and things, cultural and traditional values, and also the meaning of life and death. It also tackles
about the various gods and goddesses in Greece and what they did. Many countries and
cultures have their own versions of myths which it contains archetypal images and themes.
There are three (3) types of myths which are Pure Myth or True Myth or Proper Myth
which it tackles and scientifically explain about the natural phenomena or the origin of things
and their behaviors towards gods. The second is Saga or Legend, this myth tells about historical
events, the example of this is the story of the war at Troy. Finally, Folk-tales or Fairytales, this
one type tells about stories of fiction for entertainment, mostly it is intended for children since it
contains supernatural characters such as ghosts, elves, dwarfs, demons, and fairies, it also
includes elements of magic like spells, potions, and objects. These myths had been a part of our
civilization such as pre-historic paintings in caves, etching of walls, tombs, and monuments and
statues long before humans know the meanings of myth and its structures which helped them
create such tales and beliefs. Mythology was considered as important to our history; the stories
and its practices becomes a foundation for a lot of religions that are practiced today. Myths also
gives out important morals or lessons to people as it teaches what are the differences between
right and what is wrong, these teachings are still relevant as it teaches kids ‘til this day. It also
relates on how our society was built and how it influenced people due to answering the
questions of men and natural phenomenon, as well as it also tells on how our ancestors live and
how they went through and how we got here today. Studying myths can also help you
understand the characters’ hardships and what faults they did as it opens our minds and learn
from them.
In conclusion, Myths are not just mere stories or tales just to amuse us but rather an
important piece in our society. They serve profound purpose in ancient and modern cultures.
They explain the world’s origins and experiences of humans. Myths are served as a guide or
compass to each generation to the next.
Adrianne Mae T. Bacus February 12, 2021
Sir James Liven B. Amoro EL 109 Mythology and Folklore

LESSON 1.OUT-B. Overview of Folk Literature

Theories Related to the Study of Mythology

Ancient Theories
Modern Theories

- This theory tackles about the

values/ moralities of men, tells - This theory explores the experiences
wisdom that resonates century and the best and worst aspects of a
after century. human.

- Naturalism
- Ritualism
- Rationalism - Diffusionism
- Etymological Theory - Evolutionism
- Allegorical Theory - Freudianism
- Euhemerism - Jungian Archetypes
- Structuralism
- Historical-critical Theory

In this comprehensive graphic organizer which I created shows about the two theories of
myth (Ancient and Modern theory) that are related to this study, ancient theory tells us or it
focuses about the ancient philosophy and values in most greek mythology while modern theory
focuses more on the human nature and ‘what’ it is to be human.
Sharmane Ogania BSEd English 2B

Mr. James Liven B. Amoro

PERSEUS AND MEDUSA

(Myths as Allegories)

A.Summary
Acrisius, the king of Argos, was told by the oracle of Delphi that his own grandson would
kill him one day. This grandson would be the child of his daughter Danae. Scared of the
upcoming future and his destiny, King Acrisius decided to deprive his daughter of any
possible intercourse, mating and child bearing, so he built a room beneath the earth and
imprisoned Danae there. However, as the legend says, Zeus came to her in the form of
golden rain, pierced through the walls of chamber, and Danae’s body. Hence, Perseus
was born. Hearing the news but not believing that Zeus was the father of the newborn,
Acrisius let his daughter and grandchild out to the open sea on an ark. They eventually
came to the shores of Serifos island, where they were saved and adopted by a local
couple, the man being the brother of the king of the island, Polydectes. When Perseus
grew up to be a handsome and strong young man, one more time he found himself in the
way of one king, this time King Polydectes, who wanted Danae to become his wife.
Knowing that he wouldn’t have the woman for himself as long as Perseus was there to
protect her, the king made a plan to send Perseus not only far away but also to a
dangerous mission. Polydectes told Perseus to bring him the head of the gorgon
Medusa. Perseus And Medusa was one of three sisters, the gorgons, but she was the
only mortal one. Some versions say all three were born as monsters, but the
predominant myths had them as gorgeous maidens. Medusa was so beautiful that
Poseidon was crazy about her, but she didn’t care about him; Poseidon turned her and
her sisters into monsters with live snakes covering their heads. Medusa kept her
beautiful face but everything else was so monstrous. And whoever dared to look into her
face ended up being turned into stone. Perseus thus had a hard task. He asked Athena
and Hermes for help and two of them, together with the nymphs, provided winged
sandals to fly him to the end of the world where gorgons lived, a cap that made him
invisible, a sword and a mirrored shield. The latter was the most important tool Perseus
had, since it allowed him to see a reflection of Medusa’s face and to avoid being turned
into stone medusa-head. When he cut Medusa’s head off, from the drops of her blood
suddenly appeared two offspring: Pegasus, a winged horse, and Chrysaor, a giant or a
winged boar. It’s believed that those two were Medusa’s children with Poseidon. In any
case, once he accomplished his task Perseus flew back and escaped Medusa’s sisters
who tried to reach him. Later, Perseus used Medusa’s head as a weapon on many
occasions until he gave the head to Athena to place it on her shield.
B. Elements of Fiction (Write in complete sentences.) 
2. Characters: 
● Perseus
● Danae
● Medusa
● Polydectes
● Athena
● The Graeae
● The Nymphai

3. Settings 
a. Place: After Perseus had grown up on the island of Seriphus, where the chest had grounded,
King Polydectes of Seriphus, who desired Danaë, tricked Perseus into promising to obtain the
head of Medusa, the only mortal among the Gorgons.

4. Symbols and Archetypes:

The Situational Archetype that Perseus goes through is in almost every Greek Mythology story,
and that archetype is The Quest (or the Hero's Journey Quest). Perseus was involved with this
archetype for obvious reasons, Polydectes sent him on a quest for Medusa's head. The whole
story of Perseus killing Medusa was driven by his special characteristic of having the spirit of not
conceding.
Even though in the whole story, the old king was trying to run away from his fate of being killed
by Perseus, in the end though, he was still killed by him. The quoit symbolized an end of the life
of the old king, as it fell onto the king and killed him when Perseus threw it and it flew further
than it has ever flown.

C. Deductions of Themes (Deduce more than three themes of your assigned story
and provide brief explanations.) 

Theme 1: When your fate is set, it'll happen, no matter how hard you try to run away
from it.

Explanation: Once the old king of Argos was told by Pythia that he was going to be
killed by the son of Danae, he selfishly did whatever he could to try to prevent it from
happening. In the beginning, he thought that locking Danae, his daughter, in prison
would prevent the birth of a son. However, he did not expect Jupiter to fall in love with
her and give birth to Perseus. When he found out, because of being a coward as he
was, he didn't dare to just kill the baby. Instead, he put both Danae and Perseus in a
wooden chest and sent them away by throwing the chest into the ocean. He assumed
that since Perseus was out of the way, he wouldn't possibly be harmed by him.
However, after the long journey of killing Medusa, Perseus wanted to go back to Argos.
When the old king knew about it, he ran away to another country. Ironically, it was
where he was killed. Perseus went to that country to attend a competition and when he
threw a heavy quoit, the quoit hit the old king and killed him. All these events show that
no matter how hard you try to run away from your fate, you simply can't. If it's meant to
be that one is going to be killed by his/her own grandson, it will be. 
Theme 2: Even under hard circumstances, facing seemingly impossible tasks and
obstacles, as long as one tries, he will be more likely to succeed

Explanation: Perseus faced the hardest quest of finding and killing Medusa, and
bringing the head back. But no matter how hard the situation was, as he did not know
how and where to begin the quest, he did not just give up the quest and run away from
the king. Instead, he accepted the help given by Athena and Mercury, and went on the
seemingly impossible quest. He had to face the Three Gray sisters and force them to
tell him where to find the Maidens who guard the Tree, and travel such great distances
to the farthest corner of the world to find Medusa and her Gorgon sisters' cave. The
most terrifying part was to sneak up to the three sleeping Gorgons, and correctly
identify which was the Medusa, and have the courage to pull out the sword and cut
down the frightening head, and flee from the two large Gorgon sisters chasing after
him. These all were situations that normal people would back out from, but Perseus did
not. Instead, he fought through all the harsh conditions, and brought back the
paralyzing head.

Theme 3: Perseus killing Medusa was driven by his special characteristic of having the
spirit of not conceding.

Explanation: He had to face so many harsh conditions throughout the whole journey,
but instead of giving up and backing down, he decided to face the challenges and beat
them all. Each move he made was another decision that he made, motivated by his
spirit of not conceding. Also, the reason why he actually went on the whole journey,
was because he knew that the evil king on the new island where his mother and him
were saved on to, wanted to pick on him, when he said that he wanted horses as gifts,
since the king knew that Perseus didn't have any. His spirit of not conceding kicked in,
as he blurted out "Why not ask for Medusa's head?" If he was someone willing to just
give up when something doesn't go the way he wants it to, this story wouldn't continue.

D. The Plot (StoryBoard in Five Boards)

Polydectes an evil king loved the

beautiful Danae and wanted to marry her. Unfortunately, he hated her son,
Perseus, who he feels is tricky and ruthless. (EXPOSITION).
 Polydectes tricked Perseus into going on a dangerous
quest to get the head of Medusa so that he could get rid of
him. Medusa had snakes for hair, brass claws, golden
wings, and bore's tusks. When you looked at Medusa you
would turn to stone. (COMPLICATION)

When Perseus arrived at Medusa's

cave, Medusa and her sisters were all
sleeping. Perseus aimed his
shield at Medusa and cut off her
head. He then put it in his sack, and
ran away from her angry sisters.
(CLIMAX)

When Perseus pulled the head out of the bag to show

Polydectes, he turned to stone. (DENOUEMENT)
 Perseus gave the head of Medusa to Athena to put on her armor. He used it to ward
off evil.

E. Analysis and Standards

1. How does the setting affect the characters and plot? 
-Argos, island where Perseus and Danae floated to, cave where the Gray sisters were,
the Western land where the Three Maidens were, and the farthermost edge of the world
where the Gorgons were, an ocean where he said Andromeda from the sea monster,
Andromeda's kingdom, a kingdom near Argos that held a competition. 

2. What can you infer about the main character/s based on the details in the legend?
- King Acrisius of Argos has a stunningly beautiful daughter but wants a son, so he prays
to the gods. Apollo tells him not only that Acrisius will never have a son, but also that the
son of his daughter will kill him. The only way to fully prevent this prophecy would be to
kill his daughter, Danae, but Acrisius fears what the gods would do to him. Instead, he
imprisons Danae in a bronze house without a roof and guards her carefully.
Arcisius does not expect, however, that Zeus will come to her and impregnate
her. Perseus is born, and after Acrisius discovers the baby, he puts Perseus and Danae
in a box and sets it out in the ocean. Luckily (or thanks to Zeus), the box washes up on a
small island, where a kind fisherman named Dictys takes Danae and Perseus in. They
live happily until Dictys's brother, King Polydectes, falls in love with Danae and decides to
get rid of her son. Polydectes convinces Perseus to kill the Medusa, a horrifying beast
with snakes for hair. But this feat seems impossible because whoever looks at the
snakes will turn instantly to stone.

3. Why do you think people created myths like this one? Why do they help people explain
or  understand? 
-So that people could relate into reality through this way as a guide that there are people
who have hatred and insecurity.