Course: Mythology and Folklore

Course Code: English 107

Course Description: Explores mythology and folklore from different countries to gain
insights into people’s origin, desires, fears, instincts, and needs.

Learning Outcomes:

The students shall also become familiar with the ancient Greek, Roman, and Norse
mythology which will be beneficial in exploring the world of literature since understanding
literature takes a huge part of their course. This course shall also develop the sense of
belongingness of the students within their community. The lore that lures in their community shall
be their trademark; hence they must submit famous stories from their community.

Resources/References:
Greek and Roman Mythology (Edith Hamilton)

Course Content:

Midterm
Unit I: The Classical Mythology
Lesson 1: Folklore: Myths, Folktales, Legends, and Fables
Lesson 2: Introduction to Classical Mythology
The Greek and the Roman Writers of Mythology
Lesson 3: The Gods, The Creations, and the Earliest Heroes
Unit II: How the World Created?
Lesson 1: The Two Great Gods of Earth
Lesson 2: Earliest Heroes
Lesson 3: How the World and the Mankind Created?
Unit III: Stories of Love and Adventure
Lesson 1: Cupid and Psyche
Lesson 2: The Eight Brief Tales of Lovers
Lesson 3: The Quest of the Golden Fleece
Finals
Unit IV: The Trojan Wars
Lesson 1: Four Great Adventures
Lesson 2: The Great Heroes Before the Trojan Wars
Unit V: How the Trojan War Begins and How it Ends?
Lesson 1: The Heroes of the Trojan War
The Judgment of Paris
The Fall of Troy
Lesson 2: The Adventure of Odysseus
Lesson 3: The Adventures of Aeneas

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Grading System:
Attendance - 10%
Module - 30%
Project - 40%
Major Exam - 20%
Total - 100%
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Course Requirements:
Term Exams: Midterm and Finals
Activities: Submission of activities in every lesson
Project: Drama and Short film of the stories taken from mythology
Midterm: Recorded Radio Drama/ Radio Play about:
Group 1: The Creation of the World according to Greek Mythology
Group 2: Cupid and Psyche
Group3: Orpheus and Eurydice
Group4: Pygmalion and Galatea
Group 5: Daphne

Finals: A short film about the Trojan War

Group 1: The Apple of Discord
Group 2: The Judgment of Paris
Group3: The Abduction of Helen
Group 4: The Death of Achilles
Group 5: The Trojan Horse

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Unit I: The Classical Mythology

Introduction
“Fables should be taught as fables, myths as myths, and miracles as poetic fantasies. To
teach superstitions as truth is a most terrible thing. The child mind accepts and believes them, and
only through great pain and perhaps tragedy can be in after years relieved of them.” -Hypatia
In this unit, you will be able to identify myth, folktales, legends, and fables and appreciate
the beauty of literature through the different elements of short stories and archetypes.

Lesson 1: Folklore: Myths, Folktales, Legends, and Fables

Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, you are able to:
1. Identify myths, folktales, legends, and fables.
2. Appreciate the beauty of literature through the different elements of short stories and
archetypes.

Lesson Proper

 as all the traditions, customs, and

stories that are passed along by
word of mouth in a culture.
 Folklore not only means the stories
of a group of people, but also their
arts and crafts, dances, games, superstitions, proverbs, holidays, songs, and so on.
 Folklore is collected and written down only after they have been told for many years,
 Perhaps even centuries.
Folk tales characteristics:
1. Characters are ordinary humans or animals
that act like humans; often the humans are
peasants or of the lower class and they have
better values than the richer class
2. Time ordered structure
3. Repetition of words, phrases, themes, or
situations
4. Simple grammar
5. Concrete vocabulary
6. Characters embody abstract values: greed, patience, etc.
7. Themes and issues are relevant for all ages
8. Characters have standard physical characteristics (princess—beautiful, etc)
9. Some have magical features (fairy tales are a subcategory of folk tales)
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10. Most cultures have trickster tales—a person or animal that outwits the others in the story

Examples of folk tales:

1. “Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears”
2. “Lazy Peter and the Three-Cornered Hat”
3. “Pumpkin Seed and the Snake”
4. “The Ten Fingers of Sedna”
Oral tradition refers to the stories of folklore have their beginnings in spoken language.
 Often, they were passed along generation to generation by storytellers, and the stories
went through changes as they were told, taking on the storytellers’ own personal touches,
personality, and exaggerations, etc.
Purpose of the stories:
1. The stories help keep the past alive.
2. Introduce young people to the history, beliefs, and religion of their society.
3. The stories teach moral lessons and illustrate qualities that are valued by the society,
such as kindness and courage. They also warn against negative qualities, like greed
and foolishness.
Note: Very often the same stories appear in different cultures. Similarities in these stories point
to values that many cultures hold in common.
Folklore can be grouped into four major categories:
1. Folk tales (includes fairy tales as a subcategory).
2. Fables
3. Legends
4. Myths

Myth characteristics:
1. Characterization is very
important; traits are revealed
through appearance, actions,
words, and what others think
of them.
2. Deal with aspects of human
life: jealousy, love, death, ambition.
3. Deal with gods and goddesses, and lesser deities as well as humans.
4. Gods and goddesses have human emotions and extraordinary powers.
5. Themes and symbols are still important in western culture today.
Examples of Myths:
1. “Echo and Narcissus”
2. “The Origin of the Seasons”
3. ” Orpheus, the Great Musician”
Creation Myths:
Definition: At the foundation of nearly every culture is a creation myth that explains how the
wonders of the earth came to be.
Why are they important?
 These myths have an immense influence on people’s frame of reference.
 These myths have an immense influence on people’s frame of reference.
 Despite geographical differences, all creation myths share some common elements.
Similarities seen in Creation Myths
1. Many creation myths begin with the “birth” of the earth.

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 2. According to some myths, animals and people lived together peacefully until some “sin”
separated them or a “god took that peace away”.
3. A supreme being is usually found in all creation myths; this being(s) trigger a chain of
events that create the earth; sometimes there are two ‘beings.
4. Not all creation myths begin on earth; some cultures believe life started above or below
the earth.
ARCHETYPES
Archetypes are symbols, images, or patterns that appear in myths, literature, and visual arts
throughout all cultures. They have universal meanings and show how all humans, despite our
differences, are really very similar.

Examples:
–Japanese Creation Myth
–Iroquois Creation Myth
–Aborigine Creation Myth
–African Bushman Myth
–Hebrew Creation Myth

Common Archetype Characters (Pearson Archetypal System)

 Female Archetype: Earth Mother, Old Hag, Great Mother, Temptress, Mother Goddess,
Female Hero (princess or maiden), Damsel in distress (passive female hero)
 Ruler/leader: role model/ peacemaker
 Hero: Epic hero
 Antihero: reluctant hero
 Sage: Wise man/ Mentor/ Soothsayer/ Guide
 Trickster
 Villain
 Caregiver: supporter/advisor/ advocate/ nurturer/ altruist
 Innocent: idealist/ traditionalist/ optimist/cheerleader
 Jester: entertainer, wise fool, holy fool, wit

Eight Archetypal Storylines

1. Cinderella - Unrecognized virtue at last recognized. It's the same story as the Tortoise and
the Hare. Cinderella doesn't have to be a girl, nor does it even have to be a love story.
What is essential is that the good is despised, but is recognized in the end, something that
we all want to believe.
2. Achilles - The Fatal Flaw, that is the groundwork for practically all classical tragedy,
although it can be made comedy too, as in the old standard Aldwych farce. Lennox
Robinson's The White-headed Boy is the Fatal Flaw In reverse.
3. Faust- The Debt that Must be Paid, the fate that catches up with all of us sooner or later.
This is found in all its purity as the chase in O'Neill's The Emperor Jones. And in a
completely different mood, what else is the Cherry Orchard?
4. Tristan - that standard triangular plot of two women and one man, or two men and one
woman. The Constant Nymph, or almost any French farce.
5. Circe - The Spider and the Fly. Othello. The Barrettes of Wimpole Street, if you want to
change the sex. And if you don't believe me about Othello (the real plot of which is not the
triangle and only incidentally jealousy) try casting it with a good Desdemona but a poor
Iago.
6. Romeo and Juliet - Boy meets Girl, Boy loses Girl, Boy either finds or does not find Girl:
it doesn't matter which.
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 7. Orpheus - The Gift taken Away. This may take two forms: either the tragedy of the loss
itself, as in Juno and the Peacock, or it may be about the search that follows the loss, as in
Jason and the Golden Fleece.
8. The Hero Who Cannot Be Kept Down. The best example of this is that splendid play
Harvey, made into a film with James Stewart.

Note: These plots can be presented in so many different forms (tragedy, comedy, farce, whodunit)
and they can be inverted. but they still form the basis of all good writing. The fault with many
contemporary plays is simply that they do not have a plot.
Archetypal Story Patterns
• Hero overcomes great obstacles and gets home or wins
• A magician who helps make dreams come true
• A jester who brings out the fun in a situation
• The story of good versus evil
• The quest for knowledge of self
• The journey homes
• Hero saves damsel in distress
• Star-crossed lovers
Most often traced archetypal pattern:
 is that of the quest (or search) by the protagonist (or hero), who must leave her/his home,
travel into unfamiliar territory, meet a guide, endure dangerous situations and adventures,
reach the object of her/his quest, gain important new knowledge, and return home with
that knowledge to share with others.
What do Archetypal patterns do for readers?
1. Archetypal patterns and characters help us recognize story lines and character traits faster
when we are aware of them.
2. These patterns and characters become a way of how we perceive the world around us and
the people around us.
Motif:
 The literary device ‘motif’ is any element, subject, idea or concept that is constantly
present through the entire body of literature—one piece of literature. (like one story)
 Using a motif refers to the repetition of a specific theme dominating a literary work.
 Motifs are very noticeable and play a significant role in defining the nature of the story,
the course of events and the very fabric of the literary piece.

Motifs from Romeo and Juliet:

• The lover versus the warrior
(Romeo/Tybalt) • Comedy vs drama
(Mercutio/Tybalt)

• Dreamer vs realist (Rom. And Jul.

Vs both houses)

• Happy and sad (party scene/death

scene)

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 Difference between Motif and Archetype
Motif Archetype
A Motif can be traced throughout one literary An Archetype can be a pattern or symbol that
work can be traced beyond one work to a greater
body of literature, movies, art, etc.

Elements of Fairy Tales

1. Usually begins with “once upon a time…”
2. Include fantasy and make-believe, supernatural elements.
3. Clearly defined “good” verses “evil” characters
4. Involves “magical” elements—people, things—magic could be positive or negative
5. Includes objects, people, events in series of threes
6. Often have happy endings
7. Teach a lesson or demonstrate values important to the culture
8. Plot focuses on a problem or conflict that needs to be solved
9. Does not have to include “fairies”
10. Usually set in past—long, long ago
Examples of Fairy Tales

• Cinderella
• Snow White
• Beauty and the Beast
• The Goose-Girl
• The Golden Key
• The Peasant and the Devil

Legend characteristics:
1. Characters are usually “Larger than life”
2. Details tend to become exaggerated over
time
3. Character’s qualities are reflective of
values, attitudes, and beliefs of the culture
4. Often include elements of magic and the
supernatural
Examples of Legends:

1. “Paul Bunyan”
2. “Beowulf”
3. “King Arthur”
4. “Pecos Bill”

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 Fable characteristics:
1. Characters are often animals with human
characteristics
2. Moral or lesson follows the story, usually in one
sentence or simple summary
Examples of fables:

1. “The Fox and the Crow”

2. “The Lion and the Statue”

Lesson 2: The Greek and Roman Writers of Mythology

Objectives:

At the end of this lesson, you should able to:

1. Familiarize the various writers of mythology.
2. Analyze how these ancient writers think through their works.

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Lesson Proper
Introduction to Classical Mythology

Greek and Roman mythology is quite generally supposed to show us the way the human
race thought and felt untold ages ago. Through it, we can retrace the path from civilized man who
lives so far from nature, to man who lived in close companionship with nature; and the real
interest of the myths is that lead us back to time when the world was young and people had a
connection with the earth, with trees and seas and flowers and hills, unlike anything we ourselves
can feel. When the stories are being shaped, we are given to understand, little distinction had as
yet been made between the real and the unreal. The imagination was vividly alive and not
checked by the reason, so that anyone in the woods might see through the trees a fleeing nymph,
or bending over a clear pool to drink, behold in the depths a naiad’s face.
The prospect of travelling back to this delightful state of things is held out by nearly every
writer who touches upon classical mythology, above all by the poets. And we for a moment can
catch, through the myths he made. A glimpse of that strangely and beautifully animated world.
But a very brief consideration of the ways of uncivilized peoples everywhere and in all
ages is enough to prick that romantic bubble. Nothing is clearer than the fact that primitive man,
whether in New Guinea today or eons ago in the prehistoric wilderness, is not and never has been
a creature who peoples his world with bright fancies and lovely visions. Horrors lurked in the
primeval forest, not nymphs and naiads. Terror lived there, with its close attendant, Magic, and its
most common defense, Human Sacrifice. Mankind’s chief hope of escaping the wrath of whatever
divinities were then abroad lay in some magical rite, senseless but powerful, or in some offering
made at the cost of pain and grief.
1. Ovid
- He is a Latin poet who wrote during the reign of Augustus and a compendium
of mythology.
- His works depend mostly of the books about the stories of classical mythology.
- He told almost all the stories and he told them in great length.
- A good poet and a good storyteller and able to appreciate the myths.
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2. Hesiod
- A poor farmer whose life was hard and bitter.
- The “Works and Days” tries to show men how to live a good life in a harsh
world.
- His poem, “Theogony”, is entirely concerned with mythology. It is an account
of the creation of the universe and the generations of gods, and it is very
important for mythology.
- If he did write it, then a humble peasant, living on a lonely farm far form cities
was the first man in Greece to wonder how everything had happened, the
world, the sky, the gods, mankind, and to think out an explanation.
3. Homeric Hymns
- Poems written to honor various gods.
- They cannot be definitely dated, but the earliest are considered by most
scholars to belong to the end of the eighth century or the beginning of the
seventh.
- There are 33 in all – belong to the fifth century or possibly fourth century
Athens.
4. Pindar
- The greatest lyric poet of Greece, began to write toward the end of the sixth
century.
- His work “Odes” was to honor the victors in the games at the great national
festivals of Greece, and in every one of his poem’s myths are told or alluded to.
5. Aeschylus
- The oldest of the three tragic poets, was a contemporary of Pindar’s.
- “Persians” was written to celebrate the victory of the Greeks over the Persians
and Salamis; all the plays have the mythological subjects.
- Other tragic poets are: Sophocles and Euripides. The latter died at the end of
the fifth century.
- With Homer, they were the most important source of our knowledge of the
myths.
6. Aristophanes
- The great writer of comedy.
- He lived in the last part of the fifth century and the beginning of the fourth,
refers often to the myths as do also two great prose writers, Herodotus, the
first historian of Europe, who was a contemporary of Euripides, and Plato, the
philosopher who lived less than a generation later.
7. Alexandrian Poets (lived around 250 B.C.)
- They were so called because, when they wrote, the center of Greek literature
had moved from Greece to Alexandria in Egypt.
- Apollonius of Rhodes told at length the ‘Quest of the Golden Fleece”.
- Theocritus, Bion and Moschus, are other pastoral poets who lost their
simplicity in the god’s belief, and far removed from the depth and gravity of
the tragic poets’ view of religion; but they are not frivolous like Ovid.
8. Apuleius and Lucian
- A Latin and a Greek writer from the second century A.D. make an important
contribution.
- The famous story of “Cupid and Psyche” is told by Apuleius.

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 -Lucian, on the other hand, writes no one except himself. He satirized the gods.
In his time, they had become a joking matter. Nevertheless, he gives by the
way a good deal of information about them.
9. Apollodorus
- A Greek writer, next to Ovid, the most voluminous ancient writer on
mythology but he is very matter-of-fact and very dull.
10. The Greek Pausanias
- An ardent traveler, the author of the first guidebook ever written, ha a good
deal to say about the mythological events reported to have happened in the
places he visited.
- He writes the stories without questioning any of those, instead he writes them
with complete seriousness.
11. Virgil
- A Roman writer
- He found human nature in myths and he brought mythological personages to
life as no one had done since the Greek tragedians.
12. Other Roman Poets
- Catullus
- Horace

Lesson 3: The Gods, The Creation, and The Earliest Heroes

Objective:

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to familiarize with the gods and goddesses of
the ancient myth.

Lesson Proper

1. The Gods
The Greeks did not believe that the gods created the universe. It was the other way
about: the universe created the gods. Before there were gods, heaven and earth had been formed.
They were the first parents. The Titans were their children, and the gods were their grandchildren.

The Titans and the Twelve Great Olympians

The Titans, often called the Elder Gods, were for untold ages supreme in the
universe. They were of enormous size and of incredible strength. There were many of them, but
only a few appear in the stories of mythology. The most important was CRONUS, in Latin
SATURN. He ruled over the other Titans until his son Zeus dethroned him and seized the power
for himself. The Romans said that when Jupiter, their name for Zeus, ascended the throne, Saturn
fled to Italy and brought in the Golden Age, a time of perfect peace and happiness, which lasted
as long as he reigned.
The other notable Titans were OCEAN, the river that was supposed to encircle the
earth, his wife TETHYS; HYPERION, the father of the sun, the moon and the dawn;

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MNEMOSYN, which means Memory; THEMIS, usually translated by Justice; and IAPETUS,
important because of his sons, ATLAS, who bore the world on his shoulders, and
PROMETHEUS, who was the savior of mankind. These alone among the older gods were
banished with the coming of Zeus, but they took a lower place.
The twelve great Olympian were supreme among the gods who succeeded to the
Titans. They were called the Olympians because Olympus was there home. What Olympus was,
however, is not easy to say. There is no doubt that at first it was held to be mountain top, and
generally identified with Greece’s highest mountain, Mt. Olympus in Thessaly, in northern of
Greece. In one passage of the Iliad, Zeus talks to the gods from “the topmost peak of many ridged
Olympus, where Homer makes Poseidon says that he rules the sea, Hades the dead, Zeus the
heavens, but Olympus is common to all three.
Homer describes the Olympus as “no winds ever shake the untroubled peace of
Olympus; no rain ever falls there or snow; but the cloudless firmaments stretches around it on all
sides and the white glory of sunshine is diffused upon its walls. The entrance to it was a great
gate of clouds kept by hey lived and slept and feasted on ambrosia and nectar and listened to
Apollo’s lyre. It was an abode of perfect blessedness.
The Twelve Olympians made up the divine family
1. Zeus (Jupiter) the chief
2. Poseidon (Neptune) the god of the seas
3. Hades (Pluto) the god of the dead/underworld
4. Hestia (Vesta) their sister
5. Hera (Juno), Zeus’ wife
6. Ares (Mars) Hera and Zeus’ son
Zeus and Hera’s Children
7. Athena (Minerva)
8. Apollo
9. Aphrodite (Venus)
10. Hermes (Mercury)
11. Artemis (Diana)
12. Hephaestus (Vulcan) Hera’s son buts sometimes said to be the son of Zeus, too.

Zeus (JUPITER)
 He was the Lord of the Sky, the Rain-god and the Cloud-gatherer, who wielded the awful
thunderbolt.
 His power was greater than that of all the other divinities together.
 Nevertheless, he was not omnipotent and omniscient, either. He could be opposed and
deceived.
 He is represented as falling in love with one woman after another and descending to all
manner of tricks to hide his infidelity for his wife.
 His breastplate was the aegis, awful to behold; his bird was the eagle, his tree the oak. His
oracle was Dodona in the land of oak trees. The god’s will be revealed by the rustling of
the oak leaves which the priest interpreted.

Hera (JUNO)
 Zeus’ wife and sister because the Titans Ocean and Tethys brought her up.
 She was the protector of marriage and married women were her peculiar care.
 Her chief role was to punish the many women Zeus fell in love with even when they
yielded only because he coerced or tricked them.

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  She never forgot an injury. The Trojan War would have ended in an honorable peace,
leaving both sides unconquered if it had not been for her hatred of a Trojan who had
judged another goddess lovelier than she.
 In the story, “The Quest of the Golden Fleece”, she I the gracious protector of heroes and
the inspirer of heroic deeds, but not in any other.
 Ilithyia (or Eileethyia) who helped women in childbirth was her daughter.
 The cow and the peacock were sacred to her. Argos was her favorite city.
Poseidon (NEPTUNE)
 The ruler of the sea, Zeus’ brother and second only to him in eminence.
 His wife was Amphitrite, a granddaughter of the Titan, Ocean
 He has a splendid palace beneath the sea, but he was oftener to be found in Olympus.
 He also gave the first horse to man, and he was honored as much for the one as for the
other.
 Storm and calm were under his control. When he drove in his golden car over the waters,
the thunder of the waves sank into stillness, and tranquil peace followed his smooth-
rolling wheels.
 He was commonly called “Earth-shaker” and was always shown carrying his trident, a
three-pronged spear, with which he would shake and shatter whatever he pleased.
 He had some connection with the bull as well as the horses, but the bull was connected
with many other gods, too.
Hades (PLUTO)
 He was the third brother among the Olympians, who drew for his share the underworld
and the rule over the dead.
 His name “Pluto” means the God of Wealth, of the precious metals hidden in the earth.
 Greeks and Romans also called him Dis which means the Latin word for rich.
 He had a far-famed cap of helmet which made whoever wore it invisible.
 He was not a welcome visitor in Olympus. He was unpitying, inexorable, but just; terrible,
not an evil god.
 His wife, Persephone (Proserpine) was the Queen of the Lower World.
 He was King of the Dead – not Death himself. (Thanatos for Greeks and Orcus for
Romans was the Death himself)
Pallas Athena (MINERVA)
 She was the daughter of Zeus alone. No mother bore her. Full grown and in full armor,
she sprang from his head.
 In Iliad, she is a fierce and ruthless battle-goddess, but elsewhere she is warlike only to
defend the State and the home from outside enemies.
 She is the Goddess of the City, the protector of civilized life, of handicrafts and
agriculture; the inventor f the bridle, who first tamed horses for men to use.
 She is Zeus’ favorite child. He trusted her to carry the awful aegis, his buckler, and his
devastating weapon, the thunderbolt.
 Oftener called her “gray-eyed” or the “flashing-eyed”
 Among the three virgin goddesses, she was the chief and was called the Maiden,
Parthenon, and her temple the Parthenon.
 She was the embodiment of wisdom, reason purity.
 Athens was her special city; the olive created by her was her tree; owl was her bird.
Phoebus Apollo
 The son of Zeus and Leto (Letona), born in the little island of Delos

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  He has been called the “most Greek of all gods”. He is a beautiful figure in Greeks
poetry, the master musician who delight Olympus as he plays on his golden lyre; the lord
of the silver bow. The Archer-god, far shooting; the Healer who first taught men the
healing art. Above all, he is the God of Light, in whom is no darkness at all, and so he is
the God of Truth, no false word ever falls from his lips.
 Delphi under towering Parnassus, where Apollo’s oracle was, plays an important part in
mythology.
 Apollo was called Delian from Delos, the island of his birth, and Pythian from his killing
of a serpent, Python, which once lived in the caves of Parnassus.
 Another name often given him was “the Lycian” and God of Lycia. In Iliad, he is called
“the Smithian,” the Mouse-god, but whether because he protected mice or destroyed them
no one knows. Often was the Sun-god, too. His name Phoebus means “brilliant” or
“shining”. (Note: Helios was the Sun-god, the child of the Titan Hyperion.
 Apollo at Delphi was purely beneficent power, a direct link between gods and men,
guiding men to know the divine will, showing them how to make peace with god; the
purifier, able to cleanse even those stained with the blood of their kindred
 The laurel was his tree. Many creatures were sacred to him, chief among them the dolphin
and the crow.
Artemis (DIANA)
 Apollo’s twin sister, daughter of Zeus and Leto. She was one of the three maiden
goddesses of Olympus.
 She was the Lady of the Wild Things, Huntsman-in-chief to the gods, an off office for the
woman.
 She was careful to preserve the young; she was “the protectress of dewy youth”
everywhere.
 She kept the Greek Fleet from sailing to Troy until they sacrifice a maiden to her.
 In many other stories, she is fierce and revengeful. When women died a swift and painless
death, they were held to have been slain by her silver arrows.
 Phoebus was the Sun; she was the Moon called Phoebe and Selene (Luna in Latin).
 She was the sister of Helios, the sun-god with whom Apollo was confused.
 She was the goddess with three forms; Selene in the sky, Artemis on earth Hecate in the
lower world and in the world above when it is wrapped in darkness because Hecate was
the Goddess of the Dark of the Moon, the black nights when the moon is hidden.
 She was associated with deeds of darkness, the Goddess of the Crossways, which were
held to be ghostly places of evil magic.
 The cypress was sacred to her; and all wild animals, but especially the deer.
 An awful divinity.
Aphrodite (VENUS)
 The Goddess of Love and Beauty, who beguiled, gods and men alike; the laughter-loving
goddess, who laughed sweetly or mockingly at those her wiles had conquered; the
irresistible goddess who stole away even the wits of the wise.
 The daughter of Zeus and Dione in the Iliad, but in other accounts, she is said to have
sprung from the foam of the sea, and her name was explained as meaning ‘the foam-risen”
(Aphros means foam in Greek).
 Her sea-birth took place near Cythera, from where she was wafted to Cyprus – both
islands were ever sacred to her, and she was called Cytherea or the Cyprian as often as by
her proper name.

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  In Iliad, she has a poor figure, where the battle of heroes is the theme. She is soft, weak
creature there, whom a mortal need not fear to attack. In other accounts, she is usually
shown as treacherous and malicious, exerting a deadly and destructive power over men.
 She is the wife of Hephaestus (Vulcan), the lame and ugly god of the forge.
 The myrtle was her tree; the dove her bird – sometimes, too, the sparrow and the swan.
Hermes (MERCURY)
 The son of Zeus and Maia, the daughter of Atlas.
 He was graceful and swift of motion. On his feet were winged sandals; wings were on his
low-crowned hat, too, and on his magic wand, the Caduceus.
 Zeus’ messenger, who flies as fleet as thought do his bidding. Of all the gods, he was the
shrewdest and most cunning; in fact, he was the Master of Thief, who started upon his
career before he was a day old.
 He was the God Commerce and the Market, the protector of traders.
 He was also the solemn guide of the dead, the Divine Herald who led the souls down to
their last home.
 He appears oftener in the tales of mythology than any other god.
Ares (MARS)
 The God of War, son of Zeus and Hera.
  god of war or, more properly, the spirit of battle. Unlike his Roman counterpart, Mars, he
was never very popular, and his worship was not extensive in Greece. He represented the
distasteful aspects of brutal warfare and slaughter. 
 he was accompanied in battle, by his sister Eris (Strife) and his sons
(by Aphrodite) Phobos and Deimos (Panic and Rout). Also associated with him were two
lesser war deities: Enyalius, who is virtually identical with Ares himself, and Enyo, a
female counterpart.
 He had no cities where he was worshiped. The Greeks said vaguely that he came from
Thrace, home of a rude, fierce people in the northeast of Greece.
 His bird was the vulture. The dog was wronged by being chosen as his animal.
Hephaestus (VULCAN)
 the god of fire
 Hephaestus had an important place of worship at the Lycian Olympus. His cult
reached Athens not later than about 600 BCE (although it scarcely touched Greece proper)
and arrived in Campania not long afterward. His Roman counterpart was Vulcan.
 He was born lame and was cast from heaven in disgust by his mother, Hera, and again by
his father, Zeus, after a family quarrel. He was brought back to Olympus by Dionysus and
was one of the only gods to have returned after exile.
 A blacksmith and craftsman, Hephaestus made weapons and military equipment for the
gods and certain mortals, including a winged helmet and sandals for Hermes and armor
for Achilles.
 his ill-matched consort was Aphrodite, though Homer lists Charis, the personification
of Grace, as Hephaestus’s wife in the Iliad.
 As god of fire, he became the divine smith and patron of craftsmen; the natural volcanic or
gaseous fires already connected with him were often considered to be his workshops.
Hestia (VESTA)
 goddess of the hearth, daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and one of the 12 Olympian deities.
 When the gods Apollo and Poseidon became suitors for her hand she swore to remain a
maiden forever, whereupon Zeus, the king of the gods, bestowed upon her the

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  She was worshipped chiefly as goddess of the family hearth; but, as honor of presiding
over all sacrifices.the city union was only the family union on a large scale, she had also,
at least in some states, a public cult at the civic hearth in the prytaneion, or town hall.
 Hestia was closely connected with Zeus, god of the family in its external relation of
hospitality and its internal unity. She was also associated with Hermes, the two
representing domestic life on the one hand, and business and outdoor life on the other. In
later philosophy Hestia became the hearth goddess of the universe.
The Lesser Gods of Olympus

Lesser Gods of the Sky

 Iris: Iris, possibly the personification of the rainbow, was, together with Hermes, the
Olympian gods' messenger. She was the daughter of Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra and
granddaughter of Gaia and god Poseidon. Most writers describe her as a virgin, although
according to one myth, she lay with Zephyrus and gave birth to Eros. Iris carried the waters of the
river Styx, on which the immortals took oaths. She also conveyed Zeus's orders to the other gods
and changed form to convey the will of the gods to mortals. The ancient writers cite only one
place where Iris was worshipped: The island of Hecate near the island of Delos.

 Charites (Graces): The Graces were lesser gods which personified attraction, charm and
desire. They symbolized graces and happiness in nature and in the lives of the mortals. There are
several myths surrounding their exact number, their names and their parents. According
to Hesiod, they were three and their names were: Euphrosyne, Aglaia and Thalia. They were the
daughters of Zeus and the Oceanids Eurynome. Others claim that their mother was
either Hera, Eunomia, or Lythe. Others claim that their father was Uranus. The Charites were
givers of all goods. They used flowers and fruit as symbols to civilize the mortals' lives and they
were the providers of inspiration for all forms of art. They were invited to all the celebrations on
Mount Olympus and they had a special close relationship with goddess Aphrodite.

 Horae: The Horae were lesser gods which guarded the gates of heavens and Olympus.
They symbolized the seasons and later, the subdivisions of the day and the hour. They were
daughters of Zeus and Themis. Their names were Eunomia (Order), Dike (Justice) and Eirene
(Peace). The Horae were deities of both natural and moral order; inseparable the gave mortals the
gifts of justice, equality before the law and a peaceful life.
 Muses: The Muses were lesser gods of music and intellectual creation. Their cult seems
to originate from Thrace. According to Hesiod, there were in total nine of these Muses, who were
born in Pieria and were the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Each one of them, was
considered to be a patron of a particular form of art. These were:

Nine Muses:
o Clio the Muse of History
o Euterpe, the Muse of music and lyric poetry
o Thalia, the Muse of comedy (not to be confused with the other Thalia, one of the three
Graces)
o Melpomene, the Muse of tragedy
o Melpomene, the Muse of tragedy
o Erato, the Muse of love poetry and music songs
o Polymnia, the Muse of sacred song and oratory

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 o Urania, the Muse of astronomy
o Calliope, the Muse of epic or heroic poetry.

The Muses' favorite place of residence was Mount Helicon, from which they would descend
wrapped in a cloud to chant the events - past, present and future.

 Helius: Helius (Sun) was the son of the Titan Hyperion and Theia. He was brother
of Eos and Selene. According to myth, he would tirelessly cross the sky on a chariot that was
drawn by horses with breaths of flame, thus bringing light to gods and mortals. At night, he would
rest in a boat or a chalice in the ocean, from where he rose every morning. Omniscient, proud and
ruthless, the god would punish anyone who came into conflict with him. Once, when a son
of Nereus bragged that he was faster than him, he punished him by turning him into a mollusk.
There are many references of the god's unions with both goddesses and mortal women. Best
known among his mortal mistresses was Rhodes, after whom the well-known Greek island of
Dodecanese got its name. From their union, Helios acquired seven sons and through them, his
grandchildren Lindos, Ialyssos and Cameiros founded the island's ancient cities.
 Eos: Daughter of the Titan Hyperion and Theia and sister of Helius and Selene, Eos was
the eternally young goddess of the dawn. According to Homer, she would rise from her bed each
morning, to bring life to gods and mortals.
 Selene: Selene, daughter of Hyperion, was the personification of the moon. She was also
known as Mene According to myth, she lay with Zeus and bore him the beautiful
daughters Pandia, Nemea and Herse, who was the personification of morning dew. The
poet Mousaios is also considered to be her son. The cult of Selene was widespread in Peloponese,
and the Spartans would always make sure to embark on military campaigns, only in favorable
lunar phases. Because the moon's crescent resembles a bull's horns, the goddess was depicted
seated on a bull or a cow, or on a chariot driven by these horned beasts.

Lesser Gods of the Sea

 Nereus and Nereids: Nereus was the eldest son of Pontus and Gaia and brother
of Thaumas, Phorcys, Ceto and Eurybia. He lived at the bottom of the Aegeian Sea and had the
gift of foretelling the future and the ability to change its form. Nereus lay with Doris, daughter
of Oceanus. With her, she had the Nereids, which were lesser gods, allegedly amounting to fifty
or one hundred. The nereids lived with their father at the bottom of the sea and helped sailors in
distress. The most well-known of the Nereids were Amphitrite, who was the queen of the Sea as
she was married to god Poseidon, and Thetis who was married to Peleus and was the mother of
the hero of the Trojan War, Achilles.
 Proteus: According to most mythological accounts, the sea god Proteus was of Egyptian
origin. From Egypt, he went to Thrace, where he married the nymph Coronis and fathered two
sons. Like Nereus, Proteus had the ability to transform himself, as well as the ability to foretell
the future. Historian Herodotus mention an old Egyptian story, according to which Proteus was
king of Egypt during the time of the Trojan War and gave shelter to Paris and Helen. In this
version, Proteus kept Helen, whom he later returned to her husband Menelaus.
 Sirens the Sirens or Seirenes were lesser gods believed to be daughters of Phorcys, or they
had been born from the blood of the horn of the river god Achelous. Either Gaia or one of the
Muses (Terpsichore, Melpomene or Calliope) was believed to be their mother. They were sweet-
voiced women who had human heads and bird bodies. They inhabited islands in the Tyrrhenian
Sea and they were man-eaters of sailors who, enticed by their sweet singing, would make the
mistake of approaching the shores of the Siren's island. But there was a horrid omen linked with
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the formidable deities: The Sirens were condemned to crash into the sea and drown, if they once
failed to lure the sailors into their deadly trap. the Sirens met their fate when the
hero Odysseus was passing by their island, on his return trip to Ithaca from Troy: Being
knowledgeable about their deadly ploy, he tied his sailors to the mast of the ship, plugging their
ears with wax. He was thus able to sail away, managing to avoid the Sirens. As the prophecy
went, the Sirens subsequently fell into the sea and drowned. Ancient Greeks believed that Sirens
were responsible for the nightmares that haunted their sleep. Yet, they also believed that they
were beneficial deities, for those who managed to appease them.
 Scylla and Charybdis: Scylla was a monstrous creature with twelve legs, six necks and six
horrible heads, each equipped with three rows of strong teeth. She lived on the top of high cliff in
Lower Italy overlooking the Messenean straits and ate marine creatures and unsuspecting
travelers. Once a beautiful nymph, she was transformed into a monster by Amphitrite or Circe, as
a punishment for falling in love with either Glaucus, or Poseidon. Charybdis, another sea monster,
lived across the sea opposite Scylla and she was the personification of whirlpools. She was the
daughter of Poseidon and Gaia, but was changed into a monster by Zeus, as a punishment for
stealing Hercules's cattle. Half woman, half fish, she would suck down the waters of the sea three
times a day, then throw them back up, sucking sailors and ships into the vortex. Both monsters
symbolized the dangers of the open sea and the difficulties faced by ancient sea travelers.
 Oceanids: Oceanus's and Tethys's 3,000 daughters were lesser gods known as Oceanids.
The most well-known of these were two, Eurynome and Persa, wife of god Helios and mother of
sorceress Circe and Aeetes, king of Colchis.
 Nymphs: The nymphs were deities which protected springs, forests, meadows, trees and
caves. They personified the benign forces of nature and were especially honored by young
women, preparing to get married. Depending on the origin and the object they protected, they
were either called Naiads (protectors of rivers and wells), Orestiades (protectors of
forests), Dryads (protectors of trees) and Agronome (protectors of meadows). The nymphs were
daughters of Zeus, while, according to Hesiod, some of them were born from the blood spilled by
Uranus, as narrated in the creation myth. Some others, where allegedly the daughters of various
rivers, such as Achelous, Cephisus, Ismenus, or Asopus.

Lesser Gods of Love

 Eros, the primary god of love which embodies the mutual attraction and union of men
and women.
- In Plato's Symposium, it is mentioned that Eros is not a god but a demon - in other
words he is one of the lesser gods - who is the son of Poros (Wealth) and Penia (Poverty), thus
symbolizing the fact that Eros is the driving force behind the creation of life and the struggle for
social advancement.
- In classical mythology, Eros is indeed considered to be one of the lesser gods, son
of Eilythia, goddess of childbirth, or Iris and Zephyrus; in other myths he is considered to be the
son of Aphrodite and Zeus, Ares, or Hermes.
- In art, he is mostly depicted as a beautiful, playful and winged boy who carries his
bow and arrows, which carry the sweet poison tormenting the souls of both mortals and
immortals, when they are hit.

Lesser Gods of the Underworld

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  Dike: Existing in the underworld realm, Dike personified justice through retribution.
According to Hesiod, Dike was one of the three Charites (or Graces), daughter of Zeus and
Themis.
- Dike is linked with the ancient Greek custom of persecution of the guilty, either by
the community or by the victim's family. Her assistants were the Erinyes (Furies), who hound
criminals.
 Nemesis: In Greek Mythology, Nemesis was one of the lesser gods that personified the
retribution casted upon all mortals who had been sacrilegious, disrespectful, or arrogant. In other
words, it embodied the gods' frustration against the mortals who had exceeded the boundaries of
moderation - even extreme success.

- The cult of Nemesis was quite widespread in Asia Minor. In Smyrna, in particular,
coins have been found which depict the head of Nemesis on their face. In addition, she was
depicted in statues in Olympia and on the island of Thassos, as well as on reliefs in Thessaloniki.
 Keres: Ker, or "the lady of death" as Homer describes her, was a goddess of destruction,
violent death and vengeance who wandered around battle fields with Eris (Discord)
and Kydoemus, a war demon who is the personification of the noise of the battle. Ker wore a
garment which was dyed red from the blood spilled during a battle.
- In other accounts, the Keres were two demons who were blood-soaked, black, winged
figures with human form. The ancient Greeks believed that the Keres followed anyone who was
destined to have a violent death, from the day he or she was born, until the day he or she died.

 Harpies: Harpies were winged, predatory deities, who snatched the souls of the mortals to
bring them to Hades. They were the daughters of Thaumas, son of Pontus and Gaia, and the
Oceanid Electra. They were sisters of Iris.
 Erinyes (Furies): The winged Erinyes were horrible, subterranean lesser gods of destiny
and revenge. According to Hesiod, they were born from the drops of blood that fell on the earth
was Uranus was castrated.

- The Erinyes persecuted and haunted all those who upset the order of things by performing
deeds which are generally unacceptable. Notable examples of such cases, were the persecution
of Orestes who, according to the relevant myth, committed matricide and the case of Oedipus,
who committed patricide.

- There were different versions about their exact number and their names. According to the
most prevalent one, they were three and their names were Alecto (she who is not
mollified), Tisiphone (the avenger of murders) and Megaera (the spirit of hatred).

- Black and wearing black clothes, they had a fierce look, foul-smelling, fiery breath, foam
around their mouths, snakes in their hair and hands and they flew through the air chasing their
victim. Neither mortals nor gods could escape their rage.

 Charon: The son of Nyx (Night) and Erebus, the ferryman Charon would deliver the souls
of the dead to Hades, in return for a fee of one obol.

- Over time, the ferryman who would transport the souls across the Acheron River, became a
personification of death and the underworld.

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 Lesser Gods of Healing

Asclepius: According to the most prevalent myth, Asclepius was the son of god Apollo and
Coronis, daughter of king Phlegyas of Thessaly. His birth was quite adventurous, as described in
the relevant chapter of Apollo's profile.

He was then given by his father to centaur Cheiron to raise him and teach him the science
of healing. Asclepius's skills as a doctor became so advanced, that he could even raise the dead,
prompting the jealousy of the Olympian gods and the rage of Zeus, who struck him with a
lightning bolt.

Asclepius became so revered across Greece for his extraordinary healing skills, that he
was worshipped everywhere in the ancient Greek world and its colonies. In classical times,
Epidaurus was recognized as the metrolopis of Asclepius's cult.

The places of his worship were called Ascleipeions. The most famous of these which were
spread in Greece, was located at Epidaurus. Patients who were coming from the four corners of
Greece to be healed by Asclepius, stayed within the temple overnight. As they believed, the god
would appear in their sleep, thus restoring their good health.

The Ascleipions were usually built in healthy environments - for instance in woods or near
thermal spas. The cure included baths, diet and exercise. Prominent sanctuaries were located in
Athens, in Piraeus, on the island of Cos and in Trikala.

Especially in Cos, according to local mythology, two sons of Asclepius settled on the
island and became the founders of Asclepieiades, doctors who formed a guild and passed their
knowledge about medicine to posterity, through secret rituals.

Hygeia, which was a deity that personified good health, appeared to be a daughter of Asclepius,
as well as, according to other myths, his wife.

Lesser Gods of Earth

Earth herself was called the All-Mother, but she was not really a divinity. She was never
separated from the actual earth and personified.
 DEMETER the Goddess of the Corn and DIONYSUS (BACCHUS) the God of Vine
were the supreme deities of the earth and of great importance in Greek and Roman mythology.

 PAN was the chief. He was Hermes’ son; a noisy, merry god, but he has a part animal,
too, with goat’s horn, and goat’s hoofs instead of feet.
- He was the goatherds’ god, and the shepherds’ god, and also the gay companion of
the woodland nymphs when they danced.

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 - All wild places were his home, thickest and forests and mountains, but best of all
he loved Arcady, where he was born.
- A wonderful musician. He was always in love with one nymph or another, but
always rejected because of his ugliness.
- Sounds heard in a wilderness at night by the trembling traveler were supposed to
be made by him, so that it is easy to see how the expression “panic” fear arose.

 SILENUS was sometimes said to be Pan’s son; sometimes his brother, a son of Hermes.
- He was a jovial fat old man who unusually rode an ass because he was too drunk to
walk. He was associated with Bacchus as well as with Pan; he taught him when the Wine-god was
young, and as is shown by his perpetual drunkenness, after being his tutor he became his devoted
follower.

 POLLUX AND CASTOR (Polydeuces) the famous and very popular pair of brothers
who, in most accounts, were said to live half of their time on earth and half in heaven.
- They were the sons of Leda, and are usually represented as being gods, the special
protectors of sailors.
- Together they are known as the Dioscuri from the original Greek form,
the Dioskouroi, meaning ‘youths of Zeus’, as the great god was considered their immortal father
after he disguised himself as a swan and seduced Leda. 
- The twins were born from an egg in one of the many versions of the myth. 
- Pollux was considered immortal whilst his brother was mortal as his human father
was Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, who also slept with Leda on the same night, hence the
confusion over the paternity of the twins. This also explains their other name, the Tyndaridae. 
-  in Homer’s Iliad both are treated as dead, explaining their association with the
Underworld. The matter is partially resolved in Homer’s Odyssey where he explains that the
twins alternated each day, one being alive, the other dead and then vice-versa the next day. This
idea is also presented by Pindar who states that the twins shared their immortality and switched
daily between Mt. Olympus and Hades.
- They were also powerful to save in battle. And being honored in Rome, where they
were worship as the “Twin Brethren to whom all Dorians pray.”
Mythological Adventures
- They accompanied Meleager on his Calydonian boar hunt and went with Jason
and the other Argonauts on their successful search for the Golden Fleece. It was during this latter
adventure that Pollux out-boxed the prodigiously strong Amycus, king of the Bebryces.
- When their sister Helen was abducted by Theseus, the brothers brought her back to
Sparta from Attica and took Aethra, Theseus’ mother, for good measure. A final episode was
when the brothers, initially on a cattle-rustling expedition, abducted Phoebe and Hilaeira, the
daughters of Leucippus. They had to fight to keep their prizes, though, with the girls’ cousins Idas
and Lynceus, to whom the girls had been betrothed. Only Pollux survived the clash and, thus, the
necessity to share his immortality with Castor is explained. The fight between the rival families is,
perhaps, a mythological explanation for the real feud between long-time rivals Sparta and
Messenia.

 LEDA was a princess in Greek mythology, daughter of the king of Aetolia, Thestius. She
was the wife of King Tyndareus of Sparta. When their sister Helen was abducted by Theseus, the
brothers brought her back to Sparta from Attica and took Aethra, Theseus’ mother, for good
measure. A final episode was when the brothers, initially on a cattle-rustling expedition, abducted
Phoebe and Hilaeira, the daughters of Leucippus. They had to fight to keep their prizes, though,

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with the girls’ cousins Idas and Lynceus, to whom the girls had been betrothed. Only Pollux
survived the clash and, thus, the necessity to share his immortality with Castor is explained. The
fight between the rival families is, perhaps, a mythological explanation for the real feud between
long-time rivals Sparta and Messenia.

 Satyr and Silenus are creatures of the wild, part man and part beast, who in Classical
times were closely associated with the god Dionysus.
- They were at first represented as uncouth men, each with a horse’s tail and ears and an
erect phallus. They were represented as men having a goat’s legs and tail. The occurrence of two
different names for the creatures has been explained by two rival theories: that Silenus was the
Asian Greek and Satyr the mainland name for the same mythical being; or that the Sileni were
part horse and the Satyrs part goat. 

 The Gorgons were three monsters in Greek mythology, daughters of Echidna and Typhon,

the mother and father of all monsters respectively. Their names were Stheno, Euryale, and the
most famous of them, Medusa. Although the first two were immortal, Medusa was not.
Weirdly, Medusa was also not considered the child of Echidna and Typhon, but of Phorkys
and Keto. Their faces were ugly and their hair was replaced by snakes; anyone who would gaze
into their eyes would be turned to stone instantly.

Unit I: Activity

Make a family tree showing the chronological order of the gods and goddesses of the
ancient Greece. Present it in the most creative possible way.

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Unit II: How the World Created?

Introduction
We will learn from this unit how humankind deals with gods and goddesses of the earth.
We will also realize that the gods and goddesses have similarities with the mortals as they also
have feeling such as anger, desire, longing, and happiness. Knowing these valuable characteristics
of the divinities, humankinds become closer to them and have mutual understanding.

Lesson 1: The Two Great Gods of Earth

Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, you should able to:
1. Determine the characteristics of the two great gods of Earth.
2. Learn to value the basic needs of human.

Lesson Proper

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Demeter (Ceres) She was the goddess of the harvest, who controlled over grains and the fertility
of the earth. She had one daughter, Persephone (the maiden of the Spring).
One day, when Persephone was attracted by the beautiful blossom of the narcissus, Hades rides
up from the Dark Underworld and carried her off.

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 Since Demeter lost Persephone, she, in her terrible grief saved her gifts from the earth.
The greenery of earth turned into a frozen desert. That year was the most dreadful and cruel year
for mankind.

The Return of Persephone

Zeus sent the gods to pacify Demeter, however, she listened to no one. In the end, Zeus
realized that his brother must give way.
To keep Persephone, Hades asked her to eat a pomegranate seed. Hades knew in his heart
that in this way Persephone must return to him.
Persephone was returned to Demeter, but the deal was that she must lose Persephone for
four months every year to go down to the world of the dead with Hades.

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Dionysus (Bacchus)
He was the god of the grape
harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual
madness and ecstasy. He was son of Zeus
and the mortal Semele (Theban Princess),
thus semi-divine.
On the one hand, Dionysus was
kind and beneficent. On the other hand, he
could also be cruel, barbarian and drive
men mad.
His mother, Semele, was burnt to
death when Zeus showed his full splendor
as King of Heaven and Lord of the Thunderbolt.
Zeus rescued Dionysus when he was near birth and hid him away from Hera’s
persecution. Hermes carried Dionysus to Nysa to be cared for by the nymphs—Hyades.
Some say the nymphs were placed in the sky as stars by Zeus, and these stars would bring
rain when they near the horizon.
So, the Dionysus was born of fire and nursed by rain. The burning heat ripened the grapes
and the water kept the plant alive. Dionysus became the god of wine.
When Dionysus passed through Thrace on his way to Greece, he was insulted by one of
the kings there, Lycurgus, who strongly opposed this new worship. Zeus struck Lycurgus blind
and he died after.
During his wanderings, Dionysus met the Princess of Crete, Ariadne, who was abandoned
by Theseus on the shore of the island of Naxos. Dionysus saved and fell in love with her.
Dionysus also went down to the lower world to seek his mother. He defied Death to keep
her away from him, and Death yielded. Then he brought Semele to Olympus and the gods
consented to receive her as one of themselves. As the god of wine, Dionysus often made people
mad. Maenads, or Bacchantes, were the terms for women frenzied with wine. In craziness, they
rush through the woods and tear wild creatures into pieces.

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 Dionysus made the Theban King, Pentheus, his cousin, torn apart by Maenads because
Pentheus insulted him.
In this story, Dionysus described as man’s benefactor and destroyer at the same time
because of the double nature of wine and so of the god of wine.

___________________________________________________________________________

Lesson 2: Earliest Heroes

Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Familiarize with characters in each story of the Earliest Heroes in ancient Greeks and
Romans mythology.
2. Appreciate their roles in the myth.

Lesson Proper

Prometheus
One of the Titans, the supreme trickster, and a god of fire. His intellectual side was
emphasized by the apparent meaning of his name, Fore thinker. In common belief he developed
into a master craftsman, and in this connection, he was associated with fire and the creation of
mortals.
The Greek poet Hesiod related two principal legends concerning Prometheus. The first is
that Zeus, the chief god, who had been tricked by Prometheus into accepting the bones and fat of
sacrifice instead of the meat, hid fire from mortals. Prometheus, however, stole it and returned it
to Earth once again. As the price of fire, and as punishment for humankind in general, Zeus
created the woman Pandora and sent her down to Epimetheus (Hindsight), who, though warned
by Prometheus, married her. Pandora took the great lid off the jar she carried, and evils, hard
work, and disease flew out to plague humanity. Hope alone remained within.
Hesiod relates in his other tale that, as vengeance on Prometheus, Zeus had him nailed to a
mountain in the Caucasus and sent an eagle to eat his immortal liver, which constantly
replenished itself; Prometheus was depicted in Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus, who made him
not only the bringer of fire and civilization to mortals but also their preserver, giving them all the
arts and sciences as well as the means of survival.

Io
Io, daughter of Inachus (the river god of Argos) and the Oceanid Melia. Under the name
of Callithyia, 
She was regarded as the first priestess of Hera, the wife of Zeus. Zeus fell in love with her
and, to protect her from the wrath of Hera, changed her into a white heifer.
Hera persuaded Zeus to give her the heifer and sent Argus Panoptes (“the All-Seeing”) to
watch her. Zeus thereupon sent the god Hermes, who lulled Argus to sleep and killed him. 
Hera then sent a gadfly to torment Io, who therefore wandered all over the earth, crossed
the Ionian Sea, swam the strait that was thereafter known as the Bosporus (meaning Ox-Ford),
and at last reached Egypt, where she was restored to her original form and gave birth to Epaphus.
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Summary:
When Prometheus went to the rocks, he met a strange visitor; a cow that speaks like a girl.
Her voice carried sorrow and pain but still sounds beautiful.

At the creation of the world, there was only three Cyclops, but reproduced and had many
off springs. They crafted Zeus’ thunderbolts and were known for their strength and hostility to
strangers.

Thus, when Odysseus (Ulysses) sails for from Troy and beaches his boat on their shore,
great danger awaits.
Odysseus and his crew saw the cave on the cave on the beach and walked inside to
explore. The enormous Polyphemus pushes a huge rock over the cave’s opening, effectively
trapping the men inside.

He eats few of Odysseus’ men and fell

asleep. The situation seemed hopeless but Odysseus
came to an idea: he finds an enormous timber and
sharpens the end of it. The next day, Odysseus then
offers wine which the beast drinks and promptly fell
asleep. While Polyphemus sleeps, Odysseus and his
men heat the end of the timber and ram it into the

eye blinding him.

Centuries had passed, the cyclops remained shapeless, huge and his eyes blinded. But he
actually fell for a nymph named Galatea
Nymph in Greek mythology is a minor female nature deity typically associated with a
particular location or landform. There are five types of Nymphs; Celestial Nymphs, Plant
Nymphs, Water Nymphs, Land Nymphs, Underworld Nymphs.
In a much later, Galatea fell for him too. In this time of the story, Polyphemus got his eye
back. Galatea told her sister, Doris, about her affection but Doris would only insult her.

Flower Myths: Narcissus, Hyacinth, Adonis

Narcissus is the most beautiful boy whom many have ever seen, but he
does not return anyone’s affections. One of the disappointed nymphs prays to
the god of anger, Nemesis, that "he who loves not others love himself."
Nemesis answers this prayer. Narcissus looks at his own reflection in a river
and suddenly falls in love with himself. He can think of nothing and no one
else. He pines away, leaning perpetually over the pool, until finally he perishes.
The story of Narcissus includes the story of Echo, a nymph who falls in
love with him. Echo falls under an unfortunate spell cast
by Hera, who has suspected that Zeus is interested in her or, at least, in one of
her nymph friends. Hera determines that Echo will always have the last word
but never have the power to speak first. That is, she only can repeat other
people's utterances. When the dying Narcissus calls "farewell" to his own

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image, Echo can only repeat the words—a final good-bye. In the place where Narcissus dies, a
beautiful flower grows, and the nymphs call it Narcissus.

Apollo and Hyacinthus are best friends.

They compete to see who can throw a discus the
farthest. In the competition, Apollo accidentally
throws his discus into Hyacinthus, killing him. As
Apollo holds the body of his best friend, he wishes
that he himself would stop living so that the
beautiful, young Hyacinthus could live on. As he
speaks those words, the blood spilling from the dying
youth turns the grass green, and a beautiful flower
grows—the hyacinth.

Adonis is an extremely handsome young man, and Aphrodite falls in

love with him. She puts him in Persephone's care, but she also falls in
love with him. Finally, Zeus intervenes and decides that Adonis shall
spend half the year with Persephone and half the year with Aphrodite.
One day, Adonis hunts a wild boar and thinks he killed it. But the boar
was only wounded, and it fiercely lunges at Adonis as he approaches.
Aphrodite flies to him and holds him, dying, in her arms. Flowers grow
where the blood wets the ground.

______________________________________________________________________________

Lesson 3: How the World and Mankind Created

Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to determine how the world and the mankind
created according to the ancient myth.

Lesson Proper

In the Beginning
• In the beginning there was only Chaos
• Chaos gives birth to Night and Erebus
• Night and Erebus make Love
• Love makes Light and Day
• Light, Love, and Day creates Earth
• Earth makes Heaven
• Heaven and Earth create Cyclopes, hundred-hand men, and the Titans
The Titans
• Cronus kills Heaven and Titans rule
• Giants and Furies come from Heaven's blood
• Cronus learns that one of his kids is fated to kill him, so he swallows his kids after birth
• Rhea (wife of Cronus), gets upset so she hides Zeus

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 • Zeus grows up and forces Cronus to vomit all of the kids he swallowed
• Cronus's kids team up with Prometheus and overthrow Titans
Afterwards
• Gods throw Titans into Tartarus
• Atlas forced to hold the weight of the world on his shoulders
• Only Prometheus and Epimetheus were spared

Three Stories of the Creation of Mankind

1. Prometheus and Epimetheus
 Prometheus and Epimetheus selected to create humans.
 Prometheus - forethought, was very wise.
 Epimetheus -afterthought, was a "scatterbrained person" who reacted on impulse
and changed his mind frequently.
Before making mankind, Epimetheus had given all his gifts to animals, leaving no good
for men.
After realizing his mistake Epimetheus asked Prometheus for help. Prometheus wanted to make
man in a more remarkable way than animals by making them stand upright like the gods. Then he
went to the sun and lit a torch and brought it to man. "A protection to men far better than anything
else".

2. How the Gods created Humans

The gods had created a golden race at first. While these were mortal they had lived like
gods.
Then the gods began to experiment with metal. After gold was silver. The silver race had very
little intelligence, this race eventually passed away. The next race was brass. They had been
lovers of way and violence. The last race created and the one that exists today was the iron race.
This race is known to be evil and will one day be wiped by Zeus.

3. Pandora
Once they had given her the box she was sent to Epimetheus. Pandora needed to know
what was in the box so she opened it and plagues, sorrow, and mischief for mankind sprang from
the box. In the box there was also Hope that remained. This was overall a lesson to mortals that
they cannot deceive Zeus. Prometheus was punished by being tied to a rock and had an eagle
come and eat his liver every day.
Zeus planned to punish Prometheus for giving the humans fire and by cheating the gods of
sacrifices of animals by giving the humans the best part and the gods the worst. As punishment
Zeus gave mankind the first woman; Pandora, who was considered an evil to all men. Pandora
was not meant to be evil by nature but by curiosity. The gods gave her a box and forbade her to
open it.

4. Story of the Five Ages

In this story men are made of stone. These men grew so wicked that Zeus determined he
would destroy them. Only 2 humans survived Zeus. Deucalion, Prometheus's niece and Pyrrha,
Prometheus' son. They were both loyal worshipers of Zeus so he was not mad that they had lived.
These two began to create the Stone age of humans.

Activity
In a short bond paper, answer

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 1. Why Prometheus was an important character of mythology?
2. Who was Pandora?
3. What were the ‘things’ that the great jar contained before she took off the lid of the well-
known Pandora’s Box?
4. Do you agree that women are made to punish men?
5. What is your idea about “Hope alone remained within?

Unit III: Stories of Love and Adventure

Introduction

“Love cannot be forbidden. The more that flame is covered up, the hotter it burns… love
can always find a way.” – Pyramus and Thisbe

Lesson 1: Cupid and Psyche

Objectives:

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to familiarize with the Stories of Love and
Adventure in mythology.

Lesson Proper

(Note: Before reading the following stories, please visit our google classroom so you can watch
the discussion about the Elements of Short Story and the Art of Questioning)

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Psyche (Greek: “Soul”) in classical mythology, princess of outstanding beauty who aroused
Venus’ jealousy and Cupid’s love. 
According to Apuleius, the jealous Venus commanded her son Cupid (the god of
love) to inspire Psyche with love for the most despicable of men. Instead, Cupid placed Psyche in
a remote palace where he could visit her secretly and, by his warning, only in total darkness. 
One night, Psyche lit a lamp and found that the figure at her side was the god of love
himself. When a drop of oil from the lamp awakened him, he reproached Psyche and fled.
Wandering the earth in search of him, Psyche fell into the hands of Venus, who imposed upon her
difficult tasks. Finally, touched by Psyche’s repentance, Cupid rescued her, and, at his
instigation, Jupiter made her immortal and gave her in marriage to Cupid.

Full Story:

Cupid and Psyche

Greco-Roman

Once upon a time, through that Destiny that overrules the gods,
love himself once gave up his immortal heart to a mortal maiden. And
this is how it came to pass. There was a certain king who had three
beautiful daughters. The two elder married princes of great renown; but
Psyche, the youngest, was so radiantly fair that no suitor seemed worthy
of her. People thronged to see her pass through the city, and sang hymns
in her praise, while strangers took her for the very goddess of beauty
herself.

This angered Venus, and she resolved to cast down her earthly rival. One day, therefore,
she called hither to her son Love (Cupid, some name him), and bade him sharpen his weapons. He
is an archer more to be dreaded than Apollo, for Apollo’s arrows take life, but Love’s bring joy or
sorrow for a whole life long.
“Come, Love,” said Venus. “There is a mortal maid who robs me of my honors in yonder
city. Avenge your mother. Wound this precious Psyche, and let her fall in love with some churlish
creature, mean in the eyes of all men.”
Cupid made ready his weapons, and flew down to earth invisibly. At that moment Psyche
was asleep in her chamber; but he touched her heart with his golden arrow of love, and she
opened her eyes so suddenly that he started (forgetting that he was invisible), and wounded
himself with his own shaft. Heedless of his hurt, and moved deeply by the loveliness of the
maiden, he repented himself of the mischief he had wrought, and hastened to pour over her locks
the healing joy that he ever kept by him, undoing all his work. Back to her dream the princess
went, unshadow by any thought of love. But Cupid, not so light of heart, returned to the heavenly
mount saying not a word of what had passed.
Venus waited long; then, seeing that Psyche’s heart had somehow escaped love, she sent a
spell upon the maiden. From that time, lovely as she was, not a suitor came to woo; and her
parents, who desired to see her a queen at least, made a journey to the Oracle, and asked counsel.
Said the voice: “The princess Psyche shall never wed a mortal. She shall be given to one
who waits for her on yonder mountain; he overcomes gods and men.”
At this terrible sentence the poor parents were half distraught, and the people gave
themselves up to grief at the fate in store for their beloved princess. Psyche alone bowed to her
destiny. “We have angered Venus unwittingly,” she said, “and all for the sake of me, heedless
maiden that I am! Give me up, therefore, dear father and mother. If I atone, it may be that the city
will prosper once more.”
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 So, she besought them, until, after many unavailing pleadings, the parents consented; and
with a great company of people they led Psyche up the mountain—as an offering to the monster
of whom the Oracle had spoken—and left her there alone.
Full of courage, yet in a secret agony of grief she watched her kindred and her people
wind down the mountain-path, too sad to look back, until they were lost to sight. Then, indeed,
she wept, but a sudden breeze drew near, dried her tears, and caressed her hair, seeming to
murmur comfort. In truth, it was Zephyr, the kindly West Wind, come to befriend her; and as she
took heart, feeling some benignant presence, he lifted her in his arms, and carried her on wings as
even as a seagull’s over the crest of the fateful mountain and into a valley below. There he left
her, resting on a bank of hospitable grass, and there the princess fell asleep.
When she awoke, it was near sunset. She looked about her for some sign of the monster’s
approach; she wondered, then, if her grievous, trial had been but a dream. Nearby she saw a
sheltering forest, whose young trees, seemed to beckon as one maid beckons to another; and eager
for the protection of the dryads, she went thither.
The call of running waters drew her farther and farther, till she came out upon an open
place, where there was a wide pool. A fountain fluttered gladly in the midst of it, and beyond
there stretched a white palace wonderful to see. Coaxed by the bright promise of the place, she
drew near, and, seeing no one, entered softly. It was all kinglier than her father’s home, and as she
stood in wonder and awe, soft airs stirred about her. Little by little the silence grew murmurous
like the woods, and one voice, sweeter than the rest, took words. “All that you see is yours, gentle
high princess,” it said. “Fear nothing; only command us, for we are here to serve you.”
Full of amazement and delight, Psyche followed the voice from hall to hall, and through
the lordly rooms, beautiful with everything that could delight a young princess. No pleasant thing
was lacking. There was even a pool, brightly tiled and fed with running waters where she bathed
her weary limbs; and after she had put on the new and beautiful raiment that lay ready for her, she
sat down to break her fast, waited upon and sung to by the unseen spirits.
Surely, he whom the Oracle had called her husband was no monster, but some beneficent
power, invisible like all the rest. When daylight waned, he came, and his voice, the beautiful
voice of a god, inspired her to trust her strange destiny and to look and long for his return. Often,
she begged him to stay with her through the day, that she might see his face; but this he would not
grant.
“Never doubt me, dearest Psyche,” said he. “Perhaps you would fear if you saw me, and
love is all I ask. There is a necessity that keeps me hidden now. Only believe.”
So, for many days Psyche was content; but when she grew used to happiness, she thought
once more of her parents mourning her as lost, and of her sisters who shared the lot of mortals
while she lived as a goddess. One night she told her husband of these regrets, and begged that her
sisters at least might come to see her. He sighed, but did not refuse.
“Zephyr shall bring them hither,” said he. And on the following morning, swift as a bird,
the West Wind came over the crest of the high mountain and down into the enchanted valley,
bearing her two sisters.
They greeted Psyche with joy and amazement, hardly knowing how they had come hither.
But when this fairest of the sisters led them through her palace and showed them all the treasures
that were hers, envy grew in their hearts and choked their old love. Even while they sat at feast
with her, they grew more and more bitter; and hoping to find some little flaw in her good fortune,
they asked a thousand questions.
“Where is your husband?” said they. “And why is he not here with you?”
“Ah,” stammered Psyche. “All the day long—he is gone, hunting upon the mountains.”
“But what does he look like?” they asked; and Psyche could find no answer.
When they learned that she had never seen him, they laughed her faith to scorn.

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 “Poor Psyche,” they said. “You are walking in a dream. Wake, before it is too late. Have
you forgotten what the Oracle decreed, —that you were destined for a dreadful creature, the fear
of gods and men? And are you deceived by this show of kindliness? We have come to warn you.
The people told us, as we came over the mountain, that your husband is a dragon, who feeds you
well for the present, that he may feast the better someday soon. What is it that you trust? Good
words! But only take a dagger some night, and when the monster is asleep go, light a lamp, and
look at him. You can put him to death easily, and all his riches will be yours—and ours.”
Psyche heard this wicked plan with horror. Nevertheless, after her sisters were gone, she
brooded over what they had said, not seeing their evil intent; and she came to find some wisdom
in their words. Little by little, suspicion ate, like a moth, into her lovely mind; and at nightfall, in
shame and fear, she hid a lamp and a dagger in her chamber. Towards midnight, when her
husband was fast asleep, up she rose, hardly daring to breathe; and
coming softly to his side, she uncovered the lamp to see some horror.
But there the youngest of the gods lay sleeping, —most beautiful,
most irresistible of all immortals. His hair shone golden as the sun, his
face was radiant as dear Springtime, and from his shoulders sprang two
rainbow wings.
Poor Psyche was overcome with self-reproach. As she leaned
towards him, filled with worship, her trembling hands held the lamp ill,
and some burning oil fell upon Love’s shoulder and awakened him.
He opened his eyes, to see at once his bride and the dark suspicion
in her heart.
“Oh! doubting Psyche,” he exclaimed with sudden grief, —and then he flew away, out of
the window.
Wild with sorrow, Psyche tried to follow, but she fell to the ground instead. When she
recovered her senses, she stared about her. She was alone, and the place was beautiful no longer.
Garden and palace had vanished with Love.
Over mountains and valleys Psyche journeyed alone until she came to the city where her
two envious sisters lived with the princes whom they had married. She stayed with them only
long enough to tell the story of her unbelief and its penalty. Then she set out again to search for
Love.
As she wandered one day, travel-worn but not hopeless, she saw a lofty palace on a hill
nearby, and she turned her steps thither. The place seemed deserted. Within the hall she saw no
human being, —only heaps of grain, loose ears of corn half torn from the husk, wheat, and barley,
alike scattered in confusion on the floor. Without delay, she set to work binding the sheaves
together and gathering the scattered ears of corn in seemly wise, as a princess would wish to see
them. While she was in the midst of her task, a voice startled her, and she looked up to behold
Demeter herself, the goddess of the harvest, smiling upon her with good will.
“Dear Psyche,” said Demeter, “you are worthy of happiness, and you may find it yet. But
since you have displeased Venus, go to her and ask her favor. Perhaps your patience will win her
pardon.”
These motherly words gave Psyche heart, and she reverently took leave of the goddess and
set out for the temple of Venus. Most humbly she offered up her prayer, but Venus could not look
at her earthly beauty without anger.
“Vain girl,” said she, “perhaps you have come to make amends for the wound you dealt
your husband; you shall do so. Such clever people can always find work!”
Then she led Psyche into a great chamber heaped high with mingled grain, beans, and
lintels (the food of her doves), and bade her separate them all and have them ready in seemly
fashion by night. Heracles would have been helpless before such a vexatious task; and poor
Psyche, left alone in this desert of grain, had not courage to begin. But even as she sat there, a
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moving thread of black crawled across the floor from a crevice in the wall; and bending nearer,
she saw that a great army of ants in columns had
come to her aid. The zealous little creatures worked
in swarms, with such industry over the work they
like best, that, when Venus came at night, she found
the task completed.
“Deceitful girl,” she cried, shaking the roses
out of her hair with impatience, “this is my son’s
work, not yours. But he will soon forget you. Eat
this black bread if you are hungry and refresh your
dull mind with sleep. Tomorrow you will need more
wit.”
Psyche wondered what new misfortune could be in store for her. But when morning came,
Venus led her to the brink of a river, and, pointing to the wood across the water, said, “Go now to
yonder grove where the sheep with the golden fleece are wont to browse. Bring me a golden lock
from every one of them, or you must go your ways and never come back again.”
This seemed not difficult, and Psyche obediently bade the goddess farewell, and stepped
into the water, ready to wade across. But as Venus disappeared, the reeds sang louder and the
nymphs of the river, looking up sweetly, blew bubbles to the surface and murmured: “Nay, nay,
have a care, Psyche. This flock has not the gentle ways of sheep. While the sun burns aloft, they
are themselves as fierce as flame; but when the shadows are long, they go to rest and sleep, under
the trees; and you may cross the river without fear and pick the golden fleece off the briers in the
pasture.”
Thanking the water-creatures, Psyche sat down to rest near them, and when the time came,
she crossed in safety and followed their counsel. By twilight she returned to Venus with her arms
full of shining fleece.
“No mortal wit did this,” said Venus angrily. “But if you care to prove your readiness, go
now, with this little box, down to Proserpina and ask her to enclose in it some of her beauty, for I
have grown pale in caring for my wounded son.”
“It needed not the last taunt to sadden Psyche. She knew that it was not for mortals to go
into Hades and return alive; and feeling that Love had forsaken her, she was minded to accept her
doom as soon as might be.
But even as she hastened towards the descent, another friendly voice detained her. “Stay,
Psyche, I know your grief. Only give ear and you shall learn a safe way through all these trials.”
And the voice went on to tell her how one might avoid all the dangers of Hades and come out
unscathed. (But such a secret could not pass from mouth to mouth, with the rest of the story.)
“And be sure,” added the voice, “when Proserpina has returned the box, not to open it,
however much you may long to do so.”
Psyche gave heed, and by this device, whatever it was, she found her way into Hades
safely, and made her errand known to Proserpina, and was soon in the upper world again, wearied
but hopeful.
“Surely Love has not forgotten me,” she said. “But humbled as I am and worn with toil,
how shall I ever please him? Venus can never need all the beauty in this casket; and since I use it
for Love’s sake, it must be right to take some.” So, saying, she opened the box, headless as
Pandora! The spells and potions of Hades are not for mortal maids, and no sooner had she inhaled
the strange aroma than she fell down like one dead, quite overcome.
But it happened that Love himself was recovered from his wound, and he had secretly fled
from his chamber to seek out and rescue Psyche. He found her lying by the wayside; he gathered
into the casket what remained of the philter, and awoke his beloved.

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 “Take comfort,” he said, smiling. “Return to our mother and do her bidding till I come
again.”
Away he flew; and while Psyche went cheerily homeward, he hastened up to Olympus,
where all the gods sat feasting, and begged them to intercede for him with his angry mother.
They heard his story and their hearts were touched. Zeus himself coaxed Venus with kind
words till at last she relented, and remembered that anger hurt her beauty, and smiled once more.
All the younger gods were for welcoming Psyche at once, and Hermes was sent to bring her
hither. The maiden came, a shy newcomer among these bright creatures. She took the cup that
Hebe held out to her, drank the divine ambrosia, and became immortal.
Light came to her face like moon rise, two radiant wings sprang from her shoulders; and
even as a butterfly bursts from its dull cocoon, so the human Psyche blossomed into immortality.
Love took her by the hand, and they were never parted anymore.

Lesson 2: The Eight Brief Tales of Lovers

Objectives:

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to familiarize and appreciate the famous tales
of love in mythology.

Lesson Proper

Eight Brief Tales of Lovers

PYRAMUS AND THISBE

Characters:
Pyramus – a young beautiful man
Thisbe – the lovely maiden

In Babylon, there once lived a young beautiful man

named Pyramus and a lovely maiden named Thisbe, they live
close to each other in fact a wall was the only thing that divided
their houses. As neighbors, they grew-up together, played
together until they fell in love together. However, like Romeo
and Juliet their parents are against their union, however,
unbeknownst to their parents the lovers talk to each other using
a whole from the wall that the two-household shared.
One day, they agreed to see each other under a snow-
white mulberry tree on the outskirts of town. Thisbe got there
first, but suddenly she saw a lion so she ran away, however, the
lion was able to get the coat she wore that fell on the ground
then tore it to pieces. Pyramus saw the coat with blood that the
lion tore, so he thought that Thisbe is dead then he killed
himself under the mulberry tree. Thisbe then went back to the
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tree to wait for Pyramus but what she saw was Pyramus covered in blood. Like Pyramus she
taught that she was the reason her lover died, so she killed herself. The gods then out of pity and
as symbol of the love of the two mortals turned the white mulberry to red.

ORPHEUS AND EURIDICE

Characters:
Orpheus – a demigod who has a gift in music and plays a lyre, he is the son of Calliope, a
muse, and Oeagrus, the king of Thrace
Eurydice – wife of Orpheus
Being a demigod and part of the Argonauts who sailed
to find the golden fleece, Orpheus is popular for his gift in
music, he is the son of a muse named Calliope and a Thracian
king, Oeagrus. It was not said how Orpheus and Eurydice’s
love started the story started the night after their wedding,
Eurydice was walking in the meadow when she was beaten by a
viper then died. Her husband, Orpheus who was devastated of
her death seek Eurydice in the underworld, Hades, the king of
the dead pitied Orpheus and called the soul of Eurydice.

Hades allowed Orpheus to bring Eurydice but Orpheus must not look back at Eurydice until they
both set into the mortal world.
As the couple ascend back to the mortal world Orpheus being the first one to set foot
outside the cave looked back immediately to his wife who at that time is still in the shadows of
the cave so when he was about to reach her hand Eurydice vanish into air the last thing he heard
was ‘Farewell.’ He tried to go after her and go back to the underworld, however a living mortal
may not enter the world of the dead twice. He lived a lifeless life until he was slain by a band of
Maenads, his body was chopped to pieces and was thrown to the river Hebrus. The muses found
his head and buried to the island while his limbs were put in a tomb at the foot of Mt. Olympus.
CEYX AND ALCYONE
Characters:
Ceyx – King of Thessaly and son of Lucifer, the light bearer
Alcyone – daughter of Aeolus, king of the winds

Ceyx the son of Lucifer – the light bearer – and king

of Thessaly loves her wife Alcyone, the daughter of Aeolus,
king of the winds. The two can’t hardly be separated until
Ceyx planned to voyage the sea so when Alcyone, his wife
heard of it she immediately dissuades him for she knows the
danger of the winds in the sea. But Ceyx stood by his
decision, as he and his men cross the sea there came a storm
that wrecked the ship and drowned all the men on it including
Ceyx, before he died Ceyx last word was the name of his
wife.
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 Alcyone waited for his husband for days she prayed to the gods but mostly to Juno for her
husband’s safety. Out of pity the goddess sent Iris, the messenger of the gods to the house of
Somnus, the god of Sleep, to tell Alcyone that Ceyx is dead. Somnus then sent his son Morpheus,
the god of Dreams, who took the form of the dead Ceyx and told Alcyone what happened to the
former king. When morning came Alcyone rush to the shore where she watched her husband sail,
there she saw his body slowly drifting towards her, Alcyone then rushed to the dead body but
instead of sinking from the waves, Alcyone grew wings and turned into a bird.
The gods sympathize with the couple and turned Ceyx to a bird as well. Every year, for
seven days the sea is calm without strong winds, these days are called Halcyon Days.
PYGMALION AND GALATEA
Characters
Pygmalion – a young sculptor
Galatea – wife of Pygmalion; she was once a statue

In Cyprus there once lived a gifted sculptor named

Pygmalion. He promised himself never to marry, he was a
woman-hater after all, and said his art would be enough for him.
Ironically though the sculpture that he put so much effort on is
that of a woman, day after day and night after night he worked to
make it more beautiful until such day that he fell in love to it.
Every woman would pale in comparison to it. Pygmalion
was so in love to it that for a while he would kiss, embrace, caress its hands and face, dress it with
clothes, bring it gifts, buy it flowers, and even tuck it to bed like a child playing house with its
dolls. These things he did, until his story reached Venus, the goddess of love. And on the feast
day of Venus which was always celebrated by the people of Cyprus, Pygmalion prayed to the
goddess for him to find a woman like his statue but the goddess knows that it was not his heart’s
desire nevertheless to show him that she heard his prayer the fire in the alter blazed up three
times.
Thinking it was a good omen, Pygmalion immediately went home and there he found his
beloved statue entrancingly beautiful. He caressed it and was surprised that the once cold stone
now felt warm at his touch. So, he kissed her, touched her hands and felt her pulse. The statue he
made and loved is now a real woman, he immediately thought that it was because of Venus and
an indescribable gratitude to the goddess he felt. The statue-turned-human was named Galatea and
married Pygmalion. It was even said that the goddess of love graced them with her presence
during their wedding. Pygmalion and Galatea had a son named Paphos which is now a name of a
city in Cyprus.

BAUCIS AND PHILEMON

Characters:
Baucis – the wife of Philemon, who helped Jupiter and Mercury
Philemon – the husband of Baucis, who helped Jupiter and Mercury
Jupiter – the king of the gods and god of thunder and sky
Mercury – the god of messenger commerce, travelers, thieves and tricksters

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 Once in the country of Phrygia there were two trees that awed the people who saw it for
one of it was an oak and the other a linden however, both share the same trunk. The story how it
sprung involves Jupiter, the king of the gods. It was said whenever Jupiter is bored in Olympus,
he would come down to the mortal world in disguise to look for adventure, for these trips his
favorite companion was Mercury the most entertaining, clever and resourceful god. Once, the two
gods ventured in Phrygia to test how hospitable the people of the country are, they were disguised
as poor wayfarers. When they reached the place, they went from house to house unfortunately, no
one accepted them in until they reached a very small
hut where a poor, old couple lived.

The gods entered the humble and clean home of the

Baucis, the wife and her husband Philemon. The
couple served the gods a bowl of food and a wine,
each. Baucis and Philemon were very happy to serve
their guests and to refill their food and drinks, which
is why did not immediately notice that the food and
the wine never cease to empty. In terror the husband
and wife prayed silently and said they have a goose
that they will offer to the gods. Baucis and Philemon
ran around to catch the goose then when they are
finally tired took a rest.
The gods felt that it was time for them to intervene.
The gods rewarded the couple and said “The wicked
country which despises the poor stranger will be
punished, but not you.” Jupiter and Mercury escorted Baucis and Philemon out of the hut, from
there the couple saw a vast of water where the country side once were, and though their neighbors
were not good to them still they cried for them. To their amazement their hut turned into a temple
with a golden roof. Then Jupiter said to them, “Ask whatever you want and you shall have your
wish.” After a couple whispering between the couple, Philemon asked for them to be the priests
who will guard the temple and for them to never part and die together. Jupiter granted their wish,
for years the couple grew older but they still guarded and lived in temple.
One day, Baucis and Philemon sat and looked back to the years that had passed when
suddenly a bark started to grew on them by the time, they had realized what was happening the
only thing they could utter was “Farewell, my dear companion.” Baucis and Philemon turned into
an oak and a linden that share the same trunk. And ’till death, they never part.

ENDYMION
Characters:
Endymion – a young, beautiful shepherd
Selene – the goddess of the moon

No one was really sure what Endymion does for a

living, whether a king, a hunter or a shepherd
although, most people tell he is the last but, one thing
is for sure and that he is a very beautiful lad. One day,
when he was guarding his flock the moon, Selene
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saw him and fell in love with him. The goddess of the moon then went down in an open space in
the forest of Latmus and there she kissed him then lay beside him. From then on Endymion never
woke up from his slumber, immortally young and beautiful but never waking up. Night after night
the Selene would kiss him which caused Endymion to sleep. Ironically though, some said that her
passionate love for Endymion only brought her sorrows.

DAPHNE
Characters:
Daphne – a naiad turned huntress and daughter of Peneus, a river god
Apollo – god of prophecy, sun, music and healing

Daphne was naiad, daughter of the river-god named

Peneus. She is very independent and resolved to never marry.
The naiad refused all the lads who wooed her which made her
father frustrated. Peneus tried and tried to convince his
daughter, but Daphne keeps on refusing. Being a father, he
cannot refuse his daughter, Daphne then told her father she
wanted to be like Diana the goddess of the hunt, he let her be.
Daphne wears a sleeveless, knee-length dress for her
hunting and that was what she was wearing when Apollo saw
her and fell in love to her. Apollo tried to catch Daphne but
the maiden runs fast, he tried to stop and reason with her
saying that he is the Lord of Delphi and he loves her which
made Daphne more scared. When Apollo finally was catching
up to her, Daphne saw her father’s river and so she cried for
Peneus’ help. Then, suddenly she felt numbness take over her
body until she turned into a Laurel tree. Dismayed and
grieving, Apollo saw how his beloved turned into a tree.
Looking at the tree Apollo thought to make it his tree and to crown his victors with its leaves.

ALPHEUS AND ARETHUSA

Characters:
Alpheus – a river-god
Arethusa – a young huntress and follower
of Artemis

One day, when Arethusa was tired and hot

from a chase came upon a crystal-clear river. The
river was under the shade of silvery willow trees.
There the huntress decided to rest and take a dip.
She slipped off he clothes and swam into the
river.
She was enjoying herself when she felt something stir beneath her so she jumps to the
bank in fright. Then, she heard a voice asking her why she was in a haste. Without  thinking twice
Arethusa ran as fast as she could.  Alpheus tried to stop her and told her he is the river-god and

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that he loves her. But the huntress did not stop and continued to run. When she was out of breath
she called for Artemis for help. The goddess of the hunt turned Arethusa into a spring.
But even if she turned into a spring, Alpheus was still able to follow her. The myth was if
you threw something from the Alpheus in Greece it would come out in the well in Sicily.

Activity:

Look for the symbolism used in each story and explain their meaning and how were
used in each story. Write your answers in short bond paper.

Lesson 3: The Quest of the Golden Fleece

Objectives:

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to appreciate the beauty of the story, The
Quest of the Golden Fleece.

Lesson Proper

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 A Greek king, Athamas, gets tired of his wife Nephele, a cloud nymph, and puts her jail.
He marries Io, a young princess, daughter of King Thebes, in her place. Nephele prays that Io will
not kill her two children in order to make Io’s own children inherit the kingdom.

Io does attempt this murder, however. She secretly gathers seed-corn and parches the seed
so that no crops will grow. Then, when Athamas asks for word from an oracle about how to end
the famine, Io bribes a messenger to say that the only way to bring back the crops is to sacrifice
his son, Phrixus.

Athamus and Io bring the boy to the

sacrificial altar, but just before the murder, a
wondrous ram with a golden fleece takes the boy
and his sister Helle and runs away. The ram, sent by
Hermes, is an answer to Nephele’s prayers.
The ram carries the children across the water
from Europe to Asia, and on the way, Helle slips off
and drowns. Phrixus arrives safely in the country of
Colchis, where he sacrifices the ram and gives it to
King Etes.

Phrixus had a cousin by the name of Pelias and he was the one who killed his own father
to gain control of a kingdom in Greece. However, the king had a young son who was the rightful
heir to the kingdom, and this man was Jason. Jason had been sent away to a safe place where he
could grow into a bold man who would take away the kingdom from his wicked cousin, Pelias.
Pelias was told by an oracle
that he would be killed by a kinsman
one day who would be wearing only
one sandal. Such a man did come to
the town in time and he did wear just
one sandal. Pelias became afraid. For
it was Jason who was the one who
only shod one sandal. Jason told Pelias
that he came to recover the kingdom
that was rightfully his and that the kingdom should be ruled rightly, without evil.
Pelias agreed to hand over the kingdom, but under one condition: The condition was that
the dead Phrixus wanted the Golden Fleece returned from King Æetes, which would bring the
spirit of Phrixus back to his home.
Pelias asked that Jason go on the journey as opposed to himself, for he was old and Jason
was young and strong. So Pelias promised to give up the kingdom on the return of Jason with the
Golden Fleece. Jason agreed and organized Hercules, Orpheus, Castor, Pollux, Achilles' father,
Peleus and many more. This group of men were subsequently known as the Argonauts. Hera was
also with Jason, to remind him not to leave behind a dying life.
Jason and the Argonauts (which was named after their ship, the Argo) first sailed to
Lemnos, an island where only women lived. Only one man, the king, was left on the island.
Although the women had risen up against the men on the island by killing them, they gladly
helped the Argonauts with gifts of food and wine.
The Argonauts travelled to where the Harpies lived. The Harpies were flying creatures
with hooked beaks and claws who left an awful odor whenever they go. The Argonauts met an
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old man with the power of prophecy who had a problem. Every time Phineus, the prophet, came
to eat, the Harpies would come and take the food, leaving nothing left. He was left withered and
weak from the lack of food. The Argonauts decided that they would help fix this problem.
The sons of Boreas followed the Harpies, who had already taken the food from Phineus.
They took their swords and hit the Harpies. The old man thanked the Argonauts for their help and
offered some advice for navigating through the Clashing Rocks, the next encounter on their
journey. He said that to navigate through them safely, one should send a dove through first. If the
dove survived and wasn't crushed by the rocks, the ship would survive. If the dove died, then the
ship would not survive.
The next morning the Argonaut
sailed off with a dove to the Clashing
Rocks. They set the dove free and the
dove made it through with the exception
of the bird's tail feathers, which were cut
off by the rolling rocks. Next, the ship
went through, and, like what the prophet
said, the ship survived and passed through
safely, but part of the stern of the ship was
cut off, like the tail feathers of the bird.

The Argonauts quickly sailed on and they passed by the country of the Amazons, because
they knew that the Amazons were not gentle foes. They continued on, travelling all day. Finally,
at sunset, they arrived in Colchis, home of the Golden Fleece.
On Mt. Olympus, Hera went to seek Aphrodite's help. Since Hera had been overseeing the
adventure, she knew that there was danger involved and discussed the matter with Aphrodite. To
help the Argonauts, Aphrodite told Hera that she would send Cupid, Aphrodite's son, to the
Colchis and would make the daughter of the Colchian king fall in love with Jason. Medea was the
daughter of King Æetes. But Medea was a powerful magician and she could save the Argonauts if
they ever were in trouble.
While this was going on, the Argonauts made their way to the city to ask the king for the
Golden Fleece. Hera wrapped the Argonauts in a mist so they wouldn't be seen until they arrived
at the palace.
King Æetes welcomed them to Colchis and was hospitable to them. Princess Medea also
made her way into the palace to see what these visitors, who had entered the palace, were doing.
As Medea lay eyes upon Jason, Cupid, who was sent by Aphrodite to make the two fall in love,
drew his bow and shot an arrow into the heart of Medea. Amazed by the sight of Jason, she
quickly returned to her chambers.
King Æetes gave the Argonauts something to eat, making sure to take care of the needs of
the guest. It was only after this that King Æetes decided to ask what the men were doing in
Colchis. They responded by saying that they were seeking the Golden Fleece in hopes to return it
back to Greece.
King Æetes was angered now for he did not like foreigners and he did not like the reason
why they came to Colchis.
He said that Jason must harness two flame-breathing bulls whose feet were made of
bronze and to plow a field with them. As well, he must take the teeth of a dragon and grow them
as if they were corn seeds.

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 A crop of armed men would grow and he must fight this crop of armed men. The king said
that he must do this if he wants the Golden Fleece returned. It was an impossible task but Jason
accepted the challenge.
Jason thought of Medea, who would be able
to help him complete this challenge. If she could
invoke a magic spell to help him, Both agreed to this
plan and Medea gave Jason a charm he and his
weapons would become invincible for a day.
As well, he was given a stone that if too many
men attacked him, he could throw the stone at the
enemy. This would make the enemy turn on one
another and fight each other.
Medea met the Argonauts and asked if she
could join them on their journeys. She also told them
to quickly get the Golden Fleece from a serpent
which was guarding the sacred wool.
Again, Medea worked her magic by lulling the serpent to sleep. The Argonauts grabbed
the fleece and quickly retreated.
By now, the king had found out what the Argonauts had done. So, King Æetes sent in son,
Asyrtus, in pursuit of the Argonauts. He led an army much larger than that of the Argonauts.
However, to even the odds, Medea killed her brother, Asyrtus. There were many stories as to how
he died. However, it is not known what exactly happened to the death of Asyrtus. In any case, the
Argonauts had escaped.
On the return trip, they had to pass through the rock of Scylla and the whirlpool of
Charybdis, most dangerous natural occurrences, however, Hera guided the Argonauts to safety.
They landed there, by the request of Medea, for she knew a man by the name of Talus
(Achilles). He was a creature made all of bronze except for one ankle - this was the only point
where he was vulnerable. He was not a kind man because he threatened to crush the Argo if the
Argonauts approached. Medea sensed this and made
Talus crape his vulnerable ankle and he bled to death.
When the Argo reached Greece, the Argonauts
disbanded leaving Jason and Medea taking the Golden
Fleece to Pelias. When they arrived, Jason and Medea
found that Pelias had forced Jason's father to kill himself
and his mother had died of grief. Jason asked Medea for
ways to punish Pelias. They accomplished this by
convincing Pelias that there was a way to make the old
young again.
Jason and Medea moved to Corinth where they
had two sons. Medea missed her family in Colchis but
her love for Jason seemed to be more important. All this for a man who would eventually betray
her. The first example of this occurred when Jason married the daughter of the King of Corinth.
As a result of the King of Corinth fearing the powers of
Medea, the King ordered Medea and her two helpless
children out of the country.
.
Through her words, she explained that it was she
that was the one who obtained the Golden Fleece by
conquering the bulls, the dragon-men and the serpent
warder of the Fleece. Jason retorted by saying that he had
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not been save by her but by Aphrodite who had made Medea fall in love with him. He also said
that she owed him a great deal for moving her to Greece, a "civilized country".
Medea wanted revenge. So, she decided that she would kill Jason's bride. She decided that
she would take a robe and anointed it with deadly drugs. To ensure that the bride would die, she
would have to wear it at once. The princess received this gift and wore it at once. No sooner had
she put it on when a fire devoured her, melting her flesh away. She had died.
When Medea knew that the deed was done, she turned her mind to one more dreadful task.
This task was far more dreadful, for she was going to kill her own two sons. She did so, but not
without feeling sorrow for what she had done.
But when Jason realized Medea had killed her bride, he was determined to kill Medea. But
when he arrived at Medea's house, she had already left in a chariot that was drawn by dragons as
this occurred, Jason cursed her, but not he, for what had happened.

Unit IV: The Trojan Wars

Introduction

This unit will introduce you to the most prominent stories of the classic mythology; The
Four Great Adventure and the Trojan Wars.

Lesson 1: Four Great Adventure

Objectives:

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to familiarize with the characters and
the plot of the stories.

Four Great Adventure

"'HE palace of the Sun was a radiant
place. It shone with gold and gleamed with
ivory and sparkled with jewels. Everything
without and within flashed and glowed and
glittered. It was always high noon there.
Shadowy twilight never dimmed the
brightness. Darkness and night were
unknown. Few among mortals could have
long endured that unchanging brilliancy of
light, but few had ever found their way
thither.
Nevertheless, one day a youth, mortal
on his mother's side, dared to approach.
Often, he had to pause and clear his dazzled
eyes, but the errand which had brought him
was so urgent that his purpose held fast and
he pressed on, up to the palace, through the
burnished doors, and into the throne-room
where
surrounded by a blinding, blazing splendor
the Sun-god sat. There the lad was forced to
halt. He could bear no. more.

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 Nothing escapes the eyes of the Sun.
He saw the boy instantly and he looked at
him very kindly. "What brought you here?"
he asked. " I have come," the other answered
boldly, "to find out if you are my father or
not. My mother said you were, hut the hoys
at school laugh when I tell them I am your
son. They
will not believe me. I told my mother and
she said I had better go and ask you."
Smiling, the Sun took off his crown of
burning light so that the lad could look at
him without distress. "Come here,
Phaethon," he said. "You are my son.
Clymene told you the truth. I expect you will
not doubt my word too? But I will give you a
proof. Ask anything you want of me and you
shall have it. I call the Styx to be witness to
my promise, the river of the oath of the
gods."
No doubt Phaethon had often
watched the Sun riding through the heavens
and had told himself with a feeling, half awe,
half excitement, "It is my father up there."
And then he would what it would be like to
be in that chariot, guiding the steeds along
that dizzy course, giving light to the world.
Now at his
father's words this wild dream had become
possible. Instantly he cried, " I choose to take
your place, Father. That is the only thing I
want. Just for a day, a single day, let me have
your car to drive."
The Sun realized his own folly. Why
had he taken that fatal oath and bound
himself to give in to anything that happened
to enter a boy's rash young head? "Dear lad,"
he said, "this is the only thing I would have
refused you. I know I cannot refuse. I have
sworn thy the Styx. I must yield if you
persist. But I do not believe you will. Listen
while I tell you what this is you want. You
are Clymene's son as well as mine. You are
mortal and no mortal could drive my chariot.
Indeed, no god except myself can do that.
The ruler of the gods cannot. Consider the
road. It rises up from the sea so steeply that
the horses can hardly climb it, fresh though
they are in the early morning. In midheaven
it is so that even I do not like to look down.
Worst of all is the descent, so precipitous
that the Sea-gods waiting to receive me
wonder how I can avoid falling headlong. To
guide the horses, too, is a perpetual struggle.
Their fiery spirits grow hotter as they climb
and they scarcely suffer my control. What
would they do with you?
"Are you fancying that there are all
sorts of wonders up there, cities of the gods
full of beautiful things? Nothing of the You
will have to pass beasts, fierce beasts of
prey, and they are all that you will see. The
Bull, the Lion, the Scorpion, the great Crab,
each will try to harm you. Be persuaded.
Look around you. See all the goods the rich
world holds. Choose from them your heart's
desire and it shall be yours. If what you want
is to be proved my son, my fears for you are
proof enough that I am your father."
But none of this wise talk meant
anything to the hoy. A glorious prospect
opened before him. He saw himself proudly
standing in that wondrous car, his hands
triumphantly guiding those steeds which
Jove himself could not master. He did not
give a thought to the dangers his father
detailed. He felt not a
quiver of fear, not a doubt of his own
powers. At last the Sun gave up trying to
dissuade him. It was hopeless, as he saw.
there was no time. The moment for starting
was at hand. Already the gates of the east
glowed purple, and Dawn had opened her
courts full of rosy light. The stars were
leaving the sky; even the lingering morning
star was dim.
There was need for haste, hut all was
ready. The seasons, the gatekeepers of
Olympus, stood waiting to fling the doors
wide. The horses had been bridled and yoked
to the car. Proudly and joyously Phaethon
mounted it and they were off.
He had made his choice. Whatever
came of it he could not change now. Not that
he wanted to in that first exhilarating rush
through the air, so swift that the East Wind
was out-stripped and left far behind. The
horses' flying feet went through the low-
banked clouds near the ocean as through a
thin sea mist and then up and up in the clear
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air, climbing the height of heaven. For a few
ecstatic moments Phaethon felt
himself the Lord of the Sky. But suddenly
there was a change. The chariot was
swinging wildly to and for; the pace was
faster; he had lost control. Not he, but the
horses were directing the course. That light
weight in the car, those feeble hands
clutching the reins, had told them their own
driver was not there. They were the masters
then. No one else could command them.
They left the road and rushed where they
chose, up, down, to the right, to the left.
They nearly wrecked the chariot against the
Scorpion; they brought up short and almost
ran into the Crah. By this time the poor
charioteer was half fainting with terror, and
he let the reins fall.
That was the signal for madder and
running. The horses soared up to the very top
of the sky and then, plunging headlong
down, they set the world on fire. The highest
mountains were the first to hurn, Ida and
Helicon, where the Muses dwell, Parnassus,
and heaven piercing Olympus. Down their
slopes the flame ran to the low-lying valleys
and the dark forest lands, until all things
everywhere were ablaze. The springs turned
into steam; the rivers shrank. It is said that it
was then the Nile fled and hid his head,
which still is hidden.
His sisters, the Heliades, the daughters of Helios, the Sun, came to his grave to mourn for
him. There they were turned into poplar trees, on the bank of the Lridanus,
I n the car Phaethon, hardly keeping
his place there, was wrapped in thick smoke
and heat as if from a fiery wanted nothing
except to have this torment and terror ended.
He would have welcomed death. Mother
Earth, too, could hear no more. She uttered a
great cry which reached up to the gods.
Looking down from Olympus they
saw that they must act quickly if the world
was to be saved. Jove seized his thunderbolt
and hurled it at the rash, repentant driver. It
struck him dead, shattered the chariot, and
made the maddened horses rush down into
the sea.
Phaethon all on fire fell from the car
through the air to the earth. The mysterious
river Lridanus, which no mortal eyes have
ever seen, received him and put out the
flames and cooled
the body. The naiads, in pity for him, so hold
and so young to die, buried him and carved
upon the —
Here Phaethon lies who drove the Sun-god's
car.
Greatly he failed, but he had greatly dared.

Where sorrowing they weep into the stream forever.

And each tear as it falls shines in the water
A glistening drop of amber.

PEGASUS AND BELLLROPHON

Characters:
 Bellerophon- the young lad who wanted nothing more in the world but to tame Pegasus
 Pegasus- the winged horse
 King Proteus- the king who sent Bellerophon on a journey to kill the Chimaera

Settings:
 Athena’s temple
 King Proteus kingdom
 Chimaera’s lair
 Sky
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Plot:
Bellerophon slept at the temple of Athena in order to tame
Pegasus. He became the envy of all for possessing Pegasus. The
wife of King Proteus accused Bellerophon of doing wicked things
after she was rejected by Bellerophon. King Proteus sent
Bellerophon on a journey of killing the Chimaera.
After defeating the monster, Bellerophon believed that he
was equal with the gods and decided to go to Mount Olympus.
Pegasus knowing this is not the case, threw Bellerophon off his
back. Bellerophon ate his own soul.

Theme:
 The value of humility.

OTUS AND EPHIALTES

Characters:
 Otus and Ephialtes twin giants who thinks they are stronger than the gods
 Artemis-goddess of the hunt
 Ares-god of war
Settings:
 Forest

Plot:
The giants Otus and Ephialtes, also known as the
"Aloadae", were the sons of Iphimedia and Poseidon, the
god of the seas. It all happened when Iphimedia fell in
love with Poseidon, so day by day she went down to the
seashore, where she could scoop water from the waves
with her hands and pour it into her lap until she became
pregnant.
Otus and Ephialtes were extraordinary giants.
Every year they grew about 18 inches broader and six
feet higher. However, they didn't look horrifying at all.
Instead, they were beautiful and gentle creatures. When they were only nine years old, the two
brothers began to challenge the gods on several occasions.
The 3 Challenges of Otus and Ephialtes
The first challenge of the brothers was to abduct and imprison Ares, the god of war. They
managed to do so for 13 months, until the gods reluctantly sent Hermes, the messenger of the
gods to release him. Their next challenge was to put one mountain upon another, threatening to
use these mountains to climb up to heaven. When Zeus,the king of the gods, found out, he was
about to hit both giants with his lightning - but Poseidon, their loving father, convinced Zeus to
show mercy for his children.
The fatal third challenge
The third challenge of the two brothers was to catch Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. When
Artemis saw the twins approaching, she quickly transformed herself into a deer and leapt between
them. Greedily, the two brothers threw javelins to hit the animal, but the javelins went back and
killed them both.

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Theme:
 Arrogance is dangerous.
 Humility before the gods.

DAEDALUS

Characters:
 Daedalus- smart inventor who designed the labyrinth of the Minotaur
 Icarus- son of Daedalus who went near the son
 King Minos- the king who sent Daedalus and Icarus into prison after helping Theseus

Settings:
 Prison Cell
 Sky
 Crete

Plot:
After helping Theseus escape from the
labyrinth, Daedalus and Icarus were imprisoned.
In order to escape, Daedalus made wings made of
wax for both of them. Daedalus warned his son
not to go near the sun for the wings would melt.
Icarus did not listen to his father so his wings
melted and he fell to ocean and drowned.
Daedalus escaped and arrived in the kingdom of Crete
King Minos devised a plan to capture Daedalus again by conducting a contest. Any man
that can successfully put a thread in an intricate seashell would win the contest. Daedalus
successfully did it by using an ant and King Minos knew it was only Daedalus who can think such
solution.
The king of Crete refused to give Daedalus up to king Minos.

Theme:
 The value of common sense and ingenuity.
 The value of obedience.

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______________________________________________________________________________

Lesson 2: The Heroes of the Trojan War

Objectives:

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to appreciate this story by presenting a role
play.
______________________________________________________________________________

Lesson Proper

The Trojan War

One of the most well-known tales ever narrated (most notably in Homer’s “Iliad”), the Trojan
War is undoubtedly the greatest war in classical mythology. Waged by an Achaean alliance
against the city of Troy, the war originated from a quarrel between three goddesses
(Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite) over a golden apple, thrown by the goddess of strife at the
wedding of Peleus and Thetis, and inscribed with the words “for the fairest.” Unwilling to settle
the dispute himself, Zeus sent the goddesses to Paris, the young prince of Troy, who gifted the
apple to Aphrodite for the goddess had promised him, as a token of gratitude, the love of Helen,
the most beautiful girl in the world. Aphrodite fulfilled her promise and, before too
long, Helen eloped with Paris from her royal court in Sparta to the Trojan palace. Helen’s
husband, Menelaus – incited by his even more powerful brother, Agamemnon – assembled a
large army of Achaean leaders, most of them obliged to protect the sanctity of his marriage by a
previous oath. After the diplomatic attempts to settle the dispute early on yielded no result, the
Greek forces surrounded the city of Troy and held it under siege for a decade. In the tenth year of
the war, after the fighting had already taken the lives of some of the greatest heroes on either side
(Achilles, Ajax, Patroclus, Protesilaus; Hector, Sarpedon, Memnon, Cycnus), Odysseus devised
the ruse of the Trojan Horse, which finally brought the downfall of Troy. The Achaeans raided
the city and set it afire, slaughtering scores of innocent people and desecrating too many
hallowed grounds to escape the subsequent wrath of the gods. As a result, few of them managed
to return safely to their homes; and those who did may have been the less fortunate ones.

The Background of the War

Peleus and Thetis
The genesis of the Trojan War goes all the way back to a divine love contest, and a
prophecy concerning the very foundations of the Olympian order. Namely, decades before its
commencement, both Zeus and Poseidon fell in love with a beautiful sea-nymph
named Thetis. Each of them wanted to make her his bride, but both backed away
once they were told (whether by Themis or Prometheus) the dire consequences of
such an action; for “it was fated that the sea-goddess should bear a princely son,
stronger than his father, who would wield another weapon in his hand more
powerful than the thunderbolt or the irresistible trident, if she lay with Zeus or one
of his brothers.” So as not to risk anything, Zeus decided to give Thetis’ hand in
marriage to King Peleus, “the most pious man living on the plain of Iolcus.”The
Apple of Discord
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 Now that the husband was determined, Zeus organized a grand feast in
celebration of Peleus' and Thetis' marriage, at which all the other gods were
invited, except for the disagreeable goddess of strife, Eris. Annoyed at being
stopped at the door by Hermes, before leaving the gathering, she threw her gift amidst the guests;
it was the Apple of Discord, a golden apple upon which the words "for the fairest" had been
inscribed. Before long, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite started quarreling over who should be the
one to take the apple, and, not being able to decide on their own, demanded from Zeus to settle
the dispute.
The Judgment of Paris
Zeus knew that any choice meant inciting the anger of
at least two goddesses, so he wisely decided to abstain from
judgment; instead, he appointed Paris, the young prince
of Troy, to be the judge. Paris was tending his flocks on Mount
Ida when the three goddesses approached him. However, he
was unable to make a choice even after seeing each of the three
goddesses naked. So, unsurprisingly, it was time for some bribing. First, Hera gave her word
to Paris that, in gratitude for choosing her, she would grant him both political power and the
throne of the continent of Asia; then, Athena offered him wisdom and excellent skills in battle;

finally, Aphrodite promised Paris the most beautiful woman in the

world, Helen of Sparta. There could be only one outcome: without

batting an eyelash, Paris awarded the apple to Aphrodite, and, disregarding
the prophecies of his brother and sister, Helenus and Cassandra, set off
for Sparta to claim his reward.
The Suitors of Helen and the Oath of Tyndareus
Now, Aphrodite wasn’t the only one who knew that Helen, the
stepdaughter of King Tyndareus of Sparta, was the most beautiful woman
in the world; not by a long shot: in fact, Tyndareus’ court was filled with
numerous noble suitors ever since her availability for marriage had been announced months
before the Judgement of Paris. However, much like Zeus in the case of the Apple of
Discord, Tyndareus was unwilling to create himself political enemies, so he stalled the decision
on the bridegroom. The wisest – and least enthusiastic – of the suitors, Odysseus of Ithaca,
offered the King an escape plan, asking in return for the hand of Penelope, Tyndareus’ niece; the
King agreed, and Odysseus advised him to make all of Helen’s suitors swear an oath that they
would protect the couple regardless of the final decision. After the oath had been
taken, Tyndareus picked Menelaus to be his daughter's husband, effectively making him the
successor of the Spartan throne through Helen.

The Abduction of Helen

Unfortunately for Menelaus, sometime after his
marriage with Helen had been officialized, his

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uncle Catreus, the King of Crete, was mistakenly killed by one of his sons. While Menelaus was
away there at his funeral, Aphrodite used the opportunity to disguise Paris as a diplomatic
emissary and successfully smuggle him inside the palace of the Spartan royal family. Owing to
the goddess’ influence and one of Eros’ unmistakable arrows, Helen welcomed Paris much too
warmly, and, after a night of passion and promises, agreed to elope with him to Troy.
Menelaus returned home and, before too long, realized that his wife
had left him – and left him for a lesser man. He wasted no time: incited by his
much more powerful brother, Agamemnon, he invoked the Oath
of Tyndareus and called upon the help of all Achaean leaders who had
previously sought with him the hand of Helen. And they all came, each the
head of a mighty army: Ajax and Teucer of Salamis, sons
of Telamon; Ajax of Locris, son of Oileus, and Idomeneus of Crete, son
of Deucalion; Diomedes of Argos, son of Tydeus, and Elephenor of Euboea, son of
Chalcodon; Philoctetes of Meliboea, son of Poeas, and Protiselaus of Philace, son of Iphicles;
and many, many more: in fact, as many as forty-five great Achaean leaders and warriors. There
was nowhere any sign of Odysseus, though.
Recruiting the Greek Heroes
Recruiting Odysseus
And for a good reason: by this time, Odysseus was a happily
married father of a one-year-old boy named Telemachus, and he had
learned from the seer Halitherses that if he took part in the Trojan
expedition, it would take him many years to return home. So, when
the envoy in charge for his recruitment arrived at his palace
in Ithaca, he pretended to be mad by harnessing a donkey and an ox
to a plow and sowing salt instead of grain in his fields.
However, Palamedes saw through the ruse and put Telemachus in
front of the plow. Odysseus had no option but to change course and,
thus, he revealed both his plan and his sanity. Accepting his fate – and knowing from the
seer Calchas that his presence was a prerequisite for Greek victory – Odysseus almost
immediately set on a mission to find and enlist the man fated to become the greatest of all
Greek heroes under Troy: Achilles.
Achilles: A Flashback
Achilles was none other than the child Zeus and Poseidon never wanted to have: the only
surviving son of Peleus and Thetis. Even before his birth, his mother knew that Achilles was
destined to either lead an uneventful but long life or a glorious one that would end with him
dying young on the battlefield. Fearing for her son's future wellbeing, Thetis decided to grant
him immortality. While he was still an infant, she took him to the River Styx – one of the rivers
that ran through the Underworld – and dipped him in the waters, thus making him invulnerable.
However, Thetis did not realize that the heel of the boy, by which she had held him, did not
touch the waters of the Styx; this would later turn out to be the cause for Achilles’ downfall, and
is the origin of the modern-day phrase "Achilles' heel," signifying a vulnerable spot despite
overall strength. Anyway, after she had completed the ritual – so as to be even safer
– Thetis disguised Achilles as a girl and hid him among the maidens at the court of King
Lycomedes of Skyros.

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 Recruiting Achilles
Soon after joining the Trojan expedition, Odysseus learned
of Achilles’ whereabouts; so, he teamed up with Telamonian
Ajax and Phoenix, an old tutor of Achilles, and the three went to
Skyros to recruit the hero. There, they either blew a war horn,
on the sound of which Achilles was the only woman that took a
spear in hand, or they appeared as merchants selling jewels and
weapons, and Achilles was the only woman interested in the
latter. Either way, now the Achaean forces were complete; and
ready to attack Troy.

Reaching Troy
An Early Sign
The Achaean leaders first gathered at the port of Aulis. A sacrifice was made to Apollo,
and the god sent an omen: a snake appeared from the altar and slithered to a bird's nest, where
it ate the mother and her nine babies before it was turned to stone. The seer Calchas interpreted
the meaning of the event for everybody: Troy was to eventually fall – but not before the tenth
year of the war!
Telephus
There was no time for losing: the Achaeans immediately set sail for Troy, even though no
one knew the exact way. So, by mistake, they landed too far to the south, in the land of Mysia,
ruled by King Telephus. The battle which ensued took the life of many a great Greek warrior, all
the while highlighting Achilles’ superhuman strength: in addition to killing numerous
Mysians, Achilles (who was barely fifteen at the time!) managed to also wound their
king Telephus, a son of Heracles. And as Telephus found out from an oracle soon after the
Achaean ships left Mysia, this wound was so unique that it could only be cured by the one who
had caused it. Eight years did Telephus search for Achilles, and, eventually, he found him
in Aulis, where the Achaean leaders had gathered once again for a consultation, despairing over
their incapability of reaching Troy. Now, Achilles had no medical knowledge whatsoever, so he
was quite surprised when Telephus approached him with his request. Always shrewder than
everybody, Odysseus realized that the prophecy might not refer to the man – but to the weapon
which had inflicted the wound; heeding his advice, Achilles scraped off the rust of his Pelian
spear over Telephus’ wound, and, just like that, it stopped bleeding. Out of
gratitude, Telephus agreed to tell the Greeks the route to Troy.
Iphigenia at Aulis
However, the Greeks now faced an even bigger problem: even though they finally knew the way
to Troy, they were unable to set sail from Aulis because, for most of the time, there was no wind
of any kind, let alone favorable one. The seer Calchas realized that this must be some kind of
retribution from the goddess Artemis, furious at Agamemnon for killing one of her sacred
deer. Artemis’ demand for appeasement was an unspeakably cruel one: the sacrifice
of Agamemnon's virgin daughter, Iphigenia. After some
deliberation, Odysseus lured Iphigenia to Aulis on the pretext of marriage with Achilles. After
finding out that he had been used in such a vicious ruse, Achilles tried to save Iphigenia’s life,

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only to learn that all of the other Greek commanders and soldiers are in support of the sacrifice.
Bereaved of options, Iphigenia gracefully accepted her fate and placed herself on the altar. Some
say that, unfortunately, that was the end of her; others, however, claim that just as Calchas was
about to sacrifice her, Artemis substituted Iphigenia for a deer and took her to Tauris where she
became the goddess' high priestess.
Tenedos
Either way, the winds picked up again after the sacrifice and the Achaean fleet was finally able
to set sail toward Troy. While on the way there, they stormed the island of Tenedos; unaware of
his identity, Achilles killed the island’s king, Tenes, who happened to be a son of the
god Apollo. It was a fateful decision since Thetis had warned him not to kill any sons of Apollo,
lest he wants to be killed by the god himself; just as forewarned, many years later, Apollo will
get his revenge.
The Course of the War
The Diplomatic Mission
From Tenedos, the Greeks sent a diplomatic mission to Troy – probably consisting solely
of Menelaus and Odysseus, though some say entailing Acamas and Diomedes as well – whose
mission was to recover Helen by peaceful means. The Trojans not only refused this, but they also
threatened to kill the envoy and only the intervention of the Trojan elder Antenor saved the lives
of Menelaus and Odysseus. The message was loud and clear: if they wanted Helen back, the
Greeks would have to come and get her through the use of arms.
Protesilaus
And so, they did: after many years of wandering, the Greek fleet sailed the short route from
Tenedos to Troas and finally arrived at the desired destination. However, everybody was now
reluctant to land, as an oracle had once prophesized that the first Greek to step on Trojan soil
would be the first one to die in the war. Some say that Protesilaus took the initiative willingly
and sacrificed himself for the sake of Greece, but others claim that he was tricked
by Odysseus who announced that he would disembark first, but, circumvented the prophecy by
stepping on his shield once ashore. Either way, it was Protesilaus who had the misfortune of
being the first victim of the Trojan War, dying during a face-to-face duel with Troy’s most
celebrated hero, its beloved prince, Hector.
The Nine-Year Siege of Troy
The siege of Troy lasted for nine years, but the Trojans – able to maintain trade links with other
Asian cities, in addition to getting constant reinforcements – firmly held their ground. Near the
end of the ninth year, the exhausted Achaean army mutinied and demanded to return
home; Achilles, however, boosted their morale and convinced them to stay a bit longer.
The Rage of Achilles
On the tenth year, Chryses, a Trojan priest of Apollo, visited Agamemnon and asked for
his daughter Chryseis' return. Agamemnon, who had taken her as war booty and kept her to be
his concubine, refused to give Chryseis back. So, Chryses prayed to Apollo for some kind of a
divine payback, and Apollo inflicted the Greek army with а plague. Pressed by his
armies, Agamemnon had no option but to return Chryseis to her father; however, so as to salvage
his ego and reputation, he took Achilles' concubine Briseis as his own. Achilles, infuriated,

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retired to his hut and announced that he had no intention of fighting any longer – at least not as
long as Agamemnon was in charge.
Patroclus
Now that Achilles was out of the action, the Trojans started winning battle after a battle,
eventually driving the Greeks back to their ships and almost setting the ships on
fire. Patroclus, Achilles’ closest friend, couldn’t take this any longer; so, he asked Achilles for
his armor and, disguised as him, took command of the Myrmidon army. Their morale boosted,
the Achaeans successfully repelled the Trojan attack; ever the fearless warrior and never shying
away from a duel, Hector barely spared a moment before he ran in the direction of the man
everyone thought was Achilles; in the fight which followed, Hector managed to kill his opponent
– only to realize that it had been Patroclus all along.
The Victorious Return of Achilles
Achilles, maddened with grief, swore vengeance; with him back on the battlefield, the war took
an entirely different course. After slaying a vast number of Trojans, Achilles eventually got the
fight he wanted: Hector himself. Even though this duel paired off the best fighters of both
armies, everyone was well aware that there could be only one victor from it; in fact, even before
its commencement, fully aware of his opponent’s demigod status, Hector had said goodbye to his
wife Andromache and his little boy Astyanax. After killing Hector, Achilles refused to surrender
his body to the Trojans for burial, and instead, he desecrated it by dragging it with his chariot in
front of the city walls. He eventually agreed to return it, after he was moved to tears by the visit
of King Priam of Troy, who had come alone to the Greek camp to plead for the body of his son
with his son’s murderer.
The Death of Achilles

Achilles didn’t live too long after these events: an arrow

shot by Paris and guided by Apollo hit him on his heel as he was
trying to enter Troy. He was later burned on a funeral pyre, and
his bones were mixed with those of his close
friend Patroclus. Paris himself was subsequently killed by an
arrow, fired by Philoctetes, straight from the legendary bow
of Heracles.

Odysseus’ Ploy: the Trojan Horse

Numerous other heroes died in the following days.
Finally, Odysseus devised a plan to end the war for good. He asked
that a wooden horse with a hollow belly be built. Soldiers hid in the
interior of the horse, which was then wheeled in front of Troy’s city
gates. Meanwhile, the Greek fleet sailed away to the nearby island
of Tenedos, leaving behind a double agent named Sinon. After
some deliberation, Sinon convinced the Trojans that the Greeks had
withdrawn and that the Trojan Horse was a divine gift that should
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bring much good fortune to Troy. Even though Apollo’s priest Laocoon and the
prophetess Cassandra had warned them not to, the Trojans refused to listen and brought the horse
into the city. They then started feasting and celebrating the victory. However, during the night,
the Greek ships sailed back, and the soldiers hidden inside the horse jumped out of it and opened
the gates. A massacre followed and, eventually, after a decade-long war, Troy fell.
The Raid of Troy
The Greeks raided the city and set much
of it on fire, destroying temples and sacred
grounds and committing offense after offense
against the Olympian gods. King Priam was
brutally murdered by Achilles’
son Neoptolemus, and Queen Hecuba was either
enslaved by Odysseus or went mad upon seeing
the corpses of many of her children. One of her
daughters, Polyxena, was sacrificed on Achilles’
grave, and another, Cassandra, was dragged away from Athena’s temple by the Locrian Ajax and
assaulted in an act so vile that the statue of the goddess turned its eyes away in horror. In
possibly the cruelest deed of them all, either Neoptolemus or Odysseus threw Hector’s little son,
Astyanax, from the walls of Troy and to his death. One of the few heroes who escaped the
carnage alive was Aeneas, who subsequently reached Italy and founded the first Roman dynasty.
The Aftermath
The gods never forget and rarely forgive. The surviving Greek heroes will learn this the
hard way: although victorious, most of them will be severely punished for their transgressions. In
fact, only few will ever reach their homes – and only after numerous exploits and adventures.
Even fewer will be greeted with a warm welcome, either ending up being exiled into oblivion or
finding their deaths at the hands of their loved ones. Or, in some cases, both.

Lesson 4: The Adventure of Odysseus

Character List:
• Odysseus - King of Ithaca
• Telemachus- Odysseus’s son
• Penelope - Wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus
• Athena - Daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom, she often appears in disguise as Mentor, an
old friend of Odysseus
• Poseidon - God of the sea
• Polyphemus - One of the Cyclopes (uncivilized one-eyed giants)
• Circe - The beautiful witch-goddess who transforms Odysseus’s crew into swine when he
lands on her island
• Tiresias - A Theban prophet who inhabits the underworld
• Calypso - A beautiful nymph who falls in love with Odysseus

After Troy fell, everything changed…

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 Athena and Poseidon no longer blessed Greeks because they forgot what was due to
gods. On their voyage home, they were all punished. Poseidon made the Greeks unable to sail
home directly but wandering around: Odysseus was made to wander for 10 years.

In Ithaca, the island of Odysseus’ home…

Everyone regarded Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, as a widow and proposed to her. However,
these suitors didn’t really love Penelope. They just wanted to inherit Odysseus’ possessions and
properties. Both Penelope and Odysseus’ son, Telemachus, could not stand them.

Penelope’s plan to not receiving any suitor’s proposal…

She lied that she couldn’t marry until she finished woven a fine
wrought shroud for Odysseus’ father. Penelope unwove each night what
she had woven during the day.

After 10 years, gods forgave Odysseus…

Poseidon was the only exception. Gods were moved by

Athena’s words. Zeus ordered that gods had to help Odysseus to
return home. Athena arrived Ithaca and helped Telemachus, to go
to Menelaus’, king of Sparta, to gather Odysseus’ news.

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 Odysseus’ very first adventure after the Trojan War…

On the tenth day from their departure from Troy, they

came to the land of Lotus-eaters. Those who ate the flower-
food forgot their longing for home.

The second adventure…

The men then take a giant red-hot sharpened stake they have made and poke out
the monster’s only eye. Blinded, Polyphemus cannot find the men and finally
rolls back the boulder blocking the entrance and puts his arms in front of it,
figuring he will catch the men as they try to run outside
Odysseus has already thought of this, so the Greeks go to the pens and
each tie three rams together. The next day the Greeks hang onto the undersides
of the sheep as they go out to pasture. As they pass the entrance, Polyphemus
feels only the sheep’s backs to make sure there are no Greeks riding them,
enabling them to escape.

Then…
They arrived Country of Winds, ruled by King Aeolus. He received Odysseus and his
crew hospitably and gifted Odysseus a leather sack of storm winds. One of Odysseus’ crew
thought there would be gold in the sack and opened it. The winds rushed out and blew them to
the country of Laestrygons, a people of gigantic size and cannibals too.

They moved to the next island, Aeaea, the territory of Circe, a most
beautiful and dangerous witch. She turned men into pigs. However,
Odysseus with Hermes’ help didn’t get transformed. Circe, thereby, fell
in love with Odysseus.
Circe listened and followed Odysseus’ commands. They lived in Aeaea
happily for a year. Before they left, Circe offered Odysseus tips to get
home.

Following Circe’s tip, Odysseus and his crew came to Erebus where Hades ruled with
Persephone. They filled the trench with sheep's blood in order to find the spirit of Teiresias to tell
them how to get home. Teiresias said the chief danger was that they might do injury to the oxen
of the Sun. Odysseus kept following Circe’s tip to sail home. He knew that they would pass the
island of sirens. Sirens were marvelous singers whose voices would make a man’s mind go wild.
In order not to hear sirens’ singing, every man was ordered to stop his ears with wax. However,
Odysseus would like to hear their voices. He asked his crew to tie him on the mast when they passed by
sirens.
Arrived the island of the Sun, the crew ate the oxen because they were hungry.
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 Odysseus was forced to choose which monster to confront while passing through the
strait; he opted to pass by Scylla and lose only a few sailors, rather than risk the loss of the entire
ship in the whirlpool. Since Scylla and Charybdis cannot be beaten, Odysseus can only minimize
his losses with prudent decision-making and careful navigation.
On Mount Olympus, Zeus sent Hermes to rescue Odysseus from Calypso. Hermes
persuades Calypso to let Odysseus build a ship and leave. Calypso loved Odysseus and shared all
her fortune with him. However, Odysseus missed his family in
Greece. He spent 7 years with Calypso.
Odysseus then landed a country belonged to
Phaeacians. They were kind and splendid sailers. Odysseus
was saved by the King’s daughter, Nausicaa. Odysseus was
invited to the palace by Nausicaa. There, the king promised to
help him home. Odysseus told his story of ten years’
wandering in the presence of all the Phaeacian chiefs.

The Sun immediately took his vengeance.

A thunderbolt shattered the ship when they left,
everyone drowned, except for Odysseus. In the
end, he came to Phaeacian. The King helped
Odysseus to return to Ithaca.
Odysseus disguised as an old beggar
among Penelope’s suitors. Penelope didn’t
recognize him at first. However, Odysseus’ nurse
(nanny) Eurycleia did when she saw the scar on his foot as she washed his feet. Penelope said
she would marry anyone who can shoot an arrow straight through 12 rings (what Odysseus used
to accomplish). No one succeeded.
Odysseus was the last one to try. He succeeded. He then shot every suitor on the spot.
After the slaughter, Eurycleia woke Penelope. The whole family finally reunited.

The Adventure of Aeneas

Written during the Pax Augusta, a time of great optimism for Rome,
Virgil’s Aeneid chronicles the adventures of Aeneas, the Trojan hero and mythical progenitor of
the Roman people. Due to the help of his mother, he is the lone Trojan able to escape defeat at
the hands of the Greeks, fleeing with his father on his back and his son in his hand. Aeneas
eventually winds up in Italy, where his son founds the city Alba Longa, the predecessor of Rome.
Between the two cities, however, Aeneas has a long journey and many adventures.
In a dream, Aeneas is told that he is destined to sail to Italy, known then as Hesperia, the
Western Country. On the way, he and his crew encounter the same Harpies whom the Argonauts
battled. Unable to defeat them, they are forced to escape. They next encounter Hector’s widow,
Andromache, enslaved by Achilles’ son after the war. After her captor’s death, she marries the
Trojan prophet Helenus. Helenus tells Aeneas that he should land on the western coast of Italy
and gives him directions and tells him how to avoid the dire Scylla and Charybdis. He seemingly
does not know about other dangers along the route. Luckily, when the Trojans land on the island

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of the Cyclopes, they meet a sailor whom Ulysses (Odysseus) has left behind. They escape just
as Polyphemus charges the ship.
Juno is still angry with the Trojans, however, as she still resents Paris choosing Venus
over her and has learned that Aeneas’s descendants are fated to found a city that will one day
destroy Carthage, her favorite city. Juno recruits Aeolus, King of the Winds, to send a gigantic
storm. Though Neptune’s intervention saves the Trojans, they are blown off course all the way to
Africa, near Carthage, of all cities. Juno conspires to have Aeneas fall in love with Carthage’s
queen, Dido, figuring that if he does, he will not leave Carthage. Venus makes her own plan,
however, and sends Cupid to ensure that Dido falls in love with Aeneas and that Aeneas never
reciprocates the feelings. Nonetheless, as Dido lavishes attention on Aeneas and his men, he
grows used to the luxury and lingers in Carthage. At last, Jupiter, acting on Venus’s behalf, sends
Mercury to Aeneas. Mercury urges Aeneas to go fulfill his destiny, so he soberly takes his leave
of a sobbing Dido. Sailing away, he sees smoke rising from Carthage, never knowing that the
source is her funeral pyre.
Helenus had also told Aeneas to find the prophetic Sibyl of Cumae upon reaching Italy.
They find the Sibyl, who says she must take Aeneas to the underworld to meet his father,
Anchises, who has died earlier in the journey. To travel to the underworld, Aeneas and his friend
Achates must find a mystical golden bough that gains them admittance. Venus eventually leads
them to the bough, which Aeneas bears as he and the Sibyl enter the underworld. They pass by
many horrors—lost souls, frightening spirits of Disease and Hunger, even Dido herself, who
refuses to acknowledge Aeneas. Charon sees the golden bough and ferries them across his river.
They mollify Cerberus with cake and finally find Anchises, who shows Aeneas the souls who
will one day rise to be his future descendants. He also tells Aeneas where and how to establish
his new home in Italy.
Aeneas returns to the surface and sails up the Italian coast with his crew. Latinus, king of
the Latins, warmly receives them. Latinus plans to marry his daughter, Lavinia, to the majestic
Aeneas. Juno, however, makes Alecto, one of the Furies, cause trouble. Alecto convinces
Latinus’s wife to oppose the marriage, and Alecto tells Turnus, King of the Rutulians and suitor
of Lavinia, about Aeneas. Finally, Alecto makes Ascanius, Aeneas’s son, unwittingly kill a
certain stag very popular among the Latins. The advancing army of the Rutulians joins with the
Latins to oppose the small band of Trojans. The two armies are also aided by Mezentius, a cruel
ex-leader of the Etruscans, and Camilla, a renowned female warrior. Aeneas again receives
divine help, however. Father Tiber, god of the famous Roman river, tells him to retreat upstream
to find Evander, king of the town that will one day become Rome. There, Evander and his son,
Pallas, receive Aeneas warmly but can offer no real help. Evander tells Aeneas that he can seek
the help of the powerful Etruscans, who are anxious to get revenge against the tyrannical
Mezentius. Evander gives the few men, including Pallas, whom he can spare.
While Aeneas seeks these allies, the Trojans face a huge offensive from Turnus. They must get
word to Aeneas, but Nisus and Euryalus are the only Trojans brave enough to sneak past enemy
lines to send the message. Euryalus is captured and, Nisus, rather than run away, tries to save
Euryalus, only to be killed alongside him. Aeneas returns with Etruscan reinforcements. After
the deaths of Camilla, Pallas, and others, Turnus and Aeneas meet in single combat. Aeneas kills
Turnus, marries Lavinia, and founds the Roman people.

Group Activity:
Group activity: Make a short film about the scene taken from the Trojan War
Group 1:

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Criteria for grading:
Creativity - 40%

Clear and correct

presentation of the story - 40%

Overall presentation - 20%

________________________
100%

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