Professional Documents
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Myths and Legends
Myths and Legends
Myths and
Legends
A range of exciting online resources to help get your students
interested in the fantastical world of myths, legends, fairytales
and folklore.
T
he Hobbit, Brave, Twilight, Jack the Giant Slayer, Percy Jackson and
the Olympians… With the recent increase in Hollywood hits, video
games and teen fiction inspired by myths, legends and fairytales,
students’ enthusiasm for all things mythological is at the highest
it’s ever been. Teaching mythology is a great way to develop a love of
reading and writing in students of all ages, to inspire in drama and art and
to cultivate a desire to research ancient history and other cultures.
Not all students will find myths and legends appealing, however.
Complicated, convoluted plotlines and long, seemingly unpronounceable
names are just a few of the features of many myths and legends that might
make teaching them difficult. The great thing about the world of mythology,
though, is that there’s always something that’ll interest everyone if
delivered in the right way, and that’s something I’ve tried to keep in mind
when putting together this compilation of websites and resources. There
are video clips, audio stories, animations, interactive maps and games,
extensive encyclopaedias – a whole range of resources to make myths,
legends and folktales accessible and enjoyable for all students, no matter
their preferred style of learning, ability or interests.
This issue’s cross curricular project is based around the Middle Ages – a
time shrouded in mystery, filled with fantastical tales of kings, castles and
monsters. You will find that some of the websites listed below fit perfectly
with the lesson plans detailed in this project – before your class creates
their own medieval bestiary, explore an enormous archive of legendary
creatures at Encyclopaedia Mythica or watch amazing CGI footage of
mythical monsters at history.com’s Monsterquest Monsterpedia. When
investigating the truth behind the legend of Robin Hood, listen to audio
stories of his adventures at Storynory.com, watch the animated tale of how
Robin became an outlaw at Myths and Legends, or return to history.com
to find out who historians believe Robin Hood really was.
The possibilities these sites provide are endless, and, whether you
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Storynory - http://www.storynory.com/
Key Stages 1 and 2
Packed full of humorous audio stories, Storynory is great for introducing young
children to a number of different myths and legends. Audio versions of Greek myths,
legends of King Arthur, tales of Robin Hood and stories of various Saints are available
for free download in the ‘Educational stories’ section, while in ‘Fairytales’, you can find
recordings of Aesop’s fables, stories from the Brothers Grimm, as well as fairytales and
legends from around the world (a very interesting group of tales, well worth a look).
Each tale is told by a professional actor, and have all been adapted from the original
to appeal to young children. The majority of these audio stories are around ten to
fifteen minutes long, and the longer myths are generally split up into parts. Most are available as a transcript
also, and on the occasion of a more complicated myth (The Trojan war, for example, which confusingly appears
both in history and mythology), the Storynory team have put together some background information to help
kids understand both the fact and the fiction.
The auditory form of these stories means this site is brilliant for children who might struggle with reading myths
and legends in written form. The site’s homepage suggests using the audio stories with blind or autistic children,
or with those whose first language is not English. The site is also very simply laid out and easily navigable. This,
along with the bright colours and pictures, the cute mascot (a frog named Prince Bertie – once a human prince
of course!), and the simple wording of the stories, means young children will have no trouble exploring Storynory
on their own if they want to.
Clearly designed to develop a love of myths, legends and fairytales in young children, this is a really lovely site
to use both with the whole class and with individuals. It’s also a great tool to use when differentiating for children
with special education needs, as the auditory nature of this site means it’s accessible to all.
Mythweb - http://www.mythweb.com
Key Stages 2, 3 and 4
Simple, attractively illustrated and easy to navigate, Mythweb is good solid research
tool for students of all ages researching Greek mythology.
The site is divided into four research areas, the first of which focuses on the
principal gods of the Greek pantheon. There’s some really good information here on
who these gods were, how they were portrayed in art and literature, and on some
occasions, their origins. The next section is all about heroes of Greek mythology
– Jason, Hercules, Theseus, Odysseus, Bellerophon and Perseus. Each hero’s story
is told in a comical, conversational tone, along with some brilliant cartoons, and
in the case of Bellerophon and Perseus, animations. As some of the Greek myths
are quite convoluted and complicated, this is an excellent simplification – none
of the major points are lost.
The section entitled ‘Today’ is also worth looking at, and could prove useful in
English lessons or when examining the influence myths have had on language and life today. It focuses on some
of the words or phrases we use today that originate from or reference Greek mythology, including ‘tantalise’,
‘herculean effort’, and ‘panic’. The myth behind the word is told in full, along with some more animations and
illustrations. The fourth section is a comprehensive searchable encyclopaedia, covering people, places, gods and
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more. The search tool is pretty useful here – you can choose to view a brief definition or a longer, more detailed
entry from the encyclopaedia, along with an illustration or photo.
For teachers, there’s a separate section that’s definitely well worth a read. The teaching tips page is bursting with
ideas for using myths and legends to develop students’ broader skills across a range of subjects, including English,
art and drama. Linked from this page is the contest-winning tips page (tips teachers have sent in to Mythweb).
There are some fantastic ideas on here that other teachers have successfully implemented in the classroom, and
some really innovative ways to incorporate Greek myth into the wider curriculum. Most of the activities suggested
could be applied to mythology from other cultures too, according to an individual teacher’s needs.
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as an interesting basis for analysis and discussion – students could examine how the mythological characters and
places have been adapted to fit into the ‘real world’, for example. Also, the stories themselves are quite ambiguous
at times, and raise questions that could be explored through creative writing or even drama – In ‘Escape from the
Underworld’, for example, why is Eurydice so terrified of Club Underworld’s creepy owner, Hades?
There are so many opportunities to explore characters, settings and story on this site, with the added bonus
of linking it all back to the original myths in a fun, interesting way. I highly recommend introducing this series to
older students.
(Note: An unfortunate glitch on the site means that once one episode has been selected, none of the others will
play. It’s a bit of a pain, but easy to get round – simply reopen BBC Switch Myths in a new tab or window.)
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Myths and Legends - http://myths.e2bn.org/
Key Stages 1, 2 and 3
mere three miles from where I’m sat now, while six miles away, a ‘wine snob’ ghost named ‘Corky’ lurks deep in the
cellars of an old pub, smashing bottles of wine he doesn’t approve of. There are so many articles on this site, school
children from all over Britain can find some kind of ‘mystery’ near their school or home – a really fun activity to get
kids interested in learning more about their town’s history, as well as legends and folklore in general.
Navigation takes some getting used to, and some of the creepier tales might not be for younger or more sensitive
children, but on the whole, Mysterious Britain is a good website with lots of information about myths and legends
students might not have come across before. It’s perfect for individual research, but takes a bit of wading through
to find the real gems.
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Mythman - http://www.mythman.com/
Key Stages 3, 4 and 5
The Mythman greets visitors to his site with a wide grin, a lot of bicep flexing and the declaration
that the gods have guided you to the right place – and to his credit, this site is a great resource
for any student looking for information on Greek mythology.
Enter the homework help section and you’ll find over 200 pages of information, all nicely
separated into seven categories – Major Olympians, minor gods, Greek heroes, love stories,
beasts and creatures, modern allusions and assorted others. In each section, you’ll find detailed
information pages along with pictures and links to other pages within the site, or to other
websites the Mythman recommends visiting.
As well as the usual information on gods, heroes and beasts, there are quite a few pages that are just a little bit
different. For teachers, there’s an interesting introduction to mythology and its wider meaning, which might be
quite nice to use with older students. There’s also another really fascinating page on the end of Greek mythology,
with the ‘death’ of the Olympian gods and the birth of Christianity. The modern allusions page is also worth a look
– it demonstrates how mythology has had influence on words, expressions, company/group names, literature and
pop culture. In fact, the whole site makes it clear that mythology is still very relevant even today – this could be
a great way for teachers to persuade any students reluctant to believe stories from thousands of years ago have
relevance to our lives now.
Other resources on this site include a pronunciation guide, the Greek alphabet and the gods’ names in their
original Greek, a selection of myth trivia quizzes and a gallery of mythological images.
Students might also enjoy taking a look at the Myth of the Month section of this site. Every month, the Mythman
(who incidentally claims to be related to most of the Greek gods) uploads either a retelling of a Greek myth, or a
selection of myths surrounding a certain deity or hero. These are conversational in tone and amusing to read, but
rather long – the amount of text on the page, even with the nice accompanying images, is rather daunting.
Overall though, there’s some really good information on this site and the Mythman generally keeps it informal
and engaging. There are also some really great pictures, making this site an excellent resource for research projects
on any aspect of Greek mythology.
History.com - http://www.history.com/topics/greek-mythology
Key Stages 3, 4 and 5
A brilliant site for older students, the mythology section of History.com is all about
where history and legends collide. On the Greek mythology page (see link), you’ll
find a few relatively brief paragraphs on the sources of Greek mythology, the
Olympian gods, heroes and monsters, and mythology in the past and present.
It’s all very useful and informative, but compared to some of the other sites, a
little lack lustre. Luckily for teachers though, History.com has some outstanding
video and interactive resources that more than make up for it!
Highlights include a crash course in the main Greek gods (a brilliant animation
set to suitably dramatic music), the discovery of what archaeologists thought
could be the Minotaur’s labyrinth beneath the island of Crete, and the story of Hercules and his 12 labours. These
videos are all really interesting, and generally very engaging, but some at times, can be quite intense. I wouldn’t
suggest showing any except the Greek god crash course to younger children.
There are also plenty of videos and information pages on this site about legends such as Robin Hood and King
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Arthur. There’s even a video about the truth behind vampire myths. You’ll need to use the search tool though, as
these pages are scattered across the whole site. Other interesting resources on this site include the myth versus
reality page, an interactive map tool which focuses on 17 myths/mysteries from around the world, including
Mexico’s crystal skulls, the lost city of Troy and South America’s legendary El dorado, and a section dedicated to
the American TV programme Monsterquest. This is a collection of CGI video clips and fact files investigating the
veracity of legendary monsters from around the world – perfect for more visual learners.
There’s a lot more to this site than originally meets the eye and some fantastic resources but it does take a bit
of a rummage as it’s not the easiest site to navigate.
Maisie Gould
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