LESSON 1: Introduction to Greek Mythology

Learning objective:
To understand the features of a Greek Myth
To describe the mythology of the Ancient Greeks
Lesson 2: Pandora’s Box

Learning Objective: To create a possible

ending for a story
Once up a time, a long time ago, there were two brothers named Epimetheus and
Prometheus. They were good gods. They had good hearts. They were good friends.
One day, Prometheus got in trouble with Zeus. Because he had a kind heart,
Prometheus gave man fire. Zeus was furious. Zeus had announced that man did not
deserve fire. Prometheus had ignored him. As punishment, Zeus chained Prometheus
to a rock for many years. Then Zeus went after his brother, the gentle, kind-hearted
Epimetheus.
Zeus ordered the gods' handyman, the maker of
things - Hephaestus - to make Zeus a daughter.
Hephaestus made a woman out of clay, a beautiful
woman. He brought her to life, and then brought
her to Zeus. Zeus named his lovely new daughter
Pandora.
Zeus knew that Epimetheus was lonely. Zeus gave
Pandora in marriage to the good hearted
Epimetheus. The couple lived very happily
together, until one day the god Hermes arrived,
carrying a magnificent box. Hermes wouldn't tell
them what the box contained but only that it had
to remain sealed forever. He asked the couple if he
could leave the box with them until he returned
from his journey, and they agreed.
Pandora was very curious about the contents of the box but she had
promised Hermes she would never open it. Pandora could not stop
gazing at the box. All she could think about was its contents. She
began to imagine that it contained beautiful gowns or exquisite
jewellery, or even money!
When Pandora knew Epimetheus was out of sight, she would untie
the heavy gold cords that kept the box securely fastened, and run her
fingers over the carved woodwork. She longed to give in to
temptation and open the box, but she always re-tied the cords and
returned the box to its shelf.
However, one day Pandora's curiosity got the better of her and she
grabbed the box and pulled at the gold cord and knots. But to her
surprise when she lifted the heavy lid there was no gleam of gold or
treasure, and not one beautiful dress!
What happens next?

In your table groups create a small play which shows what you
think happens next in the myth of Pandora’s Box
HW:
Write up your possible ending for the story of Pandora’s
Box

Lower English task: Create/Draw an image and

annotate what happens. Monsters
came out of
the box

Pandora opened the

box
Lesson 3: Empathy

Learning objective: To learn how

to empathise with characters
 What does empathy mean?
Dictionary Dash!

● Empathy: The ability to understand and share the

feelings of other people.
Instead the gods had packed the box full of all the terrible evils they could think
of. Out of the box poured disease, misery and death, all shaped like tiny buzzing
moths. The creatures stung Pandora over and over again and she slammed the
lid shut. Epimetheus ran into the room to see why she was crying in pain.
Pandora could still hear a voice calling to her from the box, pleading with her to
be let out. Epimetheus agreed that nothing inside the box could be worse than
the horrors that had already been released, so they opened the lid once more.
All that remained in the box was Hope. It fluttered from the box like a beautiful
dragonfly, touching the wounds created by the evil creatures, and healing them.
Even though Pandora had released pain and suffering upon the world, she had
also allowed Hope to follow them.
How might Pandora might be feeling after opening the box and why?

In table groups brainstorm how Pandora might be feeling after

opening the box and letting Disease, Misery and Death free.

Pandora’s
Emotions

Why is she feeling these emotions?

Task: Write a diary entry explaining what happens to
Pandora and how she is might be feeling.
* Who are you? * How are you going to set out
your diary?
-Dear diary, .... from me
* What has happened? Pick 3 events -Days underlined
1) -Both

2) *Time connectives I will use

Then, after, last week, yesterday,

3)

* How do you feel?

Event Feeling Adjective(s)

 Writing frame for lower ability English
Time connectives: a few seconds, last
week, tomorrow, then, after.
Dear Diary

Today I have done something terrible (write here a brief

description of the story)

I feel (write here how you think Pandora might be feeling)

Then my husband Epimetheus and I heard a small voice

from the box. It was hope. (write here what happens next)

I feel (write here how PandoraEvent

is feeling now)
Feeling Adjective(s)

She opens the Guilty

box
lesson 4 – Reasons that myths exist

Learning objective: To explore the reasons that Greek myths exist

Persephone and the pomegranate seeds

Persephone and the pomegranate seeds

Characters What happens: Bullet

points
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What is the myth explaining
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Complete the Sheet
Plenary Activity:

Should: write a summary about why myths exist

Could: give examples of myths to support their ideas about
why myths exist
Might: Find extra examples to support this your through own
research
 Lesson 5: Echo and Narcissus
Learning objective: To be able to summarise the myth Echo and Narcissus
Lesson 5: Echo and Narcissus

Learning objective:
Discuss the purpose of the gods in Myths
Create a gods glossary
Understand and use new vocabulary
Identify a theme
Identify evidence to support a theme
why gods might exist
in myths – what
purpose do they
serve?
Hestia was the
goddess of the
hearth, family,
and domestic
life.
Echo and
Narcissus
Class reading

Completing activities down

the left hand side of the
pages
Zeus makes
Hera Jealous

“Hera
however was
jealous, and
often came to
see what he
was doing.”
Lesson 6: Medusa

Learning objective: To consider what makes an effective villain or monster.

Review use of adjectives
Watch the video of medusa
 Work in pairs and write your own definitions of the word ‘villain’ and ‘monster’. Then
choose three adjectives which could be used to describe a typical villain or monster.

Monster/Villain
adjectives
Adjective revision sheet: What order?
Complete the worksheet
Perseus and the Gorgan Head Text
The Oracle
King Acrisius of Argos was warned
by an oracle that he would be killed
in time by a son born to his daughter
Danae. So he promptly locked Danae
up in a tower. But the god Zeus got in, disguised as a shower
of gold and Perseus was born. So Acrisius straightaway stuck
daughter and infant into a chest and pushed it out to sea.
Perhaps he expected it to sink like a stone, but instead it
floated quite nicely and ended up on a beach on the island of
Seriphos.
Trouble
Here a fisherman named Dictys discovered the chest
and looked after it. Perseus had a good role model as
he grew up to be a young man. One day Dictys's
brother, who was the king there, fell in love with Danae.
"You leave my mother alone,"
insisted Perseus, clenching
his fists for he knew what
a cruel and evil man the
king was.
The Challenge
Danae refused to marry the king but he would not
leave her alone. He was trying to force her to marry
him, by pretending to marry another woman. When
Perseus turned up at the wedding without a wedding
present, Polydectes scorned him for being a lazy good-
for-nothing. Perseus reacted furiously, boasting that he
could get anything in the world that the king wanted;
the king demanded the
head of a Gorgon. Perseus recoiled
in horror, but accepted the
challenge, impossible though it
seemed. The king had succeeded
in getting rid of Perseus. He
thought Perseus would never return.
The Gorgons
There were three Gorgons: Medusa, Stheno and
Euryate. All had once been very beautiful women
but unfortunately they had since been turned into
hideous monsters with bronze wings, claw-like
hands, tusks for teeth, and live snakes for hair.
Anyone who looked into
their eyes would be turned
to stone forever.
Perseus knew that he would probably
die trying to get the Gorgon's head,
but he had to try for his mother's sake.
As he left the king, he was surprised by
two figures suddenly appearing before
him. It was Athena, Goddess of Wisdom,
and Hermes, Messenger of the Gods.
They brought him five gifts from his
father, Zeus, and advised him to travel north until he came to the
sea, and then to seek help from the 3 sisters of the Gorgons.
They disappeared again, and he looked at the gifts: a sharp
sickle, a bright polished shield, a cap, a bag to hang from his
shoulder, and winged sandals. Perseus was much happier now,
especially when he found that the cap made him invisible and
the sandals made him fly. With such help from the Gods he
could not fail in his task.
The Graeae (the 3 sisters of the Gorgans)
Perseus flew north toward the sea. When he came to the
shore of a dark, misty sea he did not know where to find the
Gorgons. He saw the Graeae on the beach below and
stopped to talk to them. They were old and very ugly with
just one tooth and one eye to share between them. They
were the only people who knew where to find the Gorgons,
but they would not tell Perseus. He flew away, put on his
cap, then hovered above them until they were passing the
tooth and the eye between each other.
He flew down, snatched the tooth and
eye, and threatened to throw them into
the sea unless they gave him the
information. They finally gave in so
Perseus flew on toward the Gorgons.
The Gorgans’ Lair
As Perseus entered the lair, he saw all around him figures of
stone men and animals, all killed by one look into the Gorgon's
eyes. He approached quietly and found the sisters asleep. He
was able to look on them safely. The snakes were awake and
were writhing and hissing at him. Fearing that they would wake
and open their eyes, he used the bronze shield as a mirror
and cut off the head of the nearest sister, Medusa. He grabbed
her head, put it in his bag, and quickly flew off before the
others could catch him.
The Journey Home
As he flew past an island on the way back to Seriphos,
Perseus saw a girl standing chained to a rock. He stopped to
help her and found out that Poseidon had sent a sea monster
to terrorise the islands as a punishment for Andomeda's
mother boasting that her daughter was more beautiful than the
sea nymphs. The only way to stop the monster was
Andromeda's sacrifice. As Perseus prepared to rescue her, the
monster appeared. He took the Gorgon's head out of the bag
and held it behind him, facing the monster. It was
immediately turned
to stone. He took
Andromeda back
to Seriphos to
be his wife.
 The Banquet
When they arrived back at Seriphos, Perseus went
straight to the palace. Polydectes was in the middle of
a feast and obviously had not expected to see Perseus
again. The king did not believe that he had managed to
bring back the head of a Gorgon.
 Perseus took the head out of the bag and
showed them. They all turned to stone.
Danae was left in peace, as the king had
not been able to force her to marry him. Perseus
gave back the gifts of the gods and made Athena a present of
the Gorgon's head, as thanks for her help. Perseus and
Andromeda had many
children and became the great-grandparents of Heracles.
Create your own monster

Image

Creatures name

Creatures parents

Special Powers

Physical Appearance

Background /History
Learning Objectives:

Identify key elements of Greek

mythology

Write your own Greek myth

 Your Task: Write an original nature myth
that explains a natural phenomenon. In
addition to explaining a natural event, your
myth must include the accurate depiction of
one of the Olympian Gods.
Some Elements of Classical Greek Myth
 Explains a natural phenomenon or creation of
something
 Depicts a struggle between good and evil characters
 Show a relationship between mortals and the
supernatural
 Sometimes depicts a hero’s quest to accomplish a great
feat
 Olympian Influence
Ancient Greek myths are powered by the Greek gods. Their desires and
actions were the reasons for everything that happened in myth. Their
relationships and powers created the tension and excitement that make
the myths fun to read. For each myth we read, take note of the influence
of each Olympian god and goddess involved. For each god, write down
what he/she wanted and/ or how he/ she used his/ her domain and
powers to make that happen. How did the action of each god reflect
his/her personality and power?

Each group must complete the section

for their given myth and then feed back
what they have written to the class
Consider Myths
Complete the worksheet
We are going to vote for the best four
stories: In your group you will be assigned
a story to turn into a radio play:

What to do

Identify the characters

Identify the key moments

Write a script

Assign characters and narrators

Practice your scripts

Can you add music/sound effects

Record