Download Greek Myths and Legends - Courthouse Junior School

Contents
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Introduction
Odysseus's Quest
Echo and Narcissus
The Life of Achilles
The Birth of the Gods
The Minotaur
Jason and the Argonauts
Bibliography
Conclusion
Why I Chose This Topic
I chose this topic because Greek Myths are fun to read with all the gods and
heroes. I enjoy the action, the magic and adventure of these ancient
Zeus
Hera
stories.
Apollo
Aphrodite
Pan
Athena
Hephaestus
Hermes
Ares
Artemis
Demeter
Dionysus
Poseidon
1: The Cyclops.
“Lets stop here” said Odysseus. There was a large cave with lots of cattle inside but this cave was the dwelling of Polyphemus, a Cyclops (a giant with one
eye). The moment they went inside the Cyclops emerged and without a word he grabbed 2 men and swallowed them whole. Thinking quickly,
Odysseus got his wine and offered some to Polyphemus. “ Thank you, who are you?” said the Cyclops “My name is Nobody” replied Odysseus. “Give
me more wine” said the giant. So when the Cyclops drank all the wine he fell asleep for the wine was very potent. Odysseus seized his staff, lit it with
fire and plunged it into Polyphemus’s eye. Odysseus sailed triumphantly away. Meanwhile the Cyclops howled in pain. “Are you hurt” called his
brothers. “ Nobody hurt me” Polyphemus roared “Good” said the brothers.
2:The Bag of Winds.
The fleet of ships sailed to an island where a man called “I am the king of winds, come here and rest”. Odysseus and his men moored their boats and
climbed on shore. When they left the king said “Take this bag of winds. Boreas, Zephyrus and Eurus are in there. Open it when you get home”. “I will”
promised Odysseus. When Odysseus was asleep one of the men was so curious he opened the bag. There was a blast of wind. Boreas, Zephyrus and
Eurus blasted the man who was blown high and fell in the sea.
3: Circe the Sorceress.
The winds were so fierce they blew the men to an island. “Are you hungry? Come here and eat” said a voice as sweet as honey. All the men ran to the table
and began to eat. Now this woman was a witch called Circe. Circe had poisoned the food and it was working. The men grew pinker, their noses wider
until they turned into pigs. Odysseus met a boy when he woke. “Follow me” he said. He led Odysseus to a flower with stark white petals and jet black
roots. “ It’s the Moly flower” said Odysseus. “Eat it” said the boy “ It will make you immune to Circe’s magic”. So Odysseus ate the flower and fled to
Circe’s home. He ate and drank gratefully and got his sword and Circe’s neck. “Spare me, I’m only a feeble woman” pleaded Circe. “You’re not feeble,
return my friends to normal” shouted Odysseus “Very well” scoffed Circe. She took some ointment, rubbed it on the pigs back and they returned.
4: Mysteries and Dangers at Sea.
Odysseus and his men were in sight of home, when beautiful voices reached their ears. These voices belonged to Sirens, who Odysseus had heard of by
their luring death song. The men put beeswax in their ears and tied Odysseus to the mast. When the Sirens were out of earshot the beeswax was out
and Odysseus was free but then a giant whirlpool named Charybdis came out of nowhere and on the cliff beside them was Scylla a sea monster who
had just eaten some men. Odysseus helped row the boats until were back home in Ithaca.
Fun facts about Odysseus
• Odysseus was the main character in Homer’s The Odyssey
• The Odyssey is considered to be one of the oldest and first stories ever
written down in western culture.
• He is known in the Roman culture as Ulysses
• “Greeks ‘discover Odysseus’ palace in Ithaca, proving Homer’s hero was
real” The Telegraph, August 2010
Echo was a Nymph and a terrible chatterbox. One day she met Hera who was looking for Zeus.
When she asked Echo she started babbling away until Hera was so annoyed she cursed Echo
to repeat everything people say. The next morning Echo saw a young man called Narcissus.
He rather vain and when he said “What do you want” Echo could only say “Want you want
you” “Of course you do, I’m Narcissus!” Narcissus was thirsty so he went to a pool where the
sun was shining over it.
When he drank, his reflection looked like it was kissing him. He blushed. Narcissus had fallen head
over heels with his reflection so badly he could only look. He looked so long he dwindled into
nothing. As for Echo, she dissolved until her voice only remained.
Fun facts about Echo and Narcissus
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Echo and Narcissus is from a chapter in Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
The word Narcissism, which means to be vain, comes from this Greek myth.
In the Harry Potter saga, Draco Malfoy’s mother is called Narcissa after Narcissus,
“her name serves as representative for the attitude of the entire family”.
Mythweb.com
The Life of Achilles
When Peleus got married to Thetis the sea goddess they had a baby. They named him Achilles. The next day
Peleus woke to an empty bed, so he got up and saw Thetis dangling Achilles over a fire by the heel! “What
are you doing?! yelled Peleus. ”I’m making him safe” said Thetis, indignantly “If I burn the human side off
Achilles he’ll be just god, but he’s going to have weak heels forever” “You’re burning my side out of our
son!” As the years went by Achilles grew into a big, strong teenager. “I’ll arrange old Cheiron to teach you”
said his father “Who’s that” asked Achilles “A centaur”. So Achilles went to the woods and at Cheiron’s
clearing Achilles met another teenager called Patroclus. “ ‘Allo” said Patroclus “Hello” said Achilles “What
are you doing here” asked Patroclus “I’m one of Cheiron’s pupils” replied Achilles “ Come ‘ere” said a deep
voice. It was Cheiron.
The kind old centaur taught them to fire arrows, wield swords and shields and more. Meanwhile, man named
Paris had stolen Helen of Sparta who became Helen of Troy. The Trojan war began. The Greeks fought
bravely with Achilles on their side, but when Nyx drove her night chariot across the sky both sides had a
rest. The next day Paris turned up holding Patroclus who was stone dead. In retaliation Achilles killed the
Trojan prince Hector. The final day of the Trojan war Achilles met Helen and Paris. “ Is this the little prince
who stole Helen of Sparta?” asked Achilles mockingly “ You mean Helen of Troy!” retorted Paris. As he
spoke he shot an arrow at Achilles, but it swooped low and rested deep in Achilles' heel. Achilles let out an
agonising scream and fell as dead as a doorknob. The war softened a little when Odysseus came up with
an idea but that’s another story…
Fun facts about Achilles
• Achilles was the main character in
Homer’s Iliad, the very first example of
western literature.
• The saying about having an Achilles’ heel
means to have one great weakness. This
saying originated with this Greek myth.
• The Greeks did win the war but have you
wondered who the gods came to be?
Wonder no more!
The Birth of the Gods
Once there was nothing {chaos} but then the earth came to existence. The Earth was called Gaia, she had a curved shaped body
and a warm heart. A moment later the sky appeared. He was called Uranus, and he was very handsome and loved Gaia so
much they had children.
They called their first children Cronus, Rhea, Hyperion, Crius, Coeus, Iapetos, Oceanus, Tethys, Mnemosyne, Themis, Theia,
Phoebe, Eos, Selene, Helios, Prometheus, Epimetheus and Atlas . Then Gaia gave birth to three Cyclopes. Then she gave
birth to two beasts with fifty heads and one hundred hands. Uranus couldn’t bear the sight of them and pushed them inside
Gaia. Gaia wept rivers of tears and Uranus regretted hurting Gaia he cried and cried.
Gaia decided to call the Titans together to rebel against Uranus. Cronus said “ I’ll do it, just tell me how” “ Climb the highest
mountain” replied Gaia. When Cronus got to the peak a sickle immediately appeared in his hand. “ It’s made of adamant the
hardest part of me” said Gaia “ It is the only thing you could do harm to your father, oh Uranus!”
Cronus hit the sky with all his might. Uranus’ gasp of pain rang through the universe and frightened everything. “ You will soon be
deposed too… “ were Uranus’ last words. Cronus married Rhea and had a child but Cronus swallowed it. The same thing
happened with the next and the next and the next and so on but not the last child. Rhea cradled him in her arms and
replaced he son with a boulder for Cronus to swallow. Rhea called the baby Zeus.
She took him to a cave and told some Oread nymphs to take care of him. Zeus was so powerful his cries shook the the world but
the nymphs caught the noise in soft clouds. When Zeus grew up he went to his fathers house. He burst into the home and
punched Cronus in the stomach . “ Times up father” he said. Cronus was banished forever and Zeus and Hades{ his brother}
freed the Cyclopes and the hundred- handers. The Cyclopes were so grateful he gave Zeus thunderbolts and Hades a helmet
of invisibility. The gods ruled.
Fun facts about the Gods
• You can find lots of Greek mythology in the Harry Potter stories for
example there are centaurs, many of the teachers are named after
Greek/Roman gods for example Sibyll Trelawney (after the oracle),
Argus Filch is named after the never-sleeping-hundred-eyed
watchman, Minerva McGonagall is named after the Roman version
of the war goddess Athena.
The Minotaur
Poseidon was in a playful mood so he bewitched queen Pasiphae of Crete to fall in
love with a bull {which is very unusual}. Pasiphae and the bull’s relationship did not
work out because their baby was a horror. It was a man-eating monster. It had the
body of a man and a head of a bull. King Minos called this beast a minotaur. He
asked his inventor Daedelus to build a maze to hide it. “I call it the Labyrinth” said
Daedelus proudly. Athenians were fed to the minotaur every year. “Why do our
people go to Crete but never return?” asked Theseus {prince of Athens} “A
monster eats them” sighed King Aegeus “I’ll kill it” ”Change your sails from black to
white so I know you’re alive”.
Theseus went into the maze with the others. He wondered through the maze when he
touched a man with red eyes. It wasn’t a man, it was the minotaur. Theseus
plunged his sword into the monster’s stomach and blood seeped onto the floor.
Ariadne the king’s daughter had given Theseus a ball of string to find his way back
and he did. In his rush to get home he forgot to change the sails. King Aegeus was
distraught. He flung himself into the sea and drowned. The very sea was named
the Aegean sea in his honour.
Fun Facts about the Minotaur
• Strengths: very strong,
sharp horns, constantly
hungry for human flesh
• Weakness: not very
bright, a bit top heavy,
angry, might get lost in
his own maze.
Jason and the Argonauts
King Pelias felt uneasy as a young man with one sandal stood in front of him. “What are you doing here?
Who are you?” spat Pelias. “I have come to claim my throne" replied the youth “YOU! Bring me the
golden fleece of Aries and you can take my place!” yelled the king.
This youth was named Jason and he set of to King Colchis’ island. The trip was rough when they got to
the Clashing Rocks but calmed down when they reached Harpy island. There was a man on this
island weeping. “Who are you?” asked Jason “I’m king Phineus of Thrace” said the blind man.
“Come here” said Zetes{ an Argonaut } helping Phineus onto the Argo.
When he got there he met Colchis. “I’ve come to get the golden fleece of Aries” he said. “P-p-plant
these teeth” stuttered the king. Jason did so and four soldiers came shooting through the earth.
Jason fought bravely and went to bed.
For dinner he had wine and sheep but a girl with long black hair whisked him upstairs. “Do not eat the
food" she said “It is poisoned” she added “ Th-thank you um…” Jason faltered. “Medea” said the
girl.
The next day Jason {in secret} went to the tree where the fleece was but an awake dragon was guarding
it. Medea gave the dragon the wine and it died. Jason grabbed the fleece and bought it to king
Pelias.
Fun facts about Jason & the Argonauts
• Jason’s story has
been popular, and
has been made into
many movies and TV
series and comic
books. Which is one
of the reasons I
picked this myth.
Bibliography
• Usborne Book of Greek Myths. Author and Editor
Anna Milbourne and Louie Stowell, Illustrated by
Simona Bursi, Elena Temporin and Petra Brown
• Wikipedia
• The Telegraph, UK
• Mythweb.com
• Stories Don’t Care blog: The use of mythology in
Harry Potter
Conclusion
• I learned that the Iliad and the Odyssey were
the first two stories ever written down and the
Iliad was basically the story of the Trojan War.
• I learned that there is lots of Greek mythology
used in Harry Potter.
• I learned how to create arrows and text boxes
and make colourful text.