Download Midterm Exam SupplementMyth and Folktale

Midterm Exam Supplement: Myth Archetypes and Epic Heroes
Cherokee Creation Myth
Long ago, before there were any people, the earth was a great island
floating in a sea of water, suspended by four cords hanging down from the
sky vault, which was made of solid rock. It was dark and the animals
could not see, so they got the sun and set it in a track to go across the
island every day from east to west, just overhead.
The Creator told the animals and plants to stay awake for seven nights.
But only a few of the animals were able to, including owls and panthers,
and they were rewarded with the power to go about in the dark. Among
the plants, only the cedars, pines, spruces, and laurels stayed awake, so
they were allowed to remain green year-round and to provide the best
medicines. The Creator chided the other trees: "Because you have not
endured to the end, you shall lose your hair every winter."
People appeared last, after the animals, the sun, and the plants, but they
multiplied so quickly that they threatened to overrun the world. So it was
decided that each woman would have only one child a year, and it has
been that way ever since.
Greek Hero Myth: Perseus
Perseus was the son of Zeus and the princess Danae, daughter of the mythical king of Argos
Acrisius. According to a prophecy, Danae's child would be so strong that would kill the king of
Argos- so Arcisius decided to imprison his daughter in a dungeon to prevent any man from
approaching her. But Zeus, the king of the gods, had fallen so madly in love with Danae and
transformed himself into a shower of golden rain and penetrated into the dungeon.
Danae and Zeus gave birth to a child and called him Perseus and Arcisius put Danae and her son
in a chest of wood and threw them into the sea. The wind guided them to Seriphos where the
fisherman Polydectys discovered them and offered them hospitality. Perseus was raised up
secretly in the island of Seriphos and soon became a very strong and courageous man- so, time
had come for Perseus to be challenged on a very dangerous feat: the feat of delivering the head
of the gorgon Medusa.
The Gorgon Medusa was a monstrous, yet mortal creature with glorious hair that had the power
to turn anyone who looked at her into stone. Messenger of the gods Hermes borrowed Perseus
his winged shoes and Athena borrowed her shield, and with these weapons Perseus succeeded in
defeating the Medusa.
On his way back to Seriphos, Perseus fell in love with Andromeda of Aethiopia and they
married. Together, they went to city of Larissa, where the funeral games were being held, and
Perseus participated. But while he was while competing in a game, he threw the discus so far, it
went out of his and struck his grandfather Acrisius fatally, fulfilling this way the prophecy once
been told.
Struck by fate, Perseus founded the city of Mycenae in a small distance from the city of his
grandfather.