First Activity_____________________Second Activity

It is important to learn about the origins of Greek mythology before you start looking at the characters involved in it. Click HERE to go to the Greek Mythology page's discussion of the origins of Greek mythology.

Use the sites given below to learn about the gods, heroes, and monsters of Greek mythology. Choose two gods/goddesses, two heroes and one monster from this list:

Once you have chosen a character look them up on at least two of the sites below (you may only be able to find one site for some monsters). Use the following criteria when researching the characters:

Questions for Gods/Goddesses:

What is the god/goddess in charge of?

Who is the god/goddess related to? (parents, husbands, wives, and children)

How are they represented in the images you have seen of them?

Describe one of the stories/myths that exists about the god/goddess.

What are two other interesting points about the god/goddess that you have found?

Compare the information you learned from the two different sites? Are there any differences?

Questions for Heroes?

Why are they famous?

What are some of their adventures?

Who did they fight?

Who were their enemies?

How did they die?

Compare the information you learned from the two different sites? Are there any differences?

Questions for Monsters?

What do they look like?

What are they known for?

Who killed them? (if they were killed)

Compare the information you learned from the two different sites (if possible)? Are there any differences?

Greek Mythology Link - This site covers many of the characters in Greek mythology.

Under the:

Major Divinities category you will find Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Athena, Hades, Hera, Hermes, and Zeus.

Immortals category you will find Achilles, Helen, Hercules, Medea, Odysseus, and Perseus.

Monsters category you will find Centaurs, Cyclops, Giants, Gorgons, Minotaurs, Sirens and the Sphinx.

Jason and the Argonauts is in the groups category.

Bulfinch's Mythology - This site is like a book in that it is broken into chapters. Each chapter discusses characters in Greek mythology.

Chapter 8 looks at Aphrodite (referred to as Venus -her Roman name) and Apollo.

Chapter 15 covers the Gorgons and Perseus.

Chapter 16 discusses Giants, the Sphinx, Pegasus and the Centaurs.

Chapter 17 is about the golden fleece, therefore Jason is included in this chapter. The hero Medea is also covered here.

Chapter 19 looks at Hercules.

Chapter 31 discusses the adventures of Aeneas.

The Portland State University's Greek Civilization page - The Greek Gods page in this site covers what it considers to be the six major gods and five main heroes in Greek mythology. The five gods and goddesses mentioned that you need are Apollo, Ares, Athena, Hera, and Zeus. The five heroes discussed here are Achilles, Aeneas, Hercules, Odysseus, and Perseus.

Mythweb - is a relatively small site but it has excellent information on Hercules, Jason, and Odysseus.

Encyclopedia Mythica - This wonderful source has information on all types of mythology Roman, Greek, Norse, Aztec, Chinese, Egyptian, etc.

The Greek Mythology page - has a scrollable column on the left hand side which lists all the gods/goddesses in alphabetical order. Simply choose the letter you want from the alphabet at the bottom of the right hand section and then scroll down to the god or goddess you are interested in. All of the gods/goddesses you may need are listed here.

The Greek Heroic Legend page - is laid out like the Greek mythology page and covers the Greek heroes Achilles, Helen, Hercules, Jason, Medea, Odysseus, and Perseus.

Greek Mythology: From the Iliad to the Fall of the last Tyrant - This site has a list and discussion of the immortals in Greek mythology on its Immortals page. On the Immortals page you will find the gods/goddesses: Aphrodite, Ares, Apollo, Athene (Athena), Hades, Hera, Hermes, and Zeus. The heroes Hercules (Herakles) and Odysseus are also on the Immortals page. Finally, the Gorgons from the monsters category are discussed here.

~Choose one of the characters that you researched and write a summary of what you have learned about them.

~Tell the story of a chosen character to your class.

~Act out a scene from a myth with a partner or two.

~Write in role as a god, goddess, hero or monster that you researched. Describe what a day was like for one of these characters.

While some myths are based on fact, most are purely fictitious. Now it is your turn to create a myth. You may create a myth based on an event that has happened in your life or you can simply create the myth using your imagination. The main character of your myth can be you or a famous person. Look at the myth of Hercules or Jason on the Mythweb site. Notice the sections of the myth, the types adventures the hero has and how the myth ends

Now decide if you are going the be/have a god, goddess, hero, or monster as the main character in your myth. Remember some of the details that you looked in the myths in the first activity and in the Jason/Hercules myths on Mythweb. Go to it and have fun!

Extensions

~There are many myths in our history that are considered factual history by much of society. The stories of Robin Hood and King Arthur are two such stories. Find our how and when these myths were started and then take a poll of your friends and family to see how many think these tales are true stories. Share your results with your class.

~Present the myth you wrote to your class. You could either read it or act it out with a few friends.