Greek Myths

What Is a Myth?• A story written or told to answer a bigger

question or teach a moral is called a myth• Greek mythology had 2 basic functions:• Answer questions that were unanswerable

like how humans were created• Teach a moral or key value of Greek

culture

• The Greeks became famous for their myths and many are still around today or they led to words we still use today

Pandora opened a box she was not supposed to and

brought evil into the world. The moral

of the story was not to be to curious or meddle with things

you do not understand.

Narcissus was a man chasing a nymph who

saw his own reflection in a pool and thinking it to be the most beautiful thing in the world

stopped to stare and now cannot tear

himself away from the beautiful

reflection. The story was meant to teach Greeks the value of

humility.

King Midas was granted a wish by the gods and

chose to have everything he touched turn to gold

so that he could be rich. This created a problem though as he now could not eat or drink and he

eventually started turning his children into

gold. The story was meant to teach Greeks the value of nothing in

excess.

ILQWhat are examples of American

myths?

What were the gods like?• The most powerful Greek gods were

called the Olympians• They were led by Zeus and gained power

by overthrowing the Titans• The Olympians lived on Mount Olympus

where they looked and acted like humans except they were immortal and lived a lavish and beautiful lifestyle

What were the gods like?• Greek gods had regular emotions and

many myths stem from the urges that come from their emotions• Each god had an area of expertise that

he/she was the god of, this led to each god either performing a task or looking over an area of Greek life

The twelve Olympians

who lived on Mount

Olympus

Zeus was the god of

lightning and the leader of

the Olympians. According to mythology

Zeus had 94 children by 48 different

women.

Greek Gods Family Tree

ILQWhy don’t people still believe in the

Greek Gods?

Assignment1. By yourself or with a partner select a Greek God to give a presentation on

(presentations are tomorrow)

2. Sign up with Mr. Abel (first come first serve) for the Greek God of your choice

3. Put together a written 1-2 minute presentation which you will be turning this in after you present. You can either:

A. Write out your presentation

B. Type your presentation and share/email it to Mr. Abel

4. Include a picture (which you will also turn in) that you can get by either:A. Drawing your Greek God on a piece of paper. Be sure to include the God’s

name and any key symbols the God has.

B. Create a collage using the app Loupe Collage then share it or email it to Mr. Abel. Make sure the collage is in a shape that represents your God which you must explain as part of your presentation. (Example in Edcanvas)

*Do not plagiarize your report from Wikipedia or any other website. Any plagiarism will result in a zero for everyone involved in the presentation.