Mythology: Review All that stuff we’ve been doing for the last week…

Mythology and Nature O Remember, the purpose of mythology was to explain the unexplainable. O There was no modern science or technology to inform people’s understanding of the world around them O The stories selected in the packets were favorites among the Greeks about 4000 years ago! O Asked “who” caused things to happen in nature, not “what”

Phaethon and the Desert

O Phaethon, son of Apollo and a nymph O He was being laughed at because no one believed Apollo was really his father O He wanted proof, and his mother said only Apollo could give him proof O So- he went to the East, to the Land of the Sunrise, to visit Apollo. O Apollo said he would grant Phaethon whatever request he might make to prove his devotion to his son…. O And of course, Phaethon wanted to drive the chariot that pulled the sun around the Earth.

O Apollo realized he had made too rash a decision, and tried to convince Phaethon that this was not a good idea! O But, like typical teenage boys, Phaethon insisted… O So, Apollo told him “Hold tight to the reigns” and also told him “Keep in the pathway; go neither too high nor too low” O Once Apollo gave the horses the signal to start, the horses realized that Apollo didn’t have the reins… O They left the well-worn ruts and veered out of control O Which made Phaethon panic, and forget everything his father said!!!

O The horses dashed too high, then too low! O The places where the sun got too close to Earth were scorched, creating the Earth’s deserts. O In order to save the world, Zeus had to intervene… he struck Phaethon with a thunder bolt, and Apollo quickly regained control of the chariot. O Phaethon fell dead to the Earth. O LESSON??

Persephone, Demeter and the Seasons

O Hades (Pluto) wanted a bride to share the duties of the Underworld. O One day, he saw Persephone (Proserpine) gathering some flowers with her friends. O He fell in love with her, and essentially kidnapped her. O Persephone was scared (obviously) and yelled out for her mother, Demeter O But Demeter wasn’t quick enough,and she watched as Hades took Persephone away O She didn’t know it, but he took Persephone down to the underworld….

O Demeter, the Goddess of the Harvest, became SUPER depressed… O And, consequently, the harvest suffered. O Grain withered, droughts and famine followed O Men hungered and died O BUT, Demeter finally figured out where her daughter was! O However, she couldn’t go to land of the dead… so she went to Zeus and begged him to intervene O Zeus felt bad for his sister, and so he told her he would restore Persephone to her as long as Persephone had not eaten anything in Hades.

O Meanwhile, in Hades, Persephone is also SUPER depressed… O She doesn’t smile, or eat O Desperate to get her to eat, Hades gives her a pomegranate. O Persephone ate six of the seeds. O When Hermes went to get Persephone from the Underworld, he found out she had eaten six seeds… O Based on the compromise Zeus had made, Persephone could not be returned to Demeter O So a compromise was reached… she would spend one month in the underworld for every seed she had eaten, and spend the rest of the time with Demeter on Earth.

O When Persephone is on Earth with Demter, Demeter is happy and attends diligently to her duties. O These six months make up Spring and Summer, when plants grow and bloom O The other six months, when Persephone is with Hades, Demeter is depressed, and grieves and mourns for her absent daughter O These six months make up Fall and Winter, when plants wither and die

Pandora and Trouble

O Prometheus and Epimetheus were responsible for making man and all the animals, skills, and abilities needed for their survival O Epimetheus made the animals, but Prometheus made man in the mirror image a god O Prometheus stole fire from the heaven to give to men, since Epimetheus had given all the gifts to animals O Zeus was MAD that Prometheus had given fire to man, because with fire in his possession, man might almost be a god…

O So, Prometheus was punished… O And Zeus decided to bring misery to mankind. O Prometheus feared Zeus would do this, so he warned his brother not to accept any gifts that Zeus may give him… O But Epimetheus ignored this advice and accepted Zeus’ gift of a bride. O The bride was a mortal woman, Pandora, and she was the sum of all virtues- charming, accomplished, and beautiful, but she was also curious. O Zeus gave Pandora a box, and warned her not to open it…

O She was happy as Epimethues’ wife, but she was always curious about the box she was not to open… O Until one day she couldn’t take it anymore! O She threw open the lid of the box, and out all kinds of misery to afflict mankind, such as envy, discontent, pain, anger, hunger, crime, plague, desolation, and illness. O She was very upset at what had happened, but she couldn’t undo it. O However, she did shut the lid before hope could escape, therefore, in spite of all the bad things in the world, there will always be hope!