Mythology is a collection of character studies.
Zeus is the head god of
thunder and on high Olympus. He is jealous of his wife's lovers, yet
takes many paramours himself. He is quick to anger and quick to laugh.
He
loves strong men and pretty young women. He is the father of most of the
other gods. The objective of myths is to explain the characters of the
gods and goddesses that ancient cultures found important. The beauty of
studying mythology is the wide variety of characters and the many plots
that accompany them. As a result of the general plot summaries of the
myths, there are relatively few novels about the different gods and
goddesses; however, this gulf provides a wonderful opportunity for
students to engage in creative writing.
In addition to character studies, myths explain events that the ancient
peoples did not understand. There are many things that today's student
don't understand. Using myths as models, students could write explaining
modern day problems and miracles in mythic form. In their writing they
could address tough topics, like AIDS, and how some god could allow this
to happen.
So where does the teacher start? First, much information on mythology is
in large research volumes. Titles like Ye Gods! A Dictionary of the
Gods and the Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology have the
complete listings of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. Relatively few
students would be motivated to wade through all the research material
available to glean mythological information. A great place to start is
the Web! Just punching in MYTHOLOGY will bring up great selections from
different home pages. Visit Mythology of
Star Wars, a site that is sure to draw in the skeptics who
think life on Mt. Olympus is boring. The PBS move, The Hero's
Adventure also has a great section on Star Wars, a hero
adventure story with characters representing people from different
cultures. Luke Skywalker is the typical Greek hero battling the dragon
(or the Empire), and Obi Wan is a Japanese war hero who uses his mind
(the Force) to overcome his adversaries.
Multi-cultural mythology can begin on the web, too. Teachers can ask
students to find a god from the Norse mythology, a goddess from a the
Roman, a god from the Greek, deities from China, Japan and other nations.
From the resources available, students could collect gods and goddess from
around the globe. They can then select one and give a presentation to the
class. Their presentations could be as simple as a report or as elaborate
as a short story. Students could be encouraged to dress like the
god or goddess or talk like him or her.
Students might also read some good young adult literature. Most of them
are about the adventures of the heroes of the day. The King of Men
is about the young Agamemnon and his adventurous childhood. Students may
be confused over the pronunciation of names. The novel might be better as
a summation after the students have become familiar with the
characters.
In addition, there is the adventure novel, Jason and the Argonauts
by Bernard Evslin. Jason, in order to reclaim his throne, must retrieve
the golden fleece which is guarded by a dragon in a hostile land. He is
aided or hindered by various gods and goddesses who either love him or are
jealous of him.
A second field that could be brought in to help study mythology is
astronomy. The constellations were mostly named after gods and goddesses
and students could participate in a field trip to the planetarium in
conjunction with studying about who Orion really was and how he got up
into the sky.
There are also many children's books which contain one single myth. Many
of these books are wonderfully illustrated. The simple texts could be
used as examples of how to take one myth and expand it into a story.
Students could examine the children's books for how the author used
creativity to make the story vibrant. The students could examine the art
work and perhaps incorporate art into their own myths.
An example of using a myth creatively is the comic book "Calliope" from
the comic series Sandman. A young writer exploits the captured
Calliope to aid him in his writing. In the end she is rescued by one of
the seven diets who drives the writer insane. Adult themes such as rape
appear in the story as the writer rapes the captive Calliope in order to
establish dominance over her.
Mythology is a wonderful genre for teachers to use in conjunction with
multi-cultural studies, for creative writing projects and other curricular
uses. Teachers should be encouraged to use this genre to open their
students to the wonders of ancient beliefs and to give them the ability to
believe in themselves.
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