Introduction
The Greeks believed the Olympians lived on the highest mountain in Greece, Mount Olympus.The Olympian gods included: Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Aphrodite, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Hades, Hermes, Hephaestus, Poseidon and Hestia or later she was replaced in some lists by Dionysus.
Task
Wall of Gods
A major aspect of Greek mythology has to do with understanding the Greek pantheon. This involves getting to know the names of the gods and goddesses, their characteristics and powers, the stories behind them, and how they all relate to one another. For this activity, you create a Mount Olympus in your classroom! Dedicate an entire wall or large bulletin board to becoming a wall of gods. Students can decorate the wall with paper mountains and clouds. Each time you encounter a new god or goddess in a story, assign a small group of students to make a large paper model of him or her. Assign other groups to create captions involving the god's back story, his major characteristics, powers and flaws, and how he relates to other gods in the pantheon. This wall will become a reference your students can refer to as they encounter more myths.
Process
- Become familiar with the 12 Olympians. These are the “main” gods/ goddesses and the subjects of most myths.
- Learn the origin story
- Study the myths involving Poseidon, Hades, and Zeus.
- Go to museums.
Evaluation
Students will work in small groups to write a script through a collaborative Google Doc. Each student is responsible for their own character creation and dialogue. Once the script starts to come together, students will have to draw a picture of the character they have created in their mind. Then, they will take a picture of it, upload it into Puppet Pals, and use it as a puppet in the digital myth they are creating as a team. Together, they will include all of the elements of a myth that they learned and practiced in class. Students will save the myth to their Google Drive to allow for easy access and sharing capabilities
Conclusion
- Understand the Greek view of creation.
- Understand the terms Chaos, Gaia, Uranus, Cronus, Zeus, Rhea, Hyperboreans, Ethiopia, Mediterranean, and Elysian Fields.
- Describe the Greek view of the world’s geography.
- Identify the names and key features of the Olympian gods/goddesses.
- Create their own god/goddess.
- Create their own myth explaining a natural phenomenon.