She Speaks: Teacher Pack
Honor Cargill-Martin shares some classroom activities and lesson ideas, all inspired by her brand-new book, She Speaks: The Women of Greek Myths in Their Own Words.
From creating your own island to retelling a myth from different perspectives, Honor’s classroom activities will be sure to create some interesting discussions!
Mythological Maps
The ancient Greeks came up with a whole new world to accompany their mythology. It was based on where they lived in the Mediterranean, but it also included magical and mythical elements.
Read the description of Circe’s island Aeaea and imagine your own mythological island. It can be as realistic or as extraordinary as you like. Answer the following questions then draw a map of your island.
What is your island called?
How is your island reached?
What are the things your island needs for people to survive there?
Describe the weather on your island.
Describe the landscape of your island.
What sort of plants live on your island?
What sort of animals live on your island?
What sort of people live on your island?
Are there any dangers on your island that visitors should be aware of?
Draw a map of your mythological island.
The Pictures on Pandora’s Jar
The myths were everywhere in the ancient Greek world. They were told in writing through poems, plays and stories, but also through pictures on vases – like the one Zeus gives Pandora – in sculptures and in wall paintings. These images were important because they meant that even people who couldn’t read or write were able to understand the myths, making these stories a part of everyday life in ancient Greece.
Ancient Athenian vase painters were famous throughout the ancient world – partly because they were able to use the surface of their vases to tell entire mythological stories. Different scenes from the myth might be shown on the front and back of the vase, or in different horizontal bands known as registers. Mythological characters were distinguished by what they were wearing or sometimes by written labels. In telling complicated stories through a series of pictures, vases were almost like an ancient Greek equivalent of graphic novels.
Choose one of the myths and design the vase below to tell the story.
[Two outlines of the shape of a volute-krater – representing the front and back – that kids can draw on, example below]
This type of vase is called a volute-krater. It was used for mixing wine and water at banquets. Because volute-kraters were made for elite social events, they were often covered with detailed scenes from mythology.
Expressive Epithets
Ancient Greek poets often used short phrases called ‘epithets’ to describe characters and gods in their mythology. Epithets emphasised a character’s key traits and would be repeated over and over again until they were instantly recognisable. Important people often had more than one epithet associated with them. Here are some examples:
Achilles:
Swift-footed Achilles
Lion-hearted Achilles
Like-to-the-gods
Odysseus:
Man-of-twists-and-turns
Mastermind-of-war
Cunning Odysseus
Athena:
Gray-eyed Athena
Whose-shield-is-thunder
Tireless-one
Read the story of Medusa and identify a key trait for each of the following characters. Now come up with some epithets for each that reflect that trait. Think about including adjectives and imagery.
Medusa
Poseidon
Athena
The soldiers
The Titan Atlas
The Graiai
Sthenno
Euryale
A Thousand Points of View
The Greek myths have been told and retold many different times. Each writer chooses to focus on different characters and themes. In these versions, the writer has chosen to tell the stories from the point of view of women.
Your task is to choose one of the myths and retell it from the point of view of another character. For example, you might tell the story of Pandora from the point of view of Athena, or the story of Ariadne from the point of view of Theseus, or the story of Circe from the point of view of one of her nymphs.
Take a closer look at She Speaks: The Women of Greek Myths in Their Own Words.