We had a wonderful first day in Greek Mythology: Myth to Modern Legend! Throughout this week, we will be focusing on course goals that revolve around the following questions:

We started our exploration by practicing the four ways of creative thinking (fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration) and brainstorming all of the things we could think of related to Greek mythology. This was a pre-assessment. How is corn connected to Greek Mythology? You’ll have to ask the Swirly Chair Empire to elaborate!

After defining the word “myth,” we analyzed popular symbols and discovered how prevalent mythical allusions are in modern culture. Connecting ancient mythology to modern-day allusions helped us understand the prevalence of mythology in our society. It’s all around us!  Once the students realized they were everywhere, they couldn’t stop sharing allusions, such as Nike shoes, Starbucks, and more. We also examined Bruegel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus to dive more deeply into Daedalus and Icarus and understand how myths shift based on perspective.  Students were divided into groups, and each group of students chose a perspective to illustrate. We reflected upon each poster pondering how the myth would have been different depending on how and where it was passed down. There was POWER in that painting! You’ll find some of the students’ interpretations below.

Some key takeaways from today include: myth and storytelling are all about perspective, interpretation and perspective are essential in myths that prevail across time, and myths are “alive” and constantly shifting.

Some dinner table questions: