Summer SAVY, Session 5 Day 3, “From Myth to Modern Legend: Greek Mythology” (5th-6th)
This morning in Greek Mythology: Myth to Modern Legend, we picked up where we left off by reviewing the Hero’s Journey and creating our own hero stories in groups. Then we turned our attention to a study of Hercules, the most famous Greek hero in the canon. After studying the original myth, we watched short clips from Disney’s animated film to identify key differences and understand why those differences occur. After finishing our Socratic-style seminar, students split into groups and created their own “deleted scene” to make the film more accurate to the original myth. Students created their own props and costumes, and we had lots of laughs as everyone performed their scenes!
Today, students also had time to continue working on their board games that interweave the myths we have been studying. Some students are starting to finish up this project (the first of two culminating projects this week), so I hope that students will have a chance to play the board games either tomorrow or Friday!
Tomorrow, we will turn our attention to some of the later heroes in the Greek mythology canon, including Orpheus, Theseus, Atalanta, and Jason. Students can look forward to creating and solving their own labyrinths, participating in a modern version of Atalanta’s foot race, and practicing a play of Jason and the Argonauts!
Some dinner table questions:
- What scene did you add to the Hercules film and why?
- What does it mean to be a “hero”? What are the main elements of the heroic journey?
- How does Hercules fit the heroic trope? How does he not fit the archetype?
- How is your board game coming along, and what still needs to be completed?
Have a great evening!
Warmly,
Ms. Waxman