Greek Mythology

Narrative Reading Mini Unit

Uranus
Characters and Traits:

Kronos = brave, wanted to avenge his brothers despite the risk

Uranus= selfish, banished his kids cause they were a threat to his rule

Gaea = manipulative, convinced kids to kill dad | protecting, destroys anyone who harms her kids

Plot (7 sentence max. summary):

The world was first made with love, the underworld, and the earth. Gaea, the earth, had the sky,
and they married and had cyclopes and monsters. The sky thought they were a threat to his
tyranny and banished them. Then gaea and uranus (sky) had kids, the titans. Gaea asked the kids
to kill uranus, and kronos volunteers. They kill uranus and from his blood come the giants and
furies.

Theme/moral/lesson: respect your kids and parents to avoid murder

Modern Connection: respect people around you, to avoid jealousy

Kronos and Zeus
Characters and Traits:
Gaea: manipulative, convinced kids to kill dad | protecting, destroys anyone who harms her kids
Kronos: selfish, ate his kids cause they were a threat to his rule
Zeus: brave, wanted to avenge his brothers despite the risk
Metis: smart, created a potion to empty kronos’ stomach
Other kids: helped zeus destroy kronos and save their uncles
Plot (7 sentence max. summary): Kronos destroyed uranus, and became the new king, but he too scared his uncles
power and kept them locked up. In fear of being overthrown, he ate his children, but they grew in his stomach and
two were secretly raised. When the brothers came of age, metis made a position causing his kids to be freed from
his belly. All his kids got together and defeated him and the titans, and instead the gods ruled. They freed the
cyclops and hundred handers who gave them special powers to rule. Zeus rules the sky and land, poseidon rules
the ocean, and hades ruled the underworld.
Theme/moral/lesson: to be a good leader, treat your subjects nicely, and don't fear competition
Modern Connection: don't be scared of the competition, your biggest competitor is yourself. You don't need to
focus on other’s efforts.
Prometheus
Characters and Traits:
Prometheus - unselfish: lets himself be eaten by vultures to save the earth and mankind
zeus : - jerk: floods all the people, trying to save the earth, but making it worse
The people: - selfish: trying to take everything they can from the land
Plot (7 sentence max. summary):
Prometheus and his brother made people and animals for the earth, but the people ruined
everything. Zeus and poseidon sent a flood to destroy everything. Then the only people left
said sorry and agreed to take care of the earth. But prometheus had a secret about zeus that
could destroy him, but to keep the earth safe he sacrificed himself. He inspired the people to
take care of the work.
Theme/moral/lesson: take care of the earth, and don’t be selfish
Modern Connection: protect the earth and look out for others and the earth, and be unselfish
Pandora
Characters and Traits:

Epimetheus: faithful- trusts that hades’s box should not be opened

Pandora: curious- wonders all day what the box is for, rebellious- doesn’t listen to epimetheus

Plot (7 sentence max. summary):

Pandora lives in a happy, perfect world, but one day she sees a box. Her dad, Epimetheus, says
don’t open the box, it’s dangerous. But pandora gets really curious and opens it, and all the
evils, dangers, sorrows, pain, and diseases come out. Pandora and her dad get stung and
pandora starts crying. But then, she sees that one more spirit is left in the box, and refuses to
open it, thinking she had learned her lesson. She buries the box for safe keeping. It turns out,
the last spirit was hope.

Theme/moral/lesson: don’t let dangers out of a box, listen to your parents

Modern Connection: listen to your parents and trust them, don’t let your curiosity get the best
of u, never give up hope
 Daedalus
Characters and Traits:
Daedalus: inventor, becomes jealous of nephew perdix and kills him
Icarus: daedalus’s pride and joy, is overconfident in his father’s work
King minos: furious at his wife for liking a bull and mad at daedalus and locks them in the labyrinth
Pasiphae: talks ill about the Gods, and they cast a spell to make her fall in love with a bull
Perdix: young inventor, trying to become better than daedalus, killed by him.

Plot (7 sentence max. summary): daedalus becomes jealous of his nephew’s skill, and in fear of
becoming inferior, kills him. Then pasiphae talks ill about the gods, and the aphrodite curses her to fall
in love with a bull. When the king minos finds out, traps pasiphae and kids in the labyrinth, and locks
daedalus in the tower with his son. Daedalus makes wings for them so they can escape, but icarus is
overconfident and flies too close to the sun, and the winds melt and he drowns in the ocean.
Daedalus is grief stricken.
Theme/moral/lesson: don’t murder people, don’t anger the gods, don't be overconfident
Modern Connection: don’t bite off more than you can chew, and don’t be jealous or overconfident.
Demeter
Characters and Traits:

Plot (7 sentence max. summary):

Theme/moral/lesson:

Modern Connection:
Narcissus and Echo
Characters and Traits:

Plot (7 sentence max. summary):

Theme/moral/lesson:

Modern Connection:
Orpheus
Characters and Traits:

Plot (7 sentence max. summary):

Theme/moral/lesson:

Modern Connection:
Midas
Characters and Traits:

Plot (7 sentence max. summary):

Theme/moral/lesson:

Modern Connection: