CantaClassics

Students are completing an assessment which is due next week so nothing to put up until then

^{Hi, I’m Perseus,}

^{They call me a hero, and well, they’re right!}

^{I’m an important historical figure to the Greeks, and so I should be!}

^{I was born to Danae and Zeus. Mum had been locked in a chamber I believe, and I am told that Dad came to her in the form of a gold shower, and got her pregnant. What I don’t get is how a shower of gold impregnates someone, whether it be Zeus or not… Anyhoo, I’m getting sidetracked. The reason mum was locked up is because Granddad got told by some oracle that he would be killed by me… Woops…}

On Friday we will be studying the remaining myth. This time about Jason. Have a look at this fight scene before or after the lesson – its a lot of fun.

And another

Dear blogsite,

Sorry I haven’t written for so long, I have been sooooo busy!!!!

Man, life is confusing! First I find out that my father is a mortal, NOT a god. Then my dear old mum Aethra tells me I have to go lift up some pebble and Find some stuff he left me Well, this pebble is a wee bit bigger than I expected. Like, an entire boulder bigger!!!

So, I lift up the boulder and what do I find? A sword and some other bits and pieces. Then mummy tells me that my dad this big ruler of a mighty kingdom called Athens, and his name is Aegeus. Fancy that!

Well, next I set off by land to Athens. Mummy told me its safer by sea, but me being the big brave boy I am (that’s what mummy calls me when I don’t cry when I stub my toes), I took the hard way. Well, I met a few meanies on the way.
First there was Periphetes who hit people with a bronze covered club. Well, I hit him even harder.

Then there was Sinis who ripped people apart with the help of a few pine trees. He ended up with the same ending as his victims.

Then there was Sciron who pushed people off a cliff when their back was turned. He soon learned what it was like bungee jumping without a rope.

Finally there was procrustes who somehow or other made people the dame size as his magic bed. I put him down the perfect size for the bed for his final sleep.

So, then I get to Athens and what happens next, daddy tries to poison me! Luckily he recognized the hilt of my sword as the one he left for me and stopped me drinking the yucky poison. Unfortunately, I got picked to be a sacrifice so I had to leave daddy and go see king Minos. But, on the way the minos didn’t believe that my parents were gods so he threw his ring into the ocean for me to find. Boy was he surprised when I came back with it!

So, we get to Minos’ house and they tell me to go play with the minotaur. First princess Ariadne gave me some string to play with too. Well, I tied the end of the string to the entrance so I could get out of the maze me and the minotaur are playing in. then , the minotaur tries to eat me! Well, I got rid of him and won because I was first out of the maze.

Well, then me and ariandne eloped but i ditched her, she’s too clingy L.

Well, then I met this pirate guy Peirithous and he tells me we should try abduct Helen of Sparta.

So we played kidnapper for a while and then got bored.

Then we played again except this time with Persephone, wife of hades. Boy was he pissed.

So, to get away from it all I Went on holiday with Heracles to see the amazons. Man, some af them are soooo hot!!!

Well, that’s about it for now, will write soon

Theseus (look I can spell my name now)

hi im herakules, but you know me hercules (thanks to the romans i’m told).

my life is simple, i was born a son of zeus who tricked my mother into thinking that he was her husband Amphitryon who had come home early from war. he the made her pregnant with me, unfortuntely for me the real amphitryon came home just after my father left and made her pregnant with my brother, Iphicle. i have learned that before i was born that jelous pig hera tricked zeus into making a promise that the first born woulod be king of the land so she stoped me from being born! insted my brother became the king and i became a lowly catle famer. eventualy these two nymphs came along you see and they said that i could eather choose a life of ease and splendor, or i could choose a life that was serve and glorious. obiovisly i chose the latter, ha no one remembers Iphicle now! hera wasn’t do with me yet, oh no she made me go made and kill the ones i love in a rage which led me to prform the 12 labors, it was suposted to be only 10 but Iphicle wouldn’t beleive me about the thing with the agean stables or the hydra. anyway the were to,

1. To kill the Nemean Lion.
2. To destroy the Lernaean Hydra.
3. To capture the Ceryneian Hind.
4. To capture the Erymanthian Boar.
5. To clean the Augean Stables.
6. To kill the Stymphalian Birds.
7. To capture the Cretan Bull.
8. To round up the Mares of Diomedes.
9. To steal the Girdle of Hippolyte.
10. To herd the Cattle of Geryon.
11. To fetch the Apples of Hesperides.
12. To capture Cerberus.

fun aye, anyway i gotta run. history dosn’t make it’s heros up now.

Ares

Ares is the god who thrives on violence and battle, not thinking of the consequences, but only of spilt blood. This is the god of war.

Ares has a certain, ‘eerie’ feel to him. While he comes across as handsome and bold, there is an atmosphere of cruelty and malice that surrounds Ares, which is probably why he is the most loathed among the gods. It is said that even Zeus, his own father, dislikes Ares.

Through all the dislike, Ares still reproduced, and is father to Diomedes, Cycnus and Oenomaus.

Ares employs no thought before action, as he is pure testosterone. He lives for the moment, for battle and for death.

When you hear all of this about Ares, you would picture a great warrior who knows no fear, but this is not the case, as Ares has often been seen to flee a battle like a coward, specifically during the Trojan War when Diomedes stabbed him with a spear.

Ares holds the vulture as his sacred animal, as the vulture represents death.

Overall, Ares was not a great god in Greek mythology, but his equivalent in Roman mythology, Mars, earned much more respect.

HADES. Hades is the lord of the underworld, he was one of three sons of kronos the titan and established his realm as the underworld alfter he and his brothers drew lots. Hades helped in the war against the titans and he and his brothers were gifted with special weapons each. Hades was gifted with the helmet of invisibility which he used to sneak in and destroy the titan’s weapons.  Hades is often refered to as the invisible one (e.g. his helmet) or the rich one as all mineral such as gold and copper were dug from the beneath the ground where they believed Hades resided. Hades ruled over all of the under world and was very strict on who could come and go. in modern religions hell is thought of as an evil place but the ancient Greeks thought it more as a natural life cycle and viewed Hades not with contempt or anger but someone who was more passive and just than actually evil, though they showed him the respect he deserved by adverting there eyes at sacrifice of not even uttering his name but calling him ploto or ploton as it would be him who chose whether a person would or would not live in happiness on the Elysian fields or burn inTartarus,

Now you have read and processed some information about your hero you must complete the following task by Monday next week.  This is preparation for your NCEA assessment as well as a chance to learn something new.

BLOG TASK

Imagine your chosen hero was alive today with the technology  we have available.  He wants to create his own blog that reflects on some of the major events in his life.  A blog is usually written like a personal journal.

Have a look at this example – www.rebelliousarabgirl.net/

A blog is characterised by:

• Conversational, informal language. It’s just like you are chatting to someone or yourself!
• Reads a bit like a diary entry
• Reflects on things of importance to the person blogging
• Has links, images, movies embedded into the blog

How do you approach this with your hero?  Well make sure you do the following:

• Write at least FOUR blog posts that reflect on important events in your heroes life
• Write in the first person. ‘I’ did this, ‘I’ did that. Pretend YOU are the hero
• Try and cover a range of events from different times in your hero’s life.
• Make your writing informal and conversational. GET CREATIVE!
• Include at least ONE picture and for each post. I will show you how to do this on Friday, but you can have a go yourself. If all else fails you can email me the picture and tell me where to put it!

You can EITHER write the posts directly into the blog as Lucy did OR write them using Microsoft Word and emailing me it as an attachment.

THE KEY THING IS – I EXPECT A POST TO BE EMAILED TO ME OR APPEAR EACH DAY FROM TUESDAY ONWARDS.  YOU CAN’T LEAVE IT ALL TO THE END.  WRITE A POST EACH DAY. THEN GO ON TO THE BLOG AND HAVE A READ OF EACH OTHERS.

PLEASE COMMENT OR EMAIL IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS

This week we want to learn about the adventures and exploits of four major Greek heroes.

They are:

Heracles – Most noted for his fabled strength and ongoing battle with Hera. He went on twelve labours to make up for murdering his family. (be careful there is quite a bit of content with this one)

Perseus – Most noted for his winged sandals, battle with the gorgon, Medusa and saving Andromeda from a giant sea monster

Jason – Most noted for gathering many heroes, including Heracles together and questing for the fabled golden fleece (When you do a google search make sure you search “Jason and the Golden Fleece or Jason and the Argonauts to find information)

Theseus – Most noted for battling the Minotaur in the labyrinth of King Minos

Each of you is going to choose one of these heroes and read about them. Process some of the information in a way that suits. Keep it simple. It may be you write a few notes or do a mindmap of some kind.

FIRST IN FRIST SERVED. THE FIRST ONES TO EMAIL ME WITH THEIR CHOICE OF HERO GETS IT OTHERWISE YOU MIGHT MISS OUT ON YOUR FIRST CHOICE

For each hero you should have a good knowledge of their:

• Background and early life
• Major figures who influenced their life
• The major adventures of their life. In most cases this will involve a number of adventures

That is all I want for today. Monday night I will put up detailed instructions on what I want you to do with this new found knowledge.

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO GO TO A VERY USEFUL WEBSITE

Yaea I am writing on the blog because I am cool

ATHENA 

Athena was the famous Greek goddess of weaving wisdom and heroic endeavor (the opposite of Ares). She was also the companion of heroes and, patron Deity of Athens and one of the Gods living on Mount Olympus. She is also the virgin mother of Erichthnonius. Athena is often accompanied by a serpent (snake) and/or a owl. Legend tells that Athena was born from her father’s (Zeus’) forehead. This is because, Zeus, who was in love with Metis heard there was a prophecy that she would have a son who would overthrow the King of the gods. To stop this from happening Zeus swallowed Metis. When Metis was swallowed she began to make a robe and helmet for her daughter. The hammering gave Zeus a big headache and he cried out in agony. His son Hephaestus heard his cry and ran to him and cut open his head with an axe. Out came Athena fully dressed in her robes and helmet.

 Athena was also the patron deity of Athens. She competed with Poseidon to rule a city that they were both very fond of. They both decided they would give the city a gift each and whoever gave the best gift could claim the city. Poseidon struck the rocky seashore with his trident and created a spring. But the water was salty like the sea and the people did not like it. Athena gave them an olive tree, and this gave them oil and shade and food and wood. Athena won the competition and this is how she came to be the patron deity of Athens. The city is also named after her.