Myth Wisely

GODS

May 2013Igor Augusto Silva

Greek Mythology!

Interview with Rick!

HEROES

MONSTERS

PLUS:

Jokes

and Much

More!

About Me!

When I was in second grade I began reading the Percy Jackson Series and really enjoyed Greek Mythology. I started looking up stuff about greek monsters and myths and I discovered that my-thology has been around for thousands of years, and it was retold over and over again, the details changing as different storytellers brought the myths to different cities. There are so many different versions of each myth.

This month, after a long research, Myth Wisely brought to you in this article “Greek Mythology” a lot of informa-tion about the greek gods and we can see how they influenced our culture. Also we gained a quick interview with Rick, he told us how he started to enjoy mythology. So turn the pages and have fun learning all the educative con-tent that Myth Wisely chose for you!

Your friend,

Igor Augusto Silva, Editor in Chief

Your Own Page

Should we teach people greek mythology at school? (Samira Muller - Orlando FL)

Certainly we should because the Greeks had amazing insights into human behavior and that insight is still unri-valed today. The teacher will expose you to the wonders of Greek mythology and you will never regret it.

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Dear Myth Wisely,

I have been learning a lot about myths from many

places when I am reading your magazine. The last

month about Roman mythology was so cool I got a lot

of information for my school project. I suggest for next

month you to make one about Greek. I would love it!

(Felipe Oliveira - Iowa)

Dear Felipe,We are glad our magazine helped you on your project and also we are happy because you don’t need to wait until next month to learn about greek, we were al-ready woking on it. Hope you like it.

Myth Wisely,

I hope the next issue is about Norse mythology

because I have a report to write about it. Please

help me. (Leonardo - NY)

Leonardo,We are researching about it, but we are not sure we can finish before your report is due. We are very sorry.

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WHAT’S INSIDE!

Greek Mythology!...................................................................................03

Greek Monsters!........................................................................................13

Interview with Rick Riordan!...............................................16

The Adventures of Bellerophon!........................................20

Greek Heroes!...................................................................................................22

Word Play!.........................................................................................................23

Meeting the Monsters!...................................................................24

Greek and Roman!..................................................................................26

Craft!.......................................................................................................................27

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Don’t lose time! Start to

read Percy Jackson! It’s

Greek Mythology in our

days!

As an educator member of society we need to understand what is mythology because this is the way to understand where our modern culture came from. My research will con-centrate in Greek mythology because our English literature draws most on that.

Let's begin to explore mythology. The word myth comes from the Greek mythos meaning legend or story. But my-thology is not a collection of lies it is a collection of truths. Mythology is beliefs about the creation of the world, the ori-gins of humankind and the meaning of life, can be highly complex because myths are stories that explore rather than explain.

No one had greater impact on the western world than the Greeks. From the Parthenon to a Picasso painting, their myths and legends influenced every form of Western Art, Architecture, and literature. Mythic life was part of real life for the ancient Greeks. They even built beautiful temples to honor their gods and goddesses. They visited sacred sanc-tuaries for the gods advice on personal or political matters.

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Greek Mythology

by Igor Augusto Silva

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They created complex family trees that linked kings, heroes, and immortals, and could be used to explain Greece's rich his-tory.

Greek mythology reflects this humanism. Many Greek myths are about extraordi-nary but mortal heroes and heroines from a past era. In their divine myths, the greeks made their gods and goddesses im-mortal, endowed them with remarkable powers - and gave them very human per-sonalities! God and goddesses are wise, rash, heroic, unfaithful, jealous, fair and vengeful.

At the center of Greek mythology is the pantheon of deities who were said to live on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece. From their perch, they ruled every aspect of human life. Olympian gods and goddesses looked like men and women (though they could change themselves into animals and other things) and were - as many myths recounted - vulnerable to hu-man foibles and passions.

The twelve main Olympians are:

Zeus: the king of all the gods, the supreme god of the Olympian, the god of the sky, and ruler of man-kind. He was the last child of the Titans Kro-nos and Rhea, and had

five brothers and sisters. He married his sister Hera, but had many love affairs with goddesses and mortals. Zeus’ symbols are the scales and the thunderbolt. His sacred animal is a eagle.

Hera: the queen of the gods and goddess, she is Zeus wife and sister. She is the supreme goddesses of marr ia ge and chi ld-birth and takes special

care of married women. In her often un-just, jealous rages, she would go to great lengths to punish the lovers and children of her infidel husband. Hera’s sacred ani-mal is the peacock.

Aphrodite: goddess of beauty and love.She is married to Hephaestus even though she doesn’t lo ve h im. Aphrod i te loves Ares. Her symbols

are the seashell and the mirror. Her sacred animal is the dove.

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Apollo: god of the sun, prophecy, music, poetry, archery, knowledge and healing. Apollo is the son of Zeus and the mortal Leto. He is the younger

twin of Artemis, goddess of hunt. His sym-bols are the lyre and laurel tree.

Ares: god of war. He of-ten fought Artemis with his half sister Athena. He had no wife and was con-stantly under the spell of the goddesse Aphrodite. Ares’s symbols are the

spear and dogs. His sacred animal is the boar.

Artemis: goddess of hunting, animals and the moon . Ar temis brought fertility and lo ve to hunt wi th a

bow and arrow. Her symbol is the bow and her sacred animals are the snake and deer.

Athena: goddess of wis-dom, skill and war. She was born from Zeus’ s head in full body armor. She taught humans skills such as weaving, sewing,

farming and metalwork. Her symbols are the olive branch and owl.

Demeter: goddess of agriculture and grain. She was the source of all growth and life on earth who taught humans how to cultivate and grow

crops. Her symbol is an ear of wheat.

Dionysus: god of wine, pleasure and festivity. He was the son of Zeus and the princess Semele. His symbols are grapes and ivy and his sacred animal is the panther.

Hephaestus: god of fire, metalworking and sculpture. He was kind and lovable but also ugly and lame. Hephaestus was so ugly that Hera

threw him off Mount Olympus. His sym-bols are fire, the axe, the tongs and the hammer.

Poseidon: god of the sea. His wife is Amphi-trite. His symbol is the trident, powerful enough to shake the earth, caus-ing storms and ear th-

quakes. Poseidon sacred animals are the dolphin and the horse.

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Hermes: god of travel-ers, thieves and mer-chants and Zeus’s per-sonal messenger. Her-mes had wings on his

sandals which made him the speediest of all of the gods. He was the only Olympian god that could visit heaven, earth and the underworld. His symbol is a winged stick with snakes wrapped around it called a ca-duceus.

Other gods and goddesses sometimes in-cluded in the roster of Olympians are:

Hades: god of the dead and ruler of the under-world. He lives with Per-sephone in the under-world, and rarely left his ghostly palace. He is al-

lowed on Olympus once a year. The sym-bol of Hades is a helmet which helped him stay invisible.

He s t i a : goddess o f hearth, home and family. Pose idon and Apol lo wanted to marry her, but she swore to Zeus that she would never marry. Hestia

had the fire burning in every hearth, pro-viding warmth and security. Her symbol is a living flame and her sacred animals are a donkey and pigs.

Hestia was one of the 12 Olympians until she gave up her throne on for Dionysus. Now, some authors considered her a minor god. Like Hestia, we can find in Greek my-thology stories about many others minor gods, they are:

Eos: goddess of dawn and sister of Selene and Helios. Eos leaves her home, which was at the edge of ocean, every morning to wake her brother, Helios. She opens the gates of heaven so that Helios can ride his chariot across the sky each day.

Helios: god of the sun, he leaves his radi-ant palace in the east and drives his chariot west across the sky, bringing light to the world.

Selene: goddess of the moon. After her brother, Helios, finishes his trip across the sky, Selene, freshly washed in the waters of the Earth-circling Ocean, begins her own trip as night falls upon the earth, which be-comes lit from the light of her head and golden crown. When she is growing after mid-month, it is a "sure token and a sign to mortal men".

Ariadne: goddess of passion and mazes. She was a mortal princess engaged to The-seus but was abandoned and married to the god Dionysus and he made her immor-tal.

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Aeolus: god of winds, he had all the winds in a bag, at birth he was mortal then made immortal.

Asclepius: god of medicine. He was the son of Apollo, and was made god of medi-cine and healing.

Bia: goddess of force, she is the daughter of Styx and Pallas, and also the sister of Nike, Cratos, and Zelus. She and her broth-ers and sister were the friends of Zeus and were always with him.

Cratos: god of strength and power, he was a guardian of the throne of Zeus. Cra-tos was one of the few people who dragged Prometheus to the rock where he was chained.

Eris: goddess of discord and strife, she looks scary and ugly, and usually she is hold-ing a knife.

Eros: god of passionate love and minion to Aph-rodite. He is considered the son of Aphrodite and Ares. Eros is some-times depicted as a baby with wings.

Psyche: goddess of compassion and Eros wife. She is always picture with butterfly wings.

Geras: god of old age.

Ja n u s : god o f doors, gates and new beginnings. It was believed that his face was split in two since a door can let you in or out. It is said one

side gave bad advice the other good. He usually drove people insane, and caused people to kill themselves.

Harmonia: goddess of harmony, she is the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite. She is the opposite of Eris, who is the goddess of strife.

Hebe: goddess of youth, she was the daughter of the Greek god Zeus and god-dess Hera, and it was her job to serve Am-brosia to the gods. She is almost always de-picted carrying a decanter of Ambrosia.

Hecate: goddess of magic, witchcraft, nec-romancy and crossroads. She is sometimes seen as having three-heads. Zeus favors her greatly. She is also the mother of Circe and other famous sorceresses. Hecate often car-ries a torch, and because of this she is of-ten described as having black hair, lumi-nous skin, and starry eyes.

Hypnos: god of sleep, he is the son of Nyx and the twin brother of Thanatos. Hypnos was represented as a gentle young

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man, usually with wings attached to his temples or shoulders.

Chione: goddess of snow. She was the daughter of Boreas, the North Wind, and Oreithyia, an Athenian princess and has two mortal brothers and a mortal sister. Unlike her winged brothers and father she has no wings.

Enyo: goddesses of war and peacekeeping. She was the female counterpart and close companion of god Ares.

Eileithyia: goddesses of childbirth. She was only mentioned in later telling of Greek myth.

Momus: god of blame. He was kicked out of Olympus after criticizing Zeus and Aph-rodite.

Moros: god of Doom. It is believed that he decided the destiny of each mortal.

Nemesis: the goddess of giving people what they deserve: revenge and retribu-tion, and balance of luck. She has a balance or scale, which she uses to make sure that every person gets the same amount of good and luck.

Nike: goddess of victory, she is sister of Cratos, Bia, and Zelus. Nike could run very fast, had wings and brings good luck. She is usually worshipped at the same time as Athena.

Persephone: goddess of spring and flow-ers, daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and wife of Hades, hence queen of the Under-world.

Phobos: god of fear, panic, fight and bat-tlefield rout. He is one of the sons of Ares and Aphrodite and the twin brother of Dei-mos. He went with his father into battle, driving his chariot and spreading fear in his path. As a son of Aphrodite, goddess of love, each twin also represented the fear of loss.

Thanatos: god of peaceful death.

The Erinyes or The Furies: goddesses of re-venge. They for-ever fol lowed

the person who did a crime, and they even could make the person go mad. They are often shown with snakes on their heads, blood coming out of their eyes, and look-ing very horrific. These three female divini-ties were named Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megaera. The greeks believed that bad luck can been brought on by speaking their name.

The Horae: actually two groups of sepa-rate goddesses worshiped in different peri-ods: the first three were goddesses of the

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seasons, the second generation were god-desses of law, justice and order.

Tyche: the goddess of destiny and con-trolled the fortune and prosperity of a city. Her name means "luck". She is often repre-sented wearing a mural crown (a crown like the walls of a city). She is a daughter of Hermes and Aphrodite.

Zelus: god of dedication, he was a con-stant companion of Zeus and personified zeal.

The Moirae (The Fates) : were the three goddesses of destiny, they were Clotho, Laches i s and Atropos. They controlled the life and destiny of every-one. Klotho spins the thread of life (be-

gins a person's or creature's life), Lachesis measures it (looks at the how long it cur-rently is), and Atropos cuts the thread. When the thread is cut the person dies. The Moirae are capable of destroying an immortal. The decisions of the Moriae about a person's life cannot be changed. Even Zeus is powerless to change their will.

The Oneiroi: they were Morpheus, Phobetor and Phantasos, the gods of dreams. They lived in caves in the far west, near the gates of the Underworld. The most powerful of the Oneiroi was Mor-pheus, because he shapes the dream in gen-eral. Morpheus shapes human figures, Phobetor shapes animal figures and Phanta-sos shapes inanimate objects. Also, Mor-pheus can cast a layer of magic to put mor-tals to sleep for a VERY long time. He was a powerful god, even though he was the god of SLEEP!

Pan: god of the pastures, flocks, the moun-tain wilds and rustic music. He had the body of a satyr (legs of a goat and body of a human). He was the lord of the wild and as such, all forest dwelling creatures answer to him, including (but not exclusively) sa-tyrs, nymphs, and forest creatures.

Iris: goddess of the rainbow, and also an-other messenger for the gods in Greek mythology. Depicted as a beautiful golden goddess, with wings, (for flight) sandals, a staff, and a tunic .

There is often much art, such as vases and murals shown of her, because she is worshi-ped, and pretty. In Greek mythology it is

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believed that if you throw a drachma (Greek currency) into a rainbow you can communicate with anyone anywhere.

Iris is generally seen as Hera's personal ser-vant and messenger. Iris is very swift and fast and she generally travels by rainbow. It is even said that the reason the rainbow comes and goes so fast is because Iris only uses it for travel and since she is so fast, it is only in the sky for a small amount of time.

Triton: god of ships, prince of Atlantis. He was the son of Poseidon and acted as Poseidon's messenger. He had the ability to make the seas calm by blowing on a conch shell. He is shown in Greek art as having the body of a man and a fish tail, like a mermaid. Sometimes he is shown with arms like the claws of a crab, at other times he has arms like a horse's legs. He lived in a golden palace at the bottom of the ocean.

The Keres: goddesses of violent Death. They look very dark and have sharp teeth, claws and like the taste of blood. The Keres look around battlefields for hurt peo-ple and people who are dying.

Melinoe - goddess of ghosts. Daughter of Persephone and Hades. She lives in the Un-derworld. She has a pale complexion and a short temper and takes after her father in

almost every way apart from her beauty that she gets from her mother Persephone.

T h e C h a r i t e s - goddesses of charm, beauty, human crea-tivity, and fertility. They were the atten-dants to Hera and Aphrodite . They are often shown in

sculptures and mosaics as three women, holding hands and dancing in a circle.

The characters, stories, themes and lessons of Greek mythology have shaped art and literature for thousands of years. Many con-sumer products get their names from Greek mythology. Nike sneakers are the namesake of the goddess of victory, for ex-ample, and the website Amazon.com is named after the race of mythical female warriors.

Many high school, college and professional sports teams, like Titans, Spartans and Tro-jans, also get their names from mythologi-cal sources.

The month of January received this name after the minor god Janus, it was because he was the god of new beginnings and also because of his split face. In January we look back on the last year, and forward to the next.

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The god Pan was also known to produce an earsplitting sound called a "panic" that caused extreme pain to any who heard it, this sound is actually the origin of the Eng-lish word panic.

Also, when Persephone was kidnapped by Hades, her mother Demeter tried to res-cue her, but she ate seven seeds of pome-granate and she was forever connected to the underworld and would stay there for four months every year. And, greeks like this myth to explain how the seasons was created: when Persephone is with her mother Demeter, the sun shone and every-thing flowered. But, when she is with her husband in the underworld, the winter gripped the world.

We can see that greek mythology is every-where, in the names, pictures, seasons, songs and its very important for us to know a little about that. Learn about greek mythology can help us to understand the meaning of our culture.

Reference:

• KEENAN, S. - Gods, Goddesses, and Monsters - 2000;

• KNIGHT, MJ. - Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Ultimate Guide - 2009

• PHILIP, N. - Mythology - 1999;

• SNODGRASS, M. E. - Greek Classics - 1988

• SUTCLIFF, R. - The Wanderings Of Odysseus - 1996

• http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Greek_gods_and_goddesses;

• http://poseidons-daughter.deviantart.com/art/Iris-goddess-of-the-rainbow-182812653

• http://greece.mrdonn.org/

• http://www.history.com/topics/greek-mythology

• http://www.mythweb.com/gods/index.html

• http://camphalfblood.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Minor_Gods

• http://www.nicolecadet.com/project/erinyes-the-furies/

• http://www.creationoutreach.com/id104.html

• http://www.rickriordan.com/home.aspx

• http://www.all4yah.org/ecclesia-of-elohim/purelant.htm

& & & & & & & & & && & & & & & & & & && & & & & & & & & &

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This Summer don’t miss the new Camp!

Camp Half Blood isn’t a fictional Camp

anymore! It’s Real! Come to see all the

characters and places that are in the book!

We are waiting for you!

Where? In Winston Salem! For more information

call 336-799-999 or go to www.wScamphalfblood.com

Greek mythology does not just tell the stories of gods and goddesses, however, monsters and “hybrids” (human-animal forms) also feature in the tales. Human heroes did battle against the horrible creatures and, usually triumphed. Now, it’s time to find out some monsters that people fear most.

CERBERUS

On the top of this page we can see the three heads dog known as Cerberus. He guards the entrance to the Under-world and prevents the dead from leaving. He is the ulti-mate guard dog. Heracles fought Cerberus and won. Cerbe-rus has poisonous saliva, a serpent for a tail, three heads, and vipers for a mane, he used his claw to rip and flay the bodies of people who were greedy in life. He is son of Ty-phon and Echidne (half-woman and half-serpent). Theseus spent four years trapped in the Underworld continually sav-aged by Cerberus, until Heracles freed him. Cerberus’s name probably stems from the Greek “ker berethrou”, meaning demon of the pit.

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Greek

Monsters!

2

HYDRA

There is an entrance to the Underworld in ancient Lerna which is guarded by the Hydra. The Hydra has nine heads, if one of its heads is cut off another will take its place. Hercu-les and his nephew killed the Hydra. The Hydra’s siblings are the Cerberus and the Chi-mera. The Hydra’s breath reeks with a poison that pollutes the air and is deadly to any one who inhale it.

CHIMERA

The Chimera is a lion with goat’s head in the middle of the lion’s body and the lion’s tail is a ser-pent. His mighty jaws spew forth a ferocious stream of fire that con-verts forests into kindl ing, homes into smoking ruins, and crops into useless ash. Bellero-phon killed the Chimera on his pegasus with a spear.

NEMEAN LION

The Nemean Lion was from Nemea, a enormous and extremely ferocious beast, it couldn’t be killed with mortal weapons because his golden fur was im-pervious to attack. It’s claws could cut through any mortal swords and any ar-mor. Eventually Heracles killed the Ne-mean Lion.

MANTICORE

This monster has a body of a lion, a human face and a leathery, spiky tail which shoots out deadly thorns, like crossbow bolts. Like it’s cousin, the Sphinx, the Manticore tells riddles before eating its prey.

So, the winged horse Pegasus, the horse-man Centaur, the lion-woman Sphinx and the bird-woman Harpies, the one-eyed giant Cyclops, Automatons (metal crea-tures given life by Hephaestos), Manticores and Unicorns, Gorgons, Pygmies, Minotaurs, Satyrs and Dragons of all sorts, many of these creatures have become almost as well known as the gods, goddesses and heroes who share their stories in the Greek Mythology.

By Igor Augusto Silva, fourth grade student at Moore Magnet School, more information at www.igorsilva.zip.net Reference: KNIGHT, MJ., Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the Ultimate Guide, 2009;McCALL, G., Monsters and Villans, 2008;McCALL, G.; MCNAB, C., Mythical Monsters, 2011;http://monstersandbeasts.blogspot.com/2011/03/cerberus.htmlhttp://www.fanpop.com/clubs/mythical-creatures/images/28582597/title/hydra-photohttp://dragonsdogma.wikia.com/wiki/Chimerahttp://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?146088-Steampunk-Nemean-Lionhttp://kikicianjur.deviantart.com/art/Manticore-195052884http://monsters.monstrous.com/manticore.htm

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Rick Riordan

“All I can promise right now: If you'll keep

reading, I'll keep writing as long as I'm able!”

3After teaching English and History for middle school stu-dents for 15 years, Rick Riordan became the #1 bestselling author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the Heroes of Olympus and the Kane Chronicles. He made the reluctant decision to leave teaching, it was a hard decision because he loved teaching, but when he sold the Percy Jack-son series to Disney Book Group, he realized that he couldn’t keep up the pace of writing two books a year and do a good job in the classroom. He was born in June 5, 1964, in San Antonio, Texas, and he attended Alamo Heights high school in San Antonio. He worked as an editor for the school newspaper and got in trouble for publishing an un-derground newspaper that made fun of the school, espe-cially the losing football team. (The football team later egged his car).

Mrs. Pabst, Rick’s eighth-grade English teacher, opened his eyes to mythology, introducing him to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, it was the first book he enjoyed to read. He discovered that fantasy was very old, that started about 2000 years ago with mythology, since that Rick started to really enjoy mythology, especially Greek and Norse. He was 13 when his first story was submitted for publication, but it was not published.

Rick is a full time writer and because his time is so pre-cious, we had a quick interview with him. Let see what this famous author said to Myth Wisely.

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Interview with Rick!by Igor Augusto Silva

WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR PERCY JACKSON?

“My son Haley asked me to tell him some bedtime stories about the Greek gods and heroes. I had taught Greek myths for many years at the middle school level, so I was glad to comply. When I ran out of myths, he was disappointed and asked me if I could make up something new with the same characters. I thought about it for a few minutes. Then I remembered a crea-tive writing project I used to do with my sixth graders — I would let them create their own demigod hero, the son or daugh-ter of any god they wanted, and have them describe a Greek style quest for that hero. Off the top of my head, I made up Percy Jackson and told Haley all about his quest to recover Zeus’ lightning bolt in modern day America. It took about three nights to tell the whole story, and when I was done, Haley told me I should write it out as a book.”

HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE YOURSELF WITH PERCY JACKSON?

“Percy has my sense of humor. Like him, I was not always a good student in school. Percy is also based on many students I have taught in the past, and partly on my son’s own struggle with ADHD/dyslexia.”

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO ITALY OR GREECE BEFORE WRITING THE PERCY JACKSON SERIES?

“No, I’ve been to both Italy and Greece, but only after I finished the Percy Jackson series, which is ironic. One doesn’t need to travel there, however, to appreciate the sto-ries from mythology. Those are quite uni-versal.”

DO YOU THINK THE HARRY POT-TER SERIES AND YOUR BOOKS HAVE ANYTHING IN COMMON?

“First, recognize that Percy Jackson and Harry Potter are similar because they draw on the same sources in folklore and mythol-ogy. The idea of a young boy finding out he is special, training to use his abilities, and defeating an evil villain to take his rightful place in the world -- this is the story of both Harry and Percy.

Secondly, Percy and Harry are very differ-ent kids, who live in very different worlds. Camp Half-Blood is full of magic and mys-tery, yes, but it has a unique flavor that is totally unlike Hogwart’s. Percy and Harry come from different backgrounds. They don’t have the same issues with parents. Percy’s a bit more of a troublemaker than Harry, I think. He’s used to being labeled the “bad boy” and has gotten kicked out of numerous schools (though this is never en-

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tirely his fault). Harry is likely to restrain his friends if they get in a fight. Percy is more likely to punch a bully in the nose. They do share common ground — both have enormous power and responsibility thrust upon them before they are ready. Both are brave. Both have to face their worst fears and rely on a small group of loyal friends. But their stories are quite dif-ferent.”

ARE YOUR CHARACTER NAMES NAMED AFTER PEOPLE THAT YOU KNOW?

“Most of them are simply names I like, names I think will sound good in a book. Percy is short for Perseus, the old Greek hero. I know the original Perseus was the son of Zeus, but as explained in The Sea of Monsters, Percy's mom named him this be-cause Perseus is one of the few heroes who has a happy ending (in most versions). Jack-son is a name I've always been fond of for many reasons. I was an American history teacher when I wrote the Lightning Thief, so I was teaching about Andrew Jackson and Stonewall Jackson. My grandfather's nickname was Jack. Also, Jackson was the name of my protagonist in the adult mys-tery series I began writing in 1997, which featured private eye Jackson "Tres" Na-varre. I just thought it sounded good with Percy.

Annabeth is a name I made up. I've never known anyone named Annabeth, though I've met a few fans with that name since. Also, Annabeth is modeled after Atalanta, the most famous Greek heroine, who is also described as a blond warrior girl with fierce eyes. Grover? I don't know. I guess I watched too much Sesame Street as a child. Some names were picked as shout-outs to people I knew. Mrs. Dodds is based (loosely) on a real Mrs. Dodds who taught math at the school where I worked. Mr. Brunner was the Latin teacher there. Connor Stoll, Travis Stoll, and Charles Beckendorf are all former students of mine. I also had students named Miranda and Nico.”

WHAT ABOUT WRITING BOOKS ON OTHER TYPES OF MYTHOLO-GIES, LIKE INDIAN OR CHINESE?

“So many great mythologies! I'd love to do books based on other mythologies. The thing is, there is only one of me, and I have so many books I want to write. Maybe I'll get to tackle those subjects some day. All I can promise right now: If you'll keep reading, I'll keep writing as long as I'm able!”

Today, Rick lives with his wife and two sons, Haley and Patrick, and has one dog (a Golden Labrador mix) and two cats.

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GO TO GREECE!

Have you ever wondered about some of Greece’s history?

Well, if you have, you should go to Greece to find out about it.

Come to visit The Acropolis, Pnyx, Philopappos hill, the ancient Agora, Kerameikos, the temple of Hephaestus, the theatre of Dionysus!

go to www.travel2.com and we will help you with your tour!

Don’t forget the Athena’s Parthenon, The statue made by

Phidias, with silver, ivory

and gold!

It was a beautiful day in Lerna. Bellerophon was a simple boy who lives in the Village with his Mom, everybody knew him because he was very brave, the only one that had the courage to go to the forest around the Village to hunt. The forest was a prohibited place because everybody believed that there was full of dangerous monsters. But Bellerophon didn’t listen to the tales, he only wanted to have good meat for his family dinner, since they didn’t have money to buy at the market, he decided to provide some by his own skills.

One day, he was hunting when he heard some different rustling in the bushes. He looked behind the bushes and saw it was just a bunny, then he looked under him and saw a gigantic footprints. He was so curious that decided to fol-lowed the footprints and it led to his village and everything was destroyed. The survivors said it was a Hydra. He looked for his Mom, thank the gods she survived, but had some in-juries in her arm. He helped her and she confirmed that was a Hydra. If he didn’t see the footprints, he wouldn’t have be-lieved. He was so furious. Everyone was so scared that de-

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The Adventures of Bellerophon

4

cided to moved as far they could from the forest. But Bellerophon knew this would be difficult, specially for the oldest and the people with injuries.

He prayed for the gods to help him and he decided to kill the Hydra. He resumed fol-lowing the footprints. On the middle of the forest, he felt tired and sat under a tree to take a break. He didn’t pay attention that above the tree had a lot of wasps, not the one that he knew, but some different kind. The wasps attacked him, luckily he found a lake near by and jumped inside, but already had some bites in his body. He swam for the other border, but when he reached he was ill.

He began to have hallucination, he saw the daughters of Apollo taking care of him. Is that possible that the healing’s god had sent his daughters to help him? He didn’t know, but the truth is that when he woke up, he was healed and found a message that said: “please kill the Hydra, the vil-lage’s men and the forest’s spirits need you.” He searched for the footprints, fol-lowed, and this time it led to a cave. He got out his sword,and his bow and arrow. Then he entered the cave. The hydra was sleeping, so Bellerophon tried to sneak in but he stepped on a twig which woke the Hydra. It roared in anger and it attacked fa s t . When the Hydra saw h im, she

laughed, and Bellerophon was surprised that he could understand what the mon-ster was saying. There was no doubt that the forest was full of magic.

- “What do you come here miserable pet? Leave, cut from the presence of the queen of the monsters.” - said de Hydra.

- Queen? You are not a queen for me. I don’t know your strength, but I am not afraid. - answered Bellerophon.

- Leave now or I will kill you!

- I will leave after you are dead.

The Hydra attacked, but fortunately Belle-rophon blocked it with his sword. He was wearing a mask in his face to not inhale her poisonous breath. He heard some sto-ries about the Hydra, he knew he couldn’t cut her heads, so Bellerophon decided to shoot a poison arrow into her vital place, and he killed the Hydra with one shot.

In the village they were all feeling relieved with the news. Someone asked to Bellero-phon about his most fear and he remem-bered about the wasps and how powerful the Hydra felt when she saw him because he was small for her, and he answered:

- We should most fear our small enemies instead of the large ones.

Finally, Bellerophon was thrown a parade.

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GREEK HEROES (Acrostic)

Heracles for Greek,

Eminent Hero,

Resisted 12 Labors,

Champion Fighter,

Unfailing Courage,

Lion of Olympus,

Excellent Warrior,

Super Strong.Pursued the Gorgons,

Entrusted in Athena,

Received some Weapons,

Slew Medusa,

Engaged to Adromeda,

Unbelievable

Strategist.

Travel to Labyrinth,

Heroically

Executed the

Sleeping Minotaur,

Escaped the Labyrinth

Using a thread,

Smart and Strong.

Hector and Homer,

Erechtheus,

Remember Achilles,

Odysseus, and Orpheus

Exceptional and

Sensational Heroes.

Leo: Where were the first chicken fried?

Lipe: I don’t Know.

Leo: In Greece.

Jack: Which Greek god is the windiest?

Dereck: Not sure.

Jack: Ares.

Adam: What is a favorite game of ancient Greek mythology?

Mike: Tell me.

Adam: Hydra and go seek.

James: What is another name for Hercules's first labor?

John: What?

James: Finding Nemean.

Anna: What was the most popu-lar kids' movie in Ancient Greece?

Mary: I am not sure.

Anna: Troy Story

Susan: What is a game popular in ancient Greek mythology?

Sam: What?

Susan: Pick up Styx.

Will: Archeologists recently dis-covered a statue of a pink lady in a T-bird. What period was it from?

Dad: Tell me.

Will: Ancient Grease.

The Sphinx’s Riddle: What walks on four legs in the morn-ing, two at noon, and three in the evening?

Answer: A man

Question: Who is the man who answered this question?

Answer: It was Oedipus.

Riddle: A dreaded dangerous whirlpool am I;

I swallow up ships as they pass by.

Answer: Charybdis

Read more: Jokes About Greek Gods | eHow http://www.ehow.com/info_8169632_jokes-greek-gods.html#ixzz2UXXBHKpn

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Word Play! Let’s have some Fun!

6In Ancient Greece I had been,And met monsters that I never had seen,Let me introduce some to you,And in your travel you’ll have a clue,

Three heads of a dog appeared,There was no creature that he feared,Cerberus was its name,Guard of the underworld it became.

Do you think a lion or a snakeCould make your nerves shake?Be prepared if the Chimera you findBecause it’s a lion, goat and snake combined.

It was a Supernatural LionThat did not live in Zion,It’s fur couldn’t be penetratedSo, the Nemean Lion was hated.

Theseus the Great Gave the Minotaur a terrible fate,It had a boring life anywayAnd the Minotaur didn’t walk away.

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Meeting the Monsters

(Ending Rhyme)

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Through its mouth came a song,And the sailors didn’t see anything wrongThe Sirens song made them mad,But the Sirens weren’t sad.

Medusa is a giant beast That always live in the East,If you don’t want to become a stone,Please, leave her alone.

Even if it can’t fly high in the skiesIt can scare with its piercing eyesThe Griffin with its forelegs of an eagleCan make everyone fearful.

Half eagle, half lady,It likes to be in the shady,The Sphinx is a mythical creature,That has an elegant feature.

To be safe dear friend,Be prepared to defend,Because all these monsters are alive,And you need to survive.

Greek and Roman!(Cinquain)7

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PoseidonCalm, PatientDefending, Helping, SupportingKing of the SeasNeptune

HadesEvil, DarkConspiring, Plotting, DestroyingRuler of the UnderworldPluto

HeraSelfish, CruelRaging, Punishing, ControllingA very Jealous GoddessJuno

AphroditeBeautiful, AttractiveCharming, Enrapturing, LovingThe Amazing Beauty QueenVenus

AthenaWise, BraveDesigning, Planning, FightingA very Good StrategistMinerva

ZeusFierce, StrongProtecting, Ordering, RulingThe King of GodsJupiter

Athena Toilet Paper Roll CraftThis is a cute and simple color, cut and paste craft that uses a toilet paper roll as a base to give it a three dimensional effect.

In Greek mythology, Athena was the daugh-ter of Zeus (born from his forehead fully grown, complete with spear and armor).  Athena was the Greek goddess of craft, wisdom and the disciplined side of war.  Her animal symbol was an owl.

She turned Medusa into a gorgon with hair of snakes for bragging her beauty was greater than Athena's and then she aided Perseus in beheading Medusa.  She turned Arachne into the first spider for bragging her weaving was better than Athena's.  She aided Odysseus during his journey home from Troy.  And she in-structed Heracles (Hercules) in how to re-move the skin from the Nemean Lion (the first of twelve tasks he had to perform as penance).

Basically, Athena helped heroes out and d idn't l ike i t when people bra g ged .

Materials:

& •& a toilet paper roll,

& •& glue,

& •& scissors,

& •& something to color with,

& •& a p iece o f paper 

Instructions:

& •& Cut of the template in the next page; 

• Glue the large rectangular piece around the toilet paper tube;

• If using template 2 (the skirt), form it into a cone and slide it over the toilet pa-per roll at this time.  You can use a bit of glue around the "belt area" to hold it on, but I usually just let it sit on loosely;

& •& Glue the belt around the center of the toilet paper roll;

& •& Glue the head onto the top of the toi-let paper roll;

& •& Glue the arms on the side.

& •& Glue the feet onto the bottom of the toilet paper roll, bending the tabs to make a 3D effect.

• Glue the shield and spear into Athena's hands.

Reference:

http://www.dltk-kids.com/fantasy/mathena.htm

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