This ppt gives a brief introduction to ancient heroes in the greek world.

1. Ancient Heroes

2. “I see a quiz coming in the future.”

5. Hero
➢ a person admired for bravery, great
achievements, or good qualities (Cambridge
Dictionary)
➢ The word hero comes from the Greek ἥρως
(hērōs), "hero" (literally "protector" or "defender"),
particularly one such as Heracles with divine
ancestry or later given divine honors. (Wikipedia)

6. Characteristics of a Hero
➢ The hero’s birth is miraculous or unusual.
➢ The hero has great strength.
➢ The hero falls under the enemy’s power and is
compelled to perform impossible labors in order
to claim his rightful inheritance.
➢ The hero breaks a taboo, and a terrible price is
demanded.

7. Characteristics of a Hero
➢ They did their heroic acts for personal glory.
➢ They did their heroic acts to win everlasting
honor.
➢ They weren’t generally altruistic, but mostly self-
serving.
➢ They were usually on a quest for something of
personal benefit.

8. Motifs in Heroic Myths
➢ The hero resists the temptations of an irresistible
but dangerous woman.
➢ The hero goes on a long journey.
➢ The hero is rewarded with something of great
value.
➢ The hero is responsible for his best friend’s
death.

9. The Function of Legends
➢ Like myth, legends served a specific function in
that they explained certain rituals/customs, and
often gave an example of how/how not to act.
➢ While Greek heroes were often stronger, more
intelligent, more beautiful, and more favored by
the gods than the average person, almost all had
serious character flaws.

10. Genealogies
➢ The genealogies of the Greek heroes were
important as the Greeks believed that such
legendary figures really had existed and
members of important families regarded
themselves as having descended from them.
Alexander the Great, for example, claimed he
could trace his ancestry back to Achilles,
Heracles and Zeus.
➢ It is all in the BLOOD!

11. The House of Cecrops

12. “
A hero cannot be a
hero
unless in a heroic
world.
Nathaniel Hawthorne

15. ➢ Son of the Thracian river god Oeagrus and the
Muse Calliope.
➢ Eurydice, his wife, was killed by snakebite on her
wedding day.
➢ Orpheus went to Hades to seek his wife. The god
decides to give back Eurydice only if Orpheus
won’t look back.

17. ➢ The greatest of Greek heroes. He was the son of
Alcmene and Zeus (Zeus “visited” Alcmene in the
form of her husband).
➢ Heracles was harassed by Hera for being Zeus’
illegitimate son.
➢ Famous for his 12 labors.
➢ Upon his death, he was made immortal.
➢ Despite being a hero, he had many character
flaws particularly hubris – excessive pride.

19. ➢ The son of Aethra and Poseidon.
➢ His father ‘Aegus’ placed sandals and a sword
under a rock. When Theseus could lift the rock
and retrieve the articles, he would prove he was
the rightful king of Athens.
➢ Theseus’ major achievement was travelling to
Crete and killing the Minotaur, escaping from the
labyrinth using a thread given to him by Ariadne.

21. ➢ Bellerophon was given a seemingly impossible
task—killing a monster called the Chimaera.
➢ With divine assistance and the aid of the flying
horse, Pegasus, Bellerophon succeeded, but his
triumph gave him an inflated view of his own
status.
➢ He decides to reach Mt. Olympus on top of
Pegasus but the gods punished him.
➢ Pegasus, alone, reached Mt. Olympus.

23. ➢ Son of Danae and Zeus (he “visited” Danae as a
shower of gold)
➢ Mother and son banished after an oracle said
the son of Danae would kill her father Acrisius.
➢ With the help of Athena and Hermes (who gave
him a sickle, bag, cap of darkness for invisibility
and winged shoes), Perseus killed Medusa, a
monster with serpents for hair who turned
anyone who looked at her to stone.

25. ➢ Son of Laius and Jocasta, who kills his father and
marries his mother thus fulfilling a prophecy given
before his birth.
➢ Famed for ridding the city of Thebes of the Sphinx.
➢ He blinds himself when he discovers the truth by
stabbing his eyes with Jocasta’s combs.
➢ He is a favorite subject for many Greek playwrights.
Sophocles wrote “King Oedipus”, “Oedipus at
Colonus”, and “Antigone.” While Euripedes wrote
“Oedipus.”

26. THE RIDDLE
"A thing there is whose voice is one;
Whose feet are four and two and three.
So mutable a thing is none
That moves in earth or sky or sea.
When on most feet this thing doth go,
Its strength is weakest and its pace most slow."

27. THE ANSWER
➢ A man is a baby in the morning of his life and he
crawls on four feet.
➢ A man is an adult in the noon – the middle part –
of his life and he walks on two feet.
➢ But when a man is old, in the evening of his life,
he walks with a cane, on three feet.

29. ➢ Son of Aeson and Alcimede. Brought up by Chiron
in Thessaly.
➢ Famous as the leader of the Argonauts in their
quest for the golden fleece.
➢ Jason is sent on the expedition by his Uncle who
has taken over the throne which is rightfully
Jason’s.
➢ Jason is aided by Aphrodite and Hera and Medea.
He later abandons Medea who kills their children
and Jason’s new wife.

31. ➢ Son of Peleus (mortal) and Thetis (sea nymph).
➢ To make him immortal, Thetis deeps him in the
River Styx to wash away his mortality. His only
‘weakness’ was the heel by which she holds him.
➢ Achilles is the ultimate Homeric hero, carrying the
savage ethical code of revenge to its terrifying
conclusion in the Iliad.
➢ Achilles is eventually killed by Paris and Apollo,
thus fulfilling the prophecy that he would die if he
went to Troy.

34. Describe Us
Heracles Perseus Jason Oedipus

35. Theseus Orpheus Bellerophon Achilles

36. RUBRIC

37. 2 Minute Non-Stop Talking
From the Module on Ancient Heroes, I
realized/learned that …

39. Create Your Own Myth
Guidelines:
➢ Your story must involve at least two Olympian
gods or goddesses. It may contain other gods or
goddesses as well.
➢ Your story must explain some natural
phenomenon (such as a weather event) or some
geological feature (a mountain range, a large
valley, a sea, an ocean, a polar ice cap, etc.).

40. ➢ Your story should be at least 350 words.
➢ Your story must have a clear beginning, middle
and end.
➢ Your story should clearly show that you know
something about Greek mythology. You will do
this by including details about the Olympian gods
and goddesses that show you know their powers,
symbols and personalities.

41. Here Are Some Ideas…
➢ Where did the seasons come from?
➢ Where did the Magat River come from?
➢ What made the North and/or South Pole(s)?
➢ Why is Earth the third planet from the sun?
➢ Why is it dark at night?
➢ What is in the middle of the earth?