1. Language Skills in History 1
Teacher: Marina
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READING & VOCABULARY:
Greek Mythology
The Twelve Olympians
The most important gods were the 12 Olympians. They were very powerful
and they were worshipped all around Greece. There were also other
important gods, like Hades, who weren´t in the Olympus. Let’s name the
15 most important gods:
2. The 12 Olympians
YOUR TASK: Who is who?
TASK 1. Find out. Match the God/Goddess with the correct information
about them.
GOD / GODDESS INFORMATION
1. Zeus
PRONUNCIATION: /zjuːs/
(a) She was the goddess of agriculture and
cereals. Her divine animal was the dolphin.
She had a daughter called Persephone with
Zeus.
2. Poseidon
PRONUNCIATION: /pɒˈsaɪdən/
(b) She was married whit Zeus. Hera was
the goddess of family and her divine animal
was the peacock. She had one important
god, Hephaestus.
3. Hera
PRONUNCIATION: /ˈhɪərə/
(c) He was the god of wine, parties and
theatre. His divine animals were leopards
and bulls.
4. Demeter
PRONUNCIATION: /dɪˈmiːtə/
(d) She was the goddess of hunting and
moon. Artemis was virgin and her divine
animal was the deer.
5. Hephaestus
PRONUNCIATION: /hɪˈfiːstəs/
or /hɪˈfaɪstɒs/
(e) He was the god of blacksmith.
Hephaestus was married with Aphrodite. He
was son of Hera, but when he was born, he
was very ugly, so Hera throw him off mount
Olympus.
6. Aphrodite
PRONUNCIATION:
/ˌæfrəˈdaɪtɪ/
(f) He was the god of war and fight, and his
divine animal was the dog. He was usually
represented with a shield and a spear.
3. 7. Ares
PRONUNCIATION: /ˈɛəriːz/
(g) She was the goddess of beauty and
love. She was married with Hephaestus, but
she was in love with Ares. Her divine
animals were the pigeon and sea creatures.
8. Artemis
PRONUNCIATION: /ˈɑːtɪmɪs/
(h) He was the god of medicine and
message-carrying. He offered his services
as message-carrying to other gods. His
divine animals were the wild boar and the
cock.
9. Apollo
PRONUNCIATION: /əˈpɒləʊ/
(i) He was the god of sun, oracles, music
and bows; and his divine animals were two
snakes. Apollo was brother of Artemisia.
10.Dionysus
PRONUNCIATION: /ˌdaɪə
ˈnaɪsəs/
(j) He was brother of Zeus. Poseidon was
the god of seas and was married with
Amphitrite. His divine animal was de horse.
11.Hermes
PRONUNCIATION: /ˈhɜːmiːz/
(k) She was the goddess of knowledge, and
strategy. She was virgin and born from
Zeus’ head. Her divine animal was the owl.
12.Athena
PRONUNCIATION: /əˈθiːnə/
(l) Most important god of the Olympians.
He was the god of thunder. His animal
divine was de eagle. He had four important
gods: Athena, Dionysus, Apollo and
Artemis.
13.Hades
PRONUNCIATION: /ˈheɪdiːz/
(m) She was the goddess of fertile land.
Zeus and Demeter were her parents, but
she was kidnapped by Hades.
14.Hestia
PRONUNCIATION: /ˈhɛstɪə/
(n) She was the goddess of home. Her
divine animal was the donkey. Once,
she was an Olympian, but she left
mount Olympus because Zeus wanted
to turn Dionysus into an Olympic god.
She didn´t want to see fights between
her family so she left her post, giving it
4. to Zeus’ son.
15.Persephone
PRONUNCIATION: /pəˈsɛfənɪ/
(o) He was the god of the Underworld
and death. He was brother of Zeus
and Poseidon. His divine animals
were all black animals, like sheep or
ravens.
Task 2. Read the two leyends below and build a glossary for each with
all the unknown terms.
PAN LEYEND
Pan was the god of nature and flock. One day, he fell in
love with a nymph called Siringa. He chased her, but he
were too fast. After a time, tired the nymph jump into
river Ladon. There, scared, asked other nymphs for help.
They immediately, turned her into a reedbed. Pan,
sadden, took some pieces of the plant and put them
together, making a new instrument: Pan Flute.
APOLLO AND DAFNE
Apollo was the god of sun, bows and oracles. He usually fell in love with
nymphs and human women. One day Apollo saw a nymph called Dafne.
Apollo loved her since the first time they saw each other, but Dafne hated
Apollo. The god chased her for a long time, but finally, with help of other
gods, Apollo caught her. She was desperate, so she ask for his father´s
help. He turned Dafne into a tree, a laurel. Since them, and thanks to
Apollo’s powers, all heroes had a laurel crown in her honour.
5. My GREEK LEGENDS Glossary
Pan Legend Apollo and Dafne
Unknown Vocabulary DEFINITION/
MEANING
Unknown Vocabulary DEFINITION/
MEANING