Greek Mythology in the Autumn

I think it is lovely to start the year with Greek Mythology... so many things are a good tie-in to the autumn. We planted daffodil bulbs when we did the story of Narcissus. Yesterday pomegranates were in the grocery store so we were able to cut one open and eat some of the seeds when we did the story of Demeter and Persephone.

Last week one of our stories was Prometheus and Pandora. Pandoraby Robert Burleigh is a nice retelling and I love the illustration style.




Another book I found that I like of Greek Myths is called Famous Myths of the Golden Age by Beatrice Alexander. I like the scope of her book -- it's not too much -- but the downside is that she has changed many of the names to the Roman names for the same gods, so it makes the stories inconsistent with many of the other books you may be using. All the same, I really like her selection. I find that I am too overwhelmed by the D'Aulaires book.

Famous Myths of the Golden Age includes:

• The Flame-Giver
• Pandora's Box
• The Gorgon's Head
• The Story of King Midas
• The Sun-God and the Mortal
• How Phaeton Drove the Horses of the Sun
• The Golden Fleece
• Cupid and Psyche
• The Labors of Hercules
• The Six Pomegranate Seeds
• The Wanderings of Ulysses

I have found that it makes a great difference if you know the story and tell it yourself. If this seems too difficult, try this method. Read the story, then sleep on it. The next evening, try to tell the story out loud based on what you remember. Re-read the story, then sleep on it again. Amazingly... you will know it! Takes several nights to do this but it makes a BIG difference.