Title of the resource
Title of the resource in english
Publisher
Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute
According to the publisher, "the webpage for the Curricular Resources of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute allows users to search for thousands of curriculum units in STEM and the humanities . These units were written by Institute Fellows in local seminars in New Haven led by Yale University faculty members between 1978, the year the Institute was founded, and 2019. These units are readily adaptable for use throughout pre-college grades.
Users can browse and search for these units using keywords, our topical index, and our listings of units by year and by volume. The topical index might be especially useful to audiences of your project interested in curriculum units about mythology, Ancient Greece, and other subjects related to Antiquity.
URL: https://teachersinstitute.yale.edu/curriculum/
For similar content, see also the Yale National Initiative
URL: https://teachers.yale.edu/curriculum/search/start "
Links accessed on 17 June, 2020
Original language
Target and Age Group
9th grade (14 - 15 year olds), honors class
Link to resource
Accessed on 17 June, 2020
Author of the Entry:
Ayelet Peer, Bar- Ilan University, ayelet.peer@biu.ac.il
Peer-reviewer of the Entry:
Lisa Maurice, Bar-Ilan University, lisa.maurice@biu.ac.il
Second Peer-reviewer of the Entry:
Susan Deacy, University of Roehampton, s.deacy@roehampton.ac.uk
John Severi
John Severi is part of a group of seventy-nine teachers from New Haven, who organised seminars on topics related to curriculum developments between March and August 1983, including the seminar entitled “Greek and Roman Mythology”, led by William G. Thalmann, Associate Professor of Classics from USC.
Contents & Purpose
This unit aims to “explore mythology through a cross-cultural, archetypal approach.” the students will read and discuss poems, stories and experts from novels which contain common elements relating to mythological architypes. The activities focus on reading comprehension and evaluation of texts as well as writing assignments and art, such as collage making. The students work individually or in groups.
This unit also aims to introduce characteristics of Greek mythology by reading from Man the Myth Maker , Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, and Ovid’s Metamorphosis as well as sections from the Iliad and Odyssey.
The creator focuses on “concepts of matriarchy and patriarchy” and thus create a connection between the representations of female in a male-dominated society to their presentation in modern society. The students will also discuss the qualities of heroic characters.
The abbreviated myths presented in the unit from Man the Myth Maker are: Prometheus, Pandora, Phaethon, Atalanta, Pegasus, Perseus, Theseus, Hercules, the adventures of Odysseus, the Trojan War, Zeus’ affairs
The unit provides 8 samples of lesson plans, bibliography on several themes, such as general mythology, classical mythology, American Mythology and Asiatic mythology, Matriarchy research.
Further comments
This unit aims to develop deeper critical thinking about gender roles in mythology, as well as comparative skills between different mythologies. The students do not only read the myths, they are asked to think about the characters’ motivations, what makes them heroic, how are the different genders represented, the gods and goddesses and their traits and more.
The focus of this unit, which recurs in the different activities, however, is the gender aspect and gender roles within mythology.
Furthermore, there is a strong emphasis on individual critical thinking. The students are asked to discuss the different questions presented by the teacher on their own (using the method of ‘shared inquiry’ which is explained in detail by the creator).
However, we should keep in mind that it is a dated resource from the 80s and there are different methods nowadays to disucss gender as well as new approaches in teaching about gender.
