Activity

The lovers of Zeus

Characters:

Sappho of Lesbos (Sappho of Mytilene)

Theme: Main goddesses and gods of the Olympic pantheon

Competencies

Competence in Linguistic Communication

Personal, social and learning to learn competence

Competence in cultural awareness and expressions

Subjects and year by Educational System

Spain > Classical culture > 2nd ESO > Continuity of cultural heritage. Mythology and religion

Enunciation

<img title="Women's Legacy logo" src="//inclusion.womenslegacyproject.eu/images/LogoWL.svg" /><hr />Read this excerpt by Sappho, a Greek poetess in the 7th-6th century BC, and answer the following questions. &nbsp;
Close beside me now as I pray appearing&nbsp; Lady Hera, gracious in all your majesty&nbsp; you whom the Atre&iacute;dai invoked to help them,&nbsp; glorious princes,&nbsp; while they were completing their many labors,&nbsp; first at Ilion, and then on the ocean&nbsp; sailing for this island: they hadn&rsquo;t power to&nbsp; finish their journey&nbsp; till they called on you, on the god of strangers&nbsp; Zeus, and on Thy&oacute;n&euml;&rsquo;s delightful son:&nbsp; Now I too entreat you, O goddess, help me&nbsp; as in the old days.&nbsp;
Sappho, Fr. 17&nbsp;
The Poetry of Sappho. Translation and Notes by Jim Powell. (retrevied on 06/09/2022) &lt;<a href="http://www.projethomere.com/ressources/Sappho/Poetry-of-Sappho.pdf">http://www.projethomere.com/ressources/Sappho/Poetry-of-Sappho.pdf</a>&gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Before doing the activities, we are going to review some of Zeus' affairs.&nbsp;
Zeus had an official wife, his sister Hera (Juno) with whom she had Hephaestus (Vulcano), Ares (Mars) and Hebe. Zeus was unfaithful and slept with other goddesses and mortals with whom he had other gods, heroes and benevolent beings. &nbsp;
With Themis, daughter of Uranus and Gaia, he had the Moirai (Fates) and the Three Graces; with Mnemosyne, daughter of Uranus and Gaia, he had the Nine Muses; from his affair with Demeter, daughter of Cronus and Rhea, Persephone was born. &nbsp;&nbsp;
Ha also fathered several Olympian gods: with Leda, a titan daughter of Coeus, he had Apollo and Artemis (Diana); from his union with Maia came Hermes (Mercury); he devoured Metis, daughter of Oceanus and Thetys, after finding out she was pregnant and from her head, Athena (Minerva) was born; he had Bacchus with Semele after it grew in his thigh, since his mother, daughter of Cadmus, died when she saw Zeus in all his splendour after being tricked by Hera.&nbsp;
He had more offspring with some mortal women he tricked: transformed into a shower of gold he deceived Dana&euml;, princess of Argos and from this union, Perseus was born; in the form of a swan he united with Leda to conceive Pollux and Helen of Troy; to abduct Europa he transformed himself into a beautiful bull, took her to Crete where their son Minos was born; to seduce Alcmene he disguised himself as Amphitryon, her husband, and conceived the hero Heracles; transformed into a cloud he deceived Io and Epaphos, king of Egypt, was born; in the form of Artemis he conquered Callisto and Arcas was born; disguised as a satyr he took the opportunity to deceive Antiope and from this relationship Zetho and Amphion were born.&nbsp;
Metamorphosed into an eagle, he abducted the handsome young Trojan prince Ganymede, whom he took to Olympus and made cupbearer to the gods with his daughter Hebe. &nbsp;
Answer the following questions:
1- Who is Thy&oacute;n&euml;? Who did Zeus father with her? How was this child born?&nbsp;
2- Complete the following table with information about Zeus' children from the name of his lovers.&nbsp;
<img src="//inclusion.womenslegacyproject.eu/uploads/resume/attachment/3367/amors_buida_angles1.jpg" alt="" width="420" height="545" />
3- Complete this table as the one above.&nbsp;
<img src="//inclusion.womenslegacyproject.eu/uploads/resume/attachment/3368/amors_buida_angles2.jpg" alt="" width="493" height="547" />
4- Connect his lovers to his metamorphoses&nbsp;&nbsp;
LOVER &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;METAMORPHOSIS&nbsp;
Antiope&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; swan&nbsp; Dana&euml;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; bull&nbsp; Europe&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; satyr&nbsp; Ganymede&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; cloud Leda &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;golden rain&nbsp;&nbsp; Io&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;eagle&nbsp; Alcmene&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Artemis&nbsp; Callisto &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Amphitryon&nbsp;
5- Make a collage using different images you find to illustrate all of Zeus' lovers and offspring.&nbsp;
6- Using Zeus' attitude as a basis, do you think that there was gender-based violence in Greek and Latin mythology? Give reasons for your answer.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Observations and context

Sappho's example served as a stimulus for almost all the surviving poets of Greco-Roman antiquity, from the Greeks (Mirtis and Corina, from Boeotia; Telesila and Praxila, from the Peloponnese; Erina, from the island of Telos; Mero, from Byzantium; Anita, from Tegea, a modest village in Arcadia? ) to the Romans (Melino, the elegiac Sulpicia, Herenia Procula, Sulpicia the satirist, the travellers Julia Balbila and Cecilia Trebula, Fabia Aconia Paulina, the last pagan...). Romantic writers used it as a shield to validate female authorship (Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, Carolina Coronado, María Rosa Gálvez, etc.). With the contributions of the papyri found at the end of the 19th and 20th centuries, Sappho was once again translated and read.

This activity is suggested for 2nd of ESO, although it can be adapted to other levels. 

Description

Students must answer some questions based on an excerpt by Sappho.

The lovers of Zeus

Enunciation

Observations and context

Description

Answer

Documents