Tuesday, October 13, 2009

World mythology

In class today we defined mythology as a body or collection of stories belonging to a people and addressing their history, deities, ancestors and heroes.

Each group read a different myth from a different culture and hopefully learned something about a culture it was not familiar with...

Please post the culture your myth was about and what you learned through their story... and consider what your own myths share about your culture while putting together your 3D gallery of personal artificats.

52 comments:

Anastasia Ioannou said...

The myth my group and I read in class today was "The God Man". It was a Greek myth and involved Prometheous. The myth was about how man got the use of fire. Zeus had told Prometheous that he was not aloud to give man fire. But Prometheous disobed and gave it to man anyway. When Zeus found out he banished Prometheous to the mountains where he was chained to a rock. Everyday an egale would come and tear out him liver, but the liver would grow back to tourcher him everyday. Eventually Zeus let him go.
I learned that this story represents how people had to listen to what they were told and how power was a very strong thing. It was only given to certain people and was only supposed to be used at a certain time.

Amanda Brandell said...

I read the same story as Anastasia, but I think the title was "The God-Teacher". Prometheus was greedy to begin with and wanted to out smart Zeus. Zeus, being the God of all Gods, didn't like that someone was able to trick him. He felt that people would take advantage of him and that is why he didn't let Prometheus give man the gift of fire. So Prometheus stole it and taught the men how to use it. He said that you have to constantly feed it, but you can't feed it too much or else it will become to strong and burn us all. Zeus, seeing that Prometheus disobayed him, took him up to the mountains where like Anastasia said an eagle would come and tear out his liver. Everyday it would regenerate. Eventually, I don't think Zeus let him go, it said that he was saved by someone called Hercules.
From this story, I got the idea that your supposed to listen to your elders and that stealing is not a good thing. Also, I learned that greed is not a good thing either. If you disobey the rules that people enforce, you will face consequences for your actions.

Bianca Denaro said...

The myth my group did was Old Man, it represents a indian myth. The myth was about a old man that told a duck to help him on challenges that he had to face. From this myth i learned about bravery because he tolled the duck what he wanted. Also it tought me to never give up because you can always try but never give up and thats what the old man and duck did.

Brianna Rosenberg said...

The myth I read about was a Greek myth. It was about Prometheous, and he showed man fire even though Zeus told him not to. When Zeus found out, he chained Prometheous to a rock, where everyday an eagle would come and tear out his liver. Every night, it would grow back just to torcher him. After a long while, Zeus decided to let him go. I learned that you should respect your authority figures.

monicaaa S. (: said...

The myth that my group read was a greek myth called "The God-Teacher." It was about Prometheus being very greedy and wanting to outsmart Zeus so that he could feel more powerful than him. Zeus told Prometheus that humans were not allowed to be given the gift of fire because it was too dangerous and powerful for them. But Prometheus disobeyed Zeus and gave humans the gift of fire anyways. When Zeus found out that Prometheus disobeyed his rules, he took him to the mountains where an eagle would come out and tear out his liver, but then the liver would grow back to torture him every single day, as Anastasia and Amanda said. Eventually, Zeus relented and allowed Prometheus to be saved by one of his heroes name Hecules.
What I learned from this story is to respect your elders by not disobeying them. I also learned never to be greedy because it's a bad thing and you will eventually face the consequences for it.

Literature Cirles - This Boy's Life said...

Sorry! I forgot the people's names.

I read a British Colombian (Canadian)myth about a shape-shifter who helped people in need. When he arrived at one certain place, he realized that everyone was crying. When he asked the people why they cried, no one answered exept for an old blind man. The man tells him that the men are all out hunting for the bear-man, who had killed someone in their village every single night. The shape-shifter goes on to trick the bear-man into thinking that if he ate baked stones, he will obtain youth and strenth. So, out of greed for more power, the bear-man are the rocks and died. This myth taught me that nothing good comes out of greed and selfishness, and that you should help people who are in need as the shape-shifter did.

Literature Cirles - This Boy's Life said...

The last post was by Maggie Todaro (im using my group blog e-mail apparently)

Lauren said...

Today in class the myth that me and my group read was "The GOD-TEACHER." The myth was about how the gods wanted to give man a gift on earth. Prometheus decided to trick Zues, and Zues got very angry with that. Prometheus went to Earth without Zues's permission and gave humans the gift of fire. When Zues found out he was furious, and did not want humans to be able to gain that much power. So, Zues put Prometheus into jail, and everyday a bird would peck out his liver. Each day his liver would grow back, so the same amount of pain would happen each day. Eventually Prometheus was saved by Hercules.
From this myth I learned that the Greeks found power a very important thing. Also, the Greek Gods, had human qualities. They would get jealous, greedy, etc. I also learned that you should listen to what your told, and not go against it because there will always be consequences

Shannon Doran said...

My group Sketco and the Grizzly Man. This was a Tahltan myth. It all started when Raven saves the villiage by tricking the bear into eating stones and kills him in order to save the villiage from his tyranny.
This shows that the Tahltan values heroism because Sketco (the raven) saved them ages ago; yet they still remember.

dajamoal said...

The myth I was assigned came from Ojibwa culture. The myth was about Nanabush, a magician who sought out revenge on serpent people who killed his brother. He got revenge on them and as a result they serpents flooded the earth. Nanabush and a few animals were the only survivors on a raft. So he realized he had to create a new world. This story teaches the Ojibwa people not to seek revenge by making them fear extreme consequences.

Moses Allred
202
ELA period 2

Rosemarie W said...

I read a myth from the Greek origin. The myth talked about a superior being (a god) creating everything the earth is made up of. The myth also talked about the superior being creating other gods, that were beneath him, but still superior to regular people. The new gods he created represented things like heaven, love, beauty, the sun, etc. This taught me about the Greeks religion. It taught me that they practice Polytheism, which is the belif in many gods. Myths from my culture/religion show what we believe in as well because, the story about how God created the earth shows that we only believe in one god because in the myth, there is one god, and He creates people, animals, plants, etc; but no other gods. This reflects the belief of only having one god.

Victoria Eng said...

I read tge same myth as Bianca "Old Man", this represend indian myths. It was about an old man that told a duck to help him on challenges that he had to face. The old man also made land, animals and humans. I learned that keep trying and don't ever give up.

adogirl said...

I read the myth "When The First Stream Was Made" (I think tht was its name) It came from West Africa. The myth talked about how childern should listen to there parents when they tell them to do something. THis myth demonstartes this because in the myth a man named Etim had 7 sons and 7 daughters and Etim gives his sns a task. The tash was to pick up stonea dn aly them in a line because when you do that Etim said it would make a stream. One of the sons took a bunch of stones in a basket and pour them all out and water came pouring out of the basket and flooded everything. When his father had prayed away like the water he was was forced to live on his on farm which was all flooded in water. This myth taught me that when an adult gives your direction you should listen.

Allison OHagan
Period 1

Anonymous said...

The myth I read in class today was a myth told by people that lived in Uganda, located in Africa. The myth's title is The Creation of The Earth and it is about a god preaching his children about equality and balance. In the story the rain one of the god's children wants to flood the earth and let it rain forever, but the god contradicts the rain's plans by telling him that he should share the position with the sun so the Earth can be balanced. The same goes with the Son Darkness.
I believe that the people who lived in Uganda worshiped nature and its power, thats why they resemble thier gods to the weather. Thier culture relates a lot to nature.


Alex Bao 203

danielle said...

Today my group read about the Ojibwa myth called Nanabush Creates the World. Moses basically told what it was about, but my group also alnalyzed what the Ojibwa people were trying to teach their children. They were teaching them how important family is and how you must fight for them. They also wished for a world in which everyone could be safe, which is why Nanabush created the new world with no Serpent people.

Danielle Period 8

BrittanyB said...

The myth i read was from the culture of West Africans. Basically family is very important them, because they depended on each other through out everything that they did. The man and the woman had several sons' & several daughters', and they all help to make build the stream so they have supply on water to survive. And so on and so fourth, with those sons & daughters they had more sons & daughters. They never branched out to birth children from another family. Also at the end of the myth, the father says to the children & grandchildren "don't forget that it was me who kept you survived (those weren't the exact words, but very similar) right before he died. I'm not sure if i clarified the myth enough; but i believe myth is trying to prove family is very important...

Jenna S. said...

During the class period today, I read a myth from the Greek origin. The myth discussed the "father figure of god," and how he is the being with most power. However, other gods/goddesses were created; these in which were considered "beneath" the overpowering figure of God. In addition, these new gods had symbolized things like heaven, beauty and love. From analyzing this myth, I have learned unique beliefs of the Greek culture. For example, I now know that many of the ancient greeks must of took part in the religious practice of Polytheism- the belief in several gods. In addition, the myth connects to religious practices formed today; in which may involve the belief of one god, who empowers life on Earth such as plants, animals and humans.

Anonymous said...

Today in class my group and I read a Greek myth. The myth basically talked about the names of the Greek people in the myths. They described each name and each of the names either represented the moon or the sun,etc. It also said that whatever ( I forgot the persons name) he made out of clay it turned alive.

Stephanie Lizzul
P.D. 1

donna said...

"Nanabush creates the world"

this myth was from Ojibwa culture. in this myth the main character is nanabush, a magician. he has an ongoing rivalry with the serpent people, and when his brother goes missing he plots revenge on the serpent people. Because of this the serpents flooded the earth. nanabush survives on a raft, which is a piece of tree. on the raft are only him and animals which were previously mentioned as his friends. them being the only survivor, nanabush is forced to recreate a new world.

chris903 said...

The greek myth I read was a west african myth, on how the first rivers were made on earth. there were two people living on earth(i dont know their names) and they were all by themselves on earth, and they had no water. So they went to a kingom and asked for water, and the ruler agrees, and the couple were to bring the ruler water on thanksgiving. The couple had 7 children at once, and then a little while after they had 7 more. Their daughters became pregnant and each had 4 boys and 3 girls. The sons were greedy and they didnt share their meat with their father, and their father didnt share his water with them. He told them to spread rocks where they wanted rivers to form, and one didnt listen to him,a nd he put the rocks all in the same place, and their area was flooded. I think the moral of the story is to not be greedy and to do as your told, and trust people, because when you dont something disasterous can occur.

-Chris Cinturati, pd.8 class 202

Anonymous said...

my myth was nanobush saves the world. This was about a world just filled with animals and this magiaicn nanobush. their were this race of people called the serpent prople who were evil and used to kill the animals (nanobush's freinds) so they(nanobush and the serpent people) fought alot, and one day nano bush's brother was out on a errand and never came home. so nanobush found the serpent peoples hide out and his brothers dead carcas, and killed the serpent cheif. so this made the serpent people very angery so the serpent people flooded the world in a rage, and nanobush knew about this before hand, so he summond all the animals and put them in a boat. Now the whole world was flooded and all the serpent people got wiped out from the flood so nanbush being a magican and all, mad a new world out of a small hand full of sand...

What I got out of this myth was to always do the right thing and every action you do (especially a bad action) has consequences.

Michelle Xia said...

Sorry, Ms. Sackstein, I wasn't in a lot of the class period plus the fire drill threw me off as well.

My group story was called How the rivers first came on Earth. This was a West African tale. All I really remember was that there was two people that went on Earth but they didn't have water. Therefore, they asked for water, and got want they wanted. (This is when the fire drill happened)

However, I looked through Chris's post and got a great summary of the story.

I think I would agree with Chris in the moral for the story. It's teaching people to not be so greedy.

-Michelle Xia(:

Maria said...

my myth was the one from uganda and it was about how the godess rain wanted to flood the earth but someone stopped him. They also had an equal balance in the world so everyone could be equal. Some woman had four kids and she named them rain, darkness, sun, and i can't remember the other one. i think the people that live in uganda have a very interesting culture.

Sara Touzard said...

Just letting you know that I didn't finish reading the myth so I will just tell you what I remember.
The myth that I read with my group today was called The Beginning of Things and the myth is representing Greek culture. This myth is about a Greek god named Uranus (Sky) and a Greek goddess named Gaia (Mother Earth), who fell in love and had six children that were called the Titans and they were giants and one of them was named Kronus. Kronus had children. Gaia and Uranus warned Kronus that one of his sons would try to take over. So Kronus decided to eat all his children so it wouldn’t happen. His wife Rhea tricked him and gave him a stone wrapped in clothing to eat and hid her youngest son from him.

THEBOSS said...

I read the myth, How the Rivers First Came on Earth. This myth was of ancient West Africa. It was based on a Lord named Obassi. This Lord was powerfull and supplyed a old man named Etim'ne with his needs. According to the myth the old man had to go up to talk to him so i am guessing it could be the heavens. Etim'ne begged for water and the Lord gave him 7 rocks, after Etim'ne and his wife Ejaw had been living of off plantain stems for 7days. With these 7 rocks he could plant rivers and streams. When he did so, he bored 14 children, 7 men, 7 women and they each paired up and married each other. In the end one of the old mans children was bad and he almost flooded the Earth just because he did not listen to his fathers instructions. Luckily the father stoped the flood. - Christian Segura, Period 1

Andre aka Dre said...

This was a Tahltan myth. It all started when Raven saves the villiage by tricking the bear into eating stones and kills him in order to save the villiage from his tyranny.And the man was from somewhere and going around mostly ask people was wrong and he can he help and the people said they people are getting killed and the guy was like he going to trick the bear in to eattin bake stones which would of killed him which did.

Brianna Hungerford said...

The myth my group and I read was from northern British Columbia (Canada.) Basically, an old grizzly bear went around capturing young boys and girls to murder. Then, Skector(?), who was also known as the Raven, tricked the grizzly into eating hot stones. This taught the grizzly that he shouldn't be harming anyone and along with that came the death of the grizzly. The culture revealed in the myth was to respect others and to not harm any other creature.

brandonbryant said...

The myth that I read with my group today was called The Beginning of Things and the myth is form Greek culture. This myth is about a Greek god named Uranus and a Greek goddess named Gaia (I think thats how you spell it), who fell in love and had six children that were called the Titans and they were giants and one of them was named Kronus. Kronus had children. Gaia and Uranus warned Kronus that one of his sons would try to take over. So Kronus decided to eat all his children so it wouldn’t happen. His wife Rhea tricked him and gave him a stone wrapped in clothing to eat and hid her youngest son from himself .

Edina Kay said...

The myth I read was called Heaven and Earth and Man and its from the Chinese culture. Its about a man name P'ak Ku who used his body to separate Earth and the Sky. Then Na-kua(?) whose body was of a dragon but head of a human created humans and taught them the use of marriage so that they will have children and it will go from generation to generation. I learned that their culture was of learning new things and using what they learned to expand it to make it better.

Jessye Pragen said...

Today in class the myth that I read was Sketco and the Grizzly Man which was from the Tahltan origin. Which is also known as northern British Columbia (Canada). This myth was about how Sketco, the Raven was trying to stop the Grizzly Man ( which is a bear ) from eating the children and adults all the time. In order to do so, the Raven must find a way to defeat this "man". The lesson behind all this is to respect everyone no matter who they are, man, woman, or animal.

sophia said...

The myth I read today in class originated in West Africa. The story was about how the first rivers,streams, and water in general came to exist. The moral of the story was to be appreciative of what others give and not to be selfsh.

I learned from this story that being thankful for gifts that are given is an important quality. It is also important not to take the gifts others give you for granted, and to appreiate everything. Another moral I learned from this story was to show your appreciation when someone helps you out. I think the main idea of this myth is about karma and about how people should do for others how they would want others to do for them..

Janet said...

My group read the greek myth "The God-Teacher"
It was about how Prometheus gave men the power of fire, although Zeus didn't allow it. Zeus was angered when he found out what Prometheus had done. Zeus punished Prometheus by chaining him in the mountains. Everyday, an eagle would come and eat his liver, but the liver would always grow back to torture him. But, I think Zeus eventually sent Hercules to free Prometheus.
I learned that you should always obey the authorities and don't steal because there are going to be consequences.

hernan said...

The myth I read in class today was the Old Man, it was a Crow Indian Myth which means it took place in North American. In this myth an Old Man had questioned ducks which indiviual was the bravest. One duck had felt he was the bravest and the Old Man had told him to go to the bottom of the lake and bring some dirt to him, on his back. The dick did so and the Old Man made man and woman.

After he mad Man and Woman he began to give them very big responsibilities, like collect clothing, food , making fire, and cups for themselves and in the end the Old Man states that this man is brave, the man that he made. Meaning all of these accomplishments have proved the bravery of this man --

AV said...

I wasn't in class for most of the period, so here I go.

The myth that my group did was about the Ojibwa people. Their myth was about a boy named Nanabush, who wanted revenge on the serpant people for killing his brother. He went to the lake where his brother suppositly drowned. The first time he tried killing the two serpant people, he only wounded them, and they tried to drown him. Then, he built a raft and talked to one of the discused serpant people for information. After that, he found out where they lived, killed the two wounded serpant people, and got revenge for his brother's death, while making it out alive.

This story told me that the Ojibwa people use this story to remind them not to give up. Nanabush didn't give up when he nearly drowned to death, he just tried again, but used a safer, and smarter approch.


Andrew Villa Period 8

Mary Bella Torosyan said...

The title of the myth I read was "The God-Teacher" and it was a Greek myth. In the beginning Prometheus was greedy god wanted to out smart Zeus. Zeus was the God of all Gods and he didn’t like it when someone made a fool out of him because he thought that the other gods would take advantage of his power. And that came to the point of the myth why Zeus didn’t let Prometheus to give man the gift of fire because he thought he was not responsible enough. From there Prometheus stole it and started to teach men how to use the fire, like they had to feed it and you cannot leave it alone because if it becomes out of control it can kill us all, and the only way to stop the fire is to put water on it. When Zeus found out about what Prometheus did, he took him to the mountains, and that’s where Anastasia told him an eagle will come to him and tear out his live. The lesson I think other people could learn from is that you should not take things from other people and also not make a fool out of other. And if you don’t follow rules, and are bad, then what goes around comes around. And that is where you start to face consequences.

biancaj1.com said...

I was not in school but my group told me that i had the God of the small things.

robin o. said...

The myth that my group read today in class was called "Nanabush Creates the World." The origin was Ojibwa. The ojibwa were passing down the story of how the world was created. Danielle and Andrew sit at my table so together as a group we summarized and analyzed the story. They were teaching the children how important family is and how you must fight for them, even if the odds are against you. Nanabush created a world where everyone was good and you could be safe, and the Ojibwa people tried to show people that being nice mattered and that the new world consisted of good people.

sorry its late.. my computer wont submit my work.. ive tried many timess

ante said...

the myth my group did originated from china. the title of our myth is heaven and earth and man. it is about a guy named pa ku or something asian like that. this guy seperated the earth and sky with his body. this shows that he is strong. i learned that this culture was making expanded things better.

Unknown said...

my myth was called "Nanabush creates the world"

the culture was called ojibwa. It was about this all powerful magician and how and the serpent men could never live together in peace, and one day nanabush's brother goes missing. Time went by a he assumed the serpent people had killed his brother. He was planning to get back at these serpent people, one day as he was climbing a mountain the water began to rise, even as he climbed an oak tree it reached his chin. As the story goes on he finds his brother, dead. Out of complete anger he kills the chief of the serpent people, and then for a month the world stayed flooded but he survived with the animals on a raft while all of the serpent people died in the flood. He has one of the animals that is a good swimmer go down and get sand from the old world. The magician uses this little piece of sand and causes it to grow and grow and grow until it becomes a new world for all of the animals to live again.

Isabela said...

the myth my group did was originted from china, and it was kind of confusing and i didnt understand it. while my group was taking turns reading. i was trying to pay attention to them but all i herd were random words, it was no very itereting, so me an my whole group just kept drifting away. but it was a kind of interesting myth, i cannot remmember the name of it though but i do rememeber it was kind of confusing and not well interesting.

Isabela Janashvili
period 8

annaLee Lee said...

The myth my group and I read about was originated from northern British Columbia, or Canada. The main gist of the story is that there is an old grizzly bear-man who went around, capturing young girls and boys and murdered them, among with anyone else who dared to fight against him. The sketcor, or the Raven, tricked the grizzly into eating red-hot stones by pretending that it was harmless. By tricking the bear into doing this, the raven taught him a lesson that he shouldn't be harming young children and others.

The myth showed that the culture was centered around respecting others and not bring harm upon one another.

Period 1 English said...

my group's story was about how a god created the world. in this story, earth started as a big swirling mass. the god, who's name i forgot, put everything in the swirling mass in order and thats how the earth was made. after that, he created man

Period 1 English said...

that last post was by brent, im apperently using my reading groups account.

chris903 said...

The myth that I read in class was "the old man", which is a crow-indian myth and so it took place in North America. In the myth, an old man asked a group of ducks which one was the bravest. One duck stood out and said that he was the bravest of the group. The old man challenged the duck and told him to go to the bottom of the lake and bring him back some dirt. The duck did, and so the old man created a man and a woman. He gave the man and woman tasks, like collecting food and clothing. The old man decided that the man he created was very brave, and I learned that bravery is the moral of the story.

Nick Cinturati(i'm using my brothers account)
Period 2

Johannna. H said...

The myth i read during class was of Greek origin, it talked about how the father figure of god had the most power. New goddesses and gods were createdyet they were looked upon as beneath him.
This myth was about a Greek goddess named Gia and a god name Uranus, they fell in love and soon enough had 6 children. One of their children were named Kronus, he also had kids and they told him that one day his sons would take over, he became mad and started to eat up each one of his kids. To prevent this from keep on happening Rhea [his wife] wrapped up a stone in blankets and gave it to Kronus, he then ate it and she hid the true one from Kronus so he wont be killed.

Unknown said...

The myth tht i had was a chinese myth and it was about a guy dissupting the earth and this lady brought back peace and restored peace back into the world by calming the wind gods and water gods the montains, ect.

Opal said...

The myththat I have read was called The Old Man. It originated from the Crow Indians. It was basically theire version of the story of Adam and Eve. I thought the story was very similar but had it's own twist and ending.

Josephine C. said...

The myth my table got was called "The archer and the moon goddess," a chinese myth. It was about how the moon goddess' "suns" were misbehaving and another god offered to fix them up and when he said that he meant kill them. There was only one sun left which gave us our light. The moon goddess and her husband were no longer gods so the husband ended up going to some whitch who gave him a potion, and if him and his wife both drank half, they would live forever on Earth. But the goddess was selfish and drank it all to herself while her husband lived mortally on Earth. Then she realized she would be embarrased to be in heaven without her husband so she just went to live on the moon all by herslef. The moral of this myth was to not be selfish and just be fair with everything your given.

Gabrielle R said...

The myth I read in class was called "Nanabush Creates the World". The origin was from Ojibwa story tellers. My myth was about a magician named, Nanabush, that created the new world. He lived on the land with animals, birds and his one younger brother. The evil serpent people, lived under the lake. They were sneaky snakes that would drown and kill anyone that crossed over the forzen lake in the winter. One day Nanabush's brother went hunting and never came back. Nanabush knew his brother didn't listen to him and crossed over the ice and the serpents killed him. He looked for days, months and years for his brother but never found him. He wanted revenge, so one day he saw two serpents sitting on the shore along the river. He shot both with a arrows and injured both. He found a old women which was a serpent dressed in the disguise. He found out from the sobbing women that he actually injured Cheif serpents and how to get the serpents door. She didn't recognize Nanabush, and after gathering the information he killed her. Finding the door and then slipping inside he saw the body of his dead brother in the corner. With all his anger he jumped across the room and killed the already injured serpents. He then went to his large raft that he built and gathered all the animals and birds onto it, knowing the serpents will rise the lake high again trying to drown him. This time the lake never went down and Nanabush knew he needed to create new land. He gathered sand from the deep deep down of the old world and created the new world. The lesson i think you learned from this myth is, not everything can get along so by this you must be able to survive for yourself.

Marc said...

The myth that I read was called The Old Man. It was a old Crow Indian tail, and as Opal said I felt that it was just like the story of Adam and Eve. I did, however really enjoyed reading it as I felt that I was very intersting to read the tails from other countries.

Anonymous said...

The myth that my group read was of Chinese decent. It was called "The Archer and the Moon G-dess". It talked about how these then g-d's disobeyed there father and brought chaos to the earth. So there father sent down the best archer to kill the sons and restore peace to the earth. The archer killed the g-d's until there was one left. From that day on that g-d never disobeyed there parents again.
I can compare this story to my own culture in that it relates to one of the Ten Commandments; Honor thy Mother and Father. It is really cool to see how that different cultures with entirely different backgrounds still shared a common feeling about elders and how they should and shouldn't be treated. I can't wait to read more about other cultures to see how they are like mine.

Alyssa Marie Longo :) said...

My table got a myth about China. It discussed that there was a man and he had sons and they each had a turn to go to the sun, one time they all went to the sun, and they he had to kill them because they disobayed him.