Greek Folklore- Giuliana, Rebecca and Isaac

Greek Folklore

By: Giuliana, Isaac and Rebecca

Archetypal Characters

Hero: Jason- goes on a quest to find the Golden Fleece and takes
down a ton of evil skeleton protectors, Perseus -killed Medusa,
Theseus -Killed the minotaur to save Athens, Zeus- Imprisoned his
father to save his siblings, Odysseus- he killed a lot of monsters and
killed a bunch of men because he loves his wife, Menelaus- started a
war because he loves his wife.

Trickster: Paris- Shoot Menelaus’s wife with a love arrow and stole
her, Hades- Tricked Persephone into going into the Underworld via
flower, Echo- told stories to Hera while Zeus did his dirty work, Wolf-
wore the sheep skin and tricked a lamb into the forest to eat it.

Archetypal Characters

Innocent: Helen- wife that was shoot with Paris’s love arrow,
Penelope- Odysseus's wife, Ariadne-lover of Theseus, Talus-
inventor that got pushed off a ledge,Persephone- got kidnapped,
Hera- was being cheated on behind her back, Sheep- got deceived
and eaten.

Villains and Monsters: Cronus- ate his children so they wouldn’t kill
him, Medusa- she turned people to stone for no reason, Minotaur-
takes 14 people from Athena and eat them,Hunter- threatened to kill
Eurydice and her husband.

Themes

Love: You can’t force love, one should be willing to sacrifice for the
one they love,
Appearance: Beauty is only skin deep,appearances are deceiving
Organization: Being prepared will be rewarded in the end
Good and Evil: Good always triumphs over evil
Power: Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Narrative Patterns

A Greedy Character Who Acts Unfairly: Hades-Persephone, Wolf
-The wolf in sheep’s clothing, Daedalus-Daedalus
A Quest or Task One Must Perform: Jason-The golden fleece,
Perseus-Perseus
Trial Of Three: Orpheus- Orpheus and Eurydice
A hero who triumphs over stronger forces through cleverness or
virtue: Zeus - Mother Earth and Her Children

Symbols

● New Beginnings- flower
● Hope- golden fleece
● Evil-snake, wolf
● Innocents-sheep
● Death-Vulture

Cultural Values

● Love for children
● Being brave and doing the right thing
● Loving someone’s heart not skin
● Loving your partner
● Cleverness and virtue
● Bravery

Interesting Stories

● The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing- A wolf was very hungry one day and came across the skin of
a sheep. He decided to play a mean trick on a lamb and dress in the sheep’s skin. He lured
the lamb deep into the woods and pulled off the sheep’s skin to eat the lamb.

● Mother Earth and Her Children- Uranus has children, Cronus and the children overthrow
him Cronus has children but eats them because he doesn’t want to be overthrown but one
survives, and then Zeus imprisoned his father and frees his siblings and they together
overcome typhon.

● Perseus- Perseus and his mother were abandoned by her dad. They were found on an
island and the ruler of the island wanted to mary Perseus’s mother but she refused and
Perseus stood up for her. The ruler of the island had a fake wedding so everyone had to
bring a gift. Perseus was poor and had nothing to give so the ruler asked for medusa’s
head. With the help of Athena and Hermes, He took down Medusa and brought back the
head of her! When he showed him the head, he turned to stone.

~a ton of kidnapping occurred~