- Unit 6. Religion and Mythology
- Getting Started
  - What Are We Learning
  - Observe and Think
  - Map Your Mind
- Religion in Antiquity
  - Greece
  - Rome
- Greek and Roman Mythology
  - In the Beginning, There Was Chaos
  - Gods
  - Heroes
- Self-Evaluation Quiz
- Complementary Activities
  - The Greek and Latin Roots of English
  - One Myth, One Song
  - Games, Comics and Stuff
- References

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# Heroes

According to Wikipedia,"Hero cults were one of the most distinctive features of the ancient Greek religion. In Homeric Greek, "hero" (heroes, ἥρως) refers to a man who was fighting on either side during the Trojan War. By the historical period, however, the word came to mean specifically a dead man, venerated and propitiated at his tomb or at a designated shrine, because his fame during life or unusual manner of death gave him power to support and protect the living. A hero was more than human but less than a god, and various kinds of supernatural figures came to be assimilated to the class of heroes; the distinction between a hero and a god was less than certain, especially in the case of Heracles, the most prominent, but a typical hero."

## Activity: Three Heroes, Hercules, Jason and Perseus

Divide the class into three or four groups. Each group will watch the following three videos about Hercules, Jason and Perseus and then write a little report about their similarities and differences. Finally the class will discuss the topic and write a final conclusion.

## Activity: Today's Heroes

Choose a today's hero you like: Superman, Spiderman, Hulk... Write some lines about the differences and similarities with the Greek heroes.

Spiderman, a Marvel Comics' character

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