Famous Men of Greece · Ch. I · Unit 1: The gods and the first heroes
3. Deucalion and the Flood
Goal: Your child can retell the Greek story of the great flood and explain the riddle of "the bones of your mother."
You'll need
- A map or globe (a free online map works well)
- A notebook or paper and colored pencils
- A few small stones (from the garden or a walk)
What's in the book
The gods feast on Olympus and teach men the useful arts. Jupiter sends a flood; Deucalion and Pyrrha ride it out in an ark, land on Mount Parnassus, and hear an oracle. The stones they throw become people. Their son Hellen gives the Greeks their name.
The lesson, step by step
Set the scene
Find Mount Olympus (in the north of Greece) and Mount Parnassus (a little north of the Gulf of Corinth) on a map. Both are real mountains.
SayToday we hear the Greek story of how their people began.
Read the chapter together
Read pages 20–24 aloud, or let your child read and help with the hard names. The book marks how to say the names: Pro-me'the-us (which means Forethought), Deu-ca'li-on and Pyr'rha. The mark comes after the part you say loudest.
Narration
Close the book. Ask your child to tell the story back in their own words, from the beginning. Don't correct as they go; just listen. If they get stuck, use a prompt:
- What did the gods teach the early Greeks?
- Who warned Deucalion?
- Where did the ark come to rest?
- What happened to the stones they threw?
Solve the riddle
Read the oracle again and let your child puzzle over it before you read Deucalion's answer.
"Cast behind you the bones of your mother!"
"Pyrrha, the earth is our mother."
SayAn oracle was a message the Greeks believed came from the gods. Oracles were often puzzles.
Talk it over
Ask:
1. What is an oracle?
2. Why were Deucalion and Pyrrha afraid when they came down the mountain?
3. Where does the name "Hellas" come from?
If your child notices this is like other flood stories they know, talk about it. Many peoples told flood stories.
Remember it
Greeks called themselves Hellenes and their country Hellas.
Their country, which, as you have learned, we call Greece, they called Hel'las.
Something extra
Lay out a few stones and tell the story with them: throw them gently "behind you" and say what they turned into. Or draw the ark on top of Mount Parnassus.
Afterwards
Keep a "Greek words" page. Add: oracle, Hellas, Hellenes.
Answers to the book's problems
1. Something told by the gods to men; advice about things that were going to happen. 2. They were the only people left, and the land was empty and lonely. 3. From Hellen, one of the sons of Deucalion.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.