Famous Men of Greece · Ch. VI · Unit 2: Hercules, Jason and Theseus
9. Theseus
Goal: Your child can retell how Athens got its name and how Theseus killed the Minotaur, and explain how the Aegean Sea got its name.
You'll need
- A map or globe (a free online map works well)
- A notebook or paper and colored pencils
- A ball of yarn or string
What's in the book
Neptune and Minerva compete to be guardian of a new city; Minerva's olive tree wins and the city is named Athens. Theseus lifts the stone, defeats robbers on the road, sails to Crete, and with Ariadne's thread kills the Minotaur in the Labyrinth. He forgets the white sail, and his father Aegeus falls into the sea.
The lesson, step by step
Set the scene
Find Athens, then the island of Crete to the south, and Naxos in between. The sea between Greece and Turkey is the Aegean Sea; today's story tells how it got its name.
Read the chapter together
Read pages 62–70 aloud, or let your child read and help with the hard names. There are three parts: the gift for Athens, Theseus's road to Athens, and the Minotaur.
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 gifts did Neptune and Minerva give the city? Which won, and why?
- What did Theseus find under the stone?
- What did Procrustes do to travelers?
- How did Ariadne help Theseus?
- Why did Aegeus fall into the sea?
Try the thread
Make a little "labyrinth" with chairs or through a few rooms. Your child holds the end of the yarn, you unwind it as they go in, and they follow it back out.
Talk it over
Ask:
1. Why did Jupiter decide an olive tree was more useful than a war horse?
2. Why did Theseus ask to go as one of the victims?
3. How did the Athenians treat Theseus at the end? Were they fair to him?
Remember it
"If you are a man, lift that stone."
"I will stand here at the entrance and let the ball unwind as you go in. When you have killed the Minotaur follow the thread back to me."
Afterwards
Your child draws a maze on paper for someone else to solve, with a Minotaur in the center.
Tip
The robbers on the road meet rough ends. Children usually enjoy that the bullies get what they gave out; you can say so.
Answers to the book's problems
1. Olive groves would be far more useful to the people than war horses. 2. He wanted to kill the Minotaur so that Athens would never again have to send young people to Crete. 3. They forgot him and chose a new king while he was away; later they were sorry, brought his bones home and honored him.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.