The Great Greek Monsters

The Origin of Medusa Medusa wasn't always hideous, but had once been so beautiful she charmed the sea god Poseidon who then ravaged her in the temple of Athena. Athena was furious that her temple had been desecrated in this way and so she punished the temptress by turning her hair into snakes and making her so horrible men were turned to stone by just looking at her.

The Origin of the Minotaur Before Minos became king, he asked the Greek god Poseidon for a sign to assure him that he, and not his brother, was to receive the throne. Poseidon agreed to send a white bull as a sign, on condition Minos would sacrifice the bull to the god in return. Indeed, a bull of unmatched beauty came out of the sea. King Minos, after seeing it, found it so beautiful that he instead sacrificed another bull, hoping that Poseidon would not notice. Poseidon was enraged when he realized what had been done, so he caused Minos's wife, Pasiphaë, to fall deeply in love with the bull. Pasiphaë seduced the bull with help from Daedalus, the great architect from Crete. The result of this union was the Minotaur, who had the body of a man and the head and tail of a bull. Pasiphaë nursed him in his infancy, but he grew and became ferocious. Minos, after receiving advice from the Oracle at Delphi, had Daedalus construct a gigantic labyrinth to hold the Minotaur.

Your Assignment Choose one of the options below. All may be done alone or with ONE partner. Story: Retell the meeting of the monster and the hero from the monster’s point of view. 1 page (single person); 2 pages (partners) Poem: Write a poem either from the monster’s perspective or about a personal aspect of the monster 15 lines (single person); 25 lines (partners) Interview: Write interview questions for the monster and the monster’s answers. Stay in character. 10 questions/answers (single person); 15 questions/answers (partners) Spelling and grammar always count.