Greek Mythology for Teens by Zachary Hamby

Author:Zachary Hamby
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Published: 2011-05-27T16:00:00+00:00

DISCUSS

Which is more powerful, the heart or the mind? Explain.

Can you think of a person, living or dead, who was a stoic or a hedonist?

Why is it a good idea to achieve a balance between the two?

Some adults criticize “young love” because they feel it relies too strongly on the heart and not enough on the mind. Do you think this is true? Explain.

FUN FACT

Just as we associate certain emotions with certain organs (love with the heart, thought with the brain), it was once believed that the spleen was the source of anger and the liver was a source of courage and other strong passions. This gave rise to two idioms: “Vent your spleen” means to get rid of your anger and “lily-livered” is a word to describe someone who has a white, bloodless liver—a complete coward.

PERFORM

Write a dialogue between two teenagers, one who is a stoic and one who is a hedonist. Act out your dialogue for your classmates.

ANALYZE

In his poem “Psyche and the Candle,” Archibald MacLeish (1892–1982) analyzes the paradox of Love: “Love is a bird in a fist:/To hold it hides it, to look at it lets it go . . . /Either you keep it forever with fist closed/Or let it fling.” He ends his poem with the paradox still unsolved: “There is no answer other to this mystery.” Even though neither Psyche nor Eros is mentioned in his poem, what does its theme have to do with the myth?

WRITE

Write your own poem about the nature of love. It can even begin with the phrase “Love is . . . ”

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