Mythology

In this unit, students will explore myths from diverse cultures to examine how people use storytelling to explain the natural world, human experiences, and universal questions. Students will study archetypes related to nature, floods, fire, and love myths while analyzing the recurring patterns, symbols, and themes that connect myths across cultures. Through comparative analysis, students will develop an understanding of how myths reflect cultural values and reveal shared aspects of the human experience.  

In this unit, students will explore the pantheons of gods and goddesses from diverse cultures to understand how mythology reflects the values, beliefs, and experiences of the societies that created it. Through research of a chosen pantheon, students will investigate the roles, powers, symbols, and myths associated with individual deities to understand how these figures mirror human emotions, conflicts, desires, and flaws. Through presentation and gameplay, students will deepen their understanding of how mythology functions as both storytelling and a reflection of human culture and identity. 

In this unit, students will explore the concept of the mythic journey by studying heroic narratives from different cultures, focusing on Hercules and The Epic of Gilgamesh. Students will analyze how heroes are shaped by their strengths, flaws, and the challenges they face as they undergo trials that test their character and purpose. Through the study of Hercules’ Twelve Labors, students will examine how each task reflects themes of punishment, redemption, and transformation, while also considering how heroism is complicated by flaws such as pride, impulsivity, and violence. Students will deepen their understanding through a collaborative presentation project in which they research and present a specific labor, explaining its significance within the larger hero’s journey framework.

In the second part of the unit, students will read and analyze The Epic of Gilgamesh, tracking the development of major themes such as mortality, perseverance, fear, and friendship throughout the text. Students will examine how Gilgamesh’s journey shifts from arrogance and power toward growth, loss, and understanding, and how his experiences reflect universal questions about human existence. Through close reading and thematic analysis, students will connect both texts to broader ideas about what it means to be human and how struggle and suffering shape identity.

In this unit, students will explore how different cultures conceptualize the underworld as a reflection of human beliefs about death, morality, and the afterlife. Through the study of underworld myths involving Ishtar, the ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, and Osiris, the ancient Egyptian god of life and death, students will examine how cultures interpreted judgment and the afterlife. Following these foundational texts, students conduct research on an underworld from a world mythology tradition other than the Mesopotamian and Egyptian. Their research will include an overview of the underworld, its deities and rulers, geography and landscape, guardians, monsters, and supernatural creatures, as well as special artifacts or objects associated with it. Students will also analyze a myth associated with their chosen underworld and develop a theme explaining what the underworld reveals about human experience. In particular, students will consider how different cultures understand life after death, how the underworld reflects moral expectations, and how it rewards or punishes human behavior.