Mythology

Name: __________________________________________________________ Date: ________________

Introduction

1. What is the purpose of Greek and Roman mythology?

2. What is the first written record of Greece called, and who was the author?

3. What do the myths show us about the early Greeks?

4. Why did the portrayal of Zeus change over the years?

5. What is the Theogony, and why is it important?

Introduction Part I: Using Prior Knowledge and Context Clues

Below are the sentences in which the vocabulary words appear in the text. Read the sentence. Use any clues you can find in the sentence combined with your prior knowledge, and write what you think the underlined words mean on the lines provide.

1. Greek and Roman mythology is quite generally supposed to show us the way the human race thought and felt untold years ago.

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2 & 3. Anyone in the woods might see through the trees a fleeing nymph, or bending over a clear pool to drink, behold in the depths a naiad’s face.

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4. In Egypt, a towering colossus, immobile, beyond the power of the imagination to endow with movement.

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5. Nevertheless he was not omnipotent or omniscient either. He could be opposed and deceived.

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6. ...a humanized world, men freed from the paralyzing fear of an omnipotent Unknown.

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7. The fauns were Roman satyrs.

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8 & 9. Dwelling in Olympus, they are happy all their days, feasting upon nectar and ambrosia.

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10. The dryad who would have perished with it told him to ask anything he desired and she would give it to him.

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Pre-reading Vocabulary Worksheets - Mythology

Part II: Determining the Meaning Match the vocabulary words to their dictionary definitions.

____ 1. mythology                    A. all-powerful

____ 2. nymph                         B. stories of the origin of a people, their gods, and heroes

____ 3. naiad                           C. the food of the gods, thought to give immortality

____ 4. colossus                      D. having a human body with ears, legs, and horns of a goat

____ 5. omniscient                   E. knowing everything

____ 6. omnipotent                  F. a female spirit that represents nature

____ 7. satyrs                          G. the drink of the gods; the undiluted juice of a fruit

____ 8. nectar                          H. a spirit that lives in brooks and springs

____ 9. ambrosia                     I. a huge statue

____10. dryad                         J. a wood nymph