How To Read Edith Hamilton's Mythology

R. Wier – Gateway College Prep School

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Summer Reading Assignment: Edith Hamilton’s Mythology Pre-AP English I
All students planning to take Pre-AP English I need to read Edith Hamilton’s Mythology in its entirety and complete the following assignment prior to the first day of school. Students should expect to turn in assignments the first day of class for a major grade. Students are responsible for an understanding of the material in the book when school begins as we will have class discussions, assignments, and a test the second week of school. Why read Edith Hamilton’s Mythology? Greek Mythology is one of the most alluded to topics in all of literature. In order to have a better understanding of the literature read in high school,
The Quest—describes the search for someone or some talisman which when found and brought back, will restore balance in a community, life to the waste land, or a person’s health. The ultimate end. 2. The Task—refers to what superhuman feat must be accomplished in order to fulfill the ultimate goal. Specific test of challenging actions. 3. The Journey—sends the hero in search for some truth of information necessary to restore life, justice, and/ or harmony to the kingdom. The journey includes a series of trials and tribulations the hero/ heroine face along the way. Usually, he/ she descends into a real or psychological hell and is forced to discover the blackest truths, quite often concerning his/ her own faults. Once the hero/ heroine is at this lowest level, he/ she must accept personal responsibility to return to the world of the living. 4. The Initiation—refers to a moment, usually psychological, in which an individual comes into maturity. She/ he gains a new awareness into the nature of circumstances and problems and understands his or her responsibility for trying to solve the dilemma. Typically, a her/ heroine receives a calling, a message, or signal that he or she must make sacrifices and become responsible for “getting involved” in the problem. Often a hero/ heroine will deny and questions the calling and ultimately, in the Initiation, will accept responsibility. 5. The Fall—not to be confused with The Initiation, this archetype describes a
This fall is often accompanied by expulsion from a kind of paradise as a penalty for disobedience. 6. Death and Rebirth—the most common of all situational archetypes grows out of the parallel between the cycle of nature and the cycle of life. It refers to situations in which someone or something, concrete and or abstract dies, yet is accompanied by some sign of birth or rebirth. 7. Battle between Good and Evil—forces that represent good and evil battle against each other. Typically, good ultimately triumphs over evil despite great odds. 8. The Unhealable Wound—this wound, physical or psychological, cannot be healed fully. This would also indicate a loss of innocence and purity. Often these wounds’ pains drive the sufferer to desperate measures of madness. 9. The Magic Weapon—sometimes connected with the Task, refers to a skilled individual hero’s ability to use a piece of technology in order to combat evil, continue a journey, or to prove his or her identity as a chosen individual. 10. Supernatural Intervention—the gods often intervene on the side of the hero/ heroine. Symbolic Archetypes1. Light vs. Darkness—Light usually suggests hope, renewal, or intellectual illumination; darkness implies the unknown, ignorance, or despair. 2. Water vs. Desert—Because water (rain, river, etc.) is necessary to life and growth, it commonly appears as a birth or rebirth symbol. Water is used in baptism services, which solemnizes spiritual births. Similarly, the appearance of rain