The Life and Labors
of Hercules
When I began my "Hercules
in the Experiential Classroom" unit, I wanted my students
to be able to discover the original legend of Hercules. Today's
students seem to accept virtually anything placed before them
as truthful, and given the telling of Disney's version of the
Hercules story, I wanted to emphasize the "edu-" part
of Disney's "edutainment."
This project was originally
intended for middle school students with no Latin language background.
It can easily be modified to be appropriate for students at any
level. A teacher can compress this unit to fit into 5 days or
stretch it out for 5 weeks.
The primary definition a teacher
needs for this unit is that of a "Greek Hero."
A Greek Hero
- usually comes from a royal
birth,
- must perform an extraordinary
feat,
- does not have to be of good
moral character,
- must suffer physically,
- must die in an unusual way,
- is not part of the community
until death.
For teachers using this unit,
I would recommend spending some time on the Perseus Project web
site, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/.
The site has a special section devoted to Hercules and the Olympic
games. The presentation is excellent.
For higher level students, or
for those students who do know Latin, the Hercules' story is
told in Fabulae Graecae and in the old Jenny. Some classes may
also want to compare the "traditional" portrayal of
Hercules with that of Euripides in Herakles and Sophocles
in The Women of Trachis.
