Name:
Date:
ELA III- World Traditions
Station Activity Responses
Station 1: “Prometheus”
Directions: Read the tale of Prometheus. When you finish, respond to the questions below:
1.
What is this myth attempting to explain?
2.
What can you learn about the Greek people from reading this myth?
When you’re finished, read Byron’s “Prometheus”
3.
Open response: How is the tale told differently? What does this change for the audience?
Station 2: Rig Veda
Read the history of the Rig Veda
1.
What did you learn about the history of the text? How do you think this context will matter when reading an excerpt from it?
Now read the excerpt from Rig Veda
1.
What is this myth attempting to explain?
2.
What can you learn about the Hindu people from reading this myth?
Station 3: Egyptian Creation Epic
Read the creation Egyptian creation epic and respond to the following questions:
1.
What is this myth attempting to explain?
2.
What can you learn about the Egyptian people from reading this myth?
3.
How is the imagery in this myth specific to the Egyptian people? What elements are present that make it Egyptian?
Station 4: Tao Te Ching
Background: A central Taoist text of Chinese faith and philosophy According to tradition, it was written around 6th century BC by
the sage Lao Tzu (literally meaning "Old Master"). The text, is a fundamental text for both philosophical and religious Taoism..
1.
What can you learn about the Chinese people from reading this myth?
2.
How does the myth promote the importance of knowledge and self awareness?
3.
Why do you think non-violence is an important part of this myth?
When you finish:
1. Which myths stood out to you the most? Which stories were the most compelling from a literary perspective?
2.
Imagine you were growing up in these societies? What values might these myths impart upon you? Choose one
myth and discuss how it could affect the society of those receiving the story.
“Prometheus,” first published in 1816
By Lord Byron
1 Titan! to whose immortal eyes
2 The sufferings of mortality,
3 Seen in their sad reality,
4 Were not as things that gods despise;
5 What was thy pity's recompense?
6 A silent suffering, and intense;
7 The rock, the vulture, and the chain,
8 All that the proud can feel of pain,
9 The agony they do not show,
10 The suffocating sense of woe,
11 Which speaks but in its loneliness,
12 And then is jealous lest the sky
13 Should have a listener, nor will sigh
14 Until its voice is echoless.
15 Titan! to thee the strife was given
16 Between the suffering and the will,
17 Which torture where they cannot kill;
18 And the inexorable Heaven,
19 And the deaf tyranny of Fate,
20 The ruling principle of Hate,
21 Which for its pleasure doth create
22 The things it may annihilate,
23 Refus'd thee even the boon to die:
24 The wretched gift Eternity
25 Was thine--and thou hast borne it well.
26 All that the Thunderer wrung from thee
27 Was but the menace which flung back
28 On him the torments of thy rack;
29 The fate thou didst so well foresee,
30 But would not to appease him tell;
31 And in thy Silence was his Sentence,
32 And in his Soul a vain repentance,
33 And evil dread so ill dissembled,
34 That in his hand the lightnings trembled.
35 Thy Godlike crime was to be kind,
36 To render with thy precepts less
37 The sum of human wretchedness,
38 And strengthen Man with his own mind;
39 But baffled as thou wert from high,
40 Still in thy patient energy,
41 In the endurance, and repulse
42 Of thine impenetrable Spirit,
43 Which Earth and Heaven could not convulse,
44 A mighty lesson we inherit:
45 Thou art a symbol and a sign
46 To Mortals of their fate and force;
47 Like thee, Man is in part divine,
48 A troubled stream from a pure source;
49 And Man in portions can foresee
50 His own funereal destiny;
51 His wretchedness, and his resistance,
52 And his sad unallied existence:
53 To which his Spirit may oppose
54 Itself--and equal to all woes,
55 And a firm will, and a deep sense,
56 Which even in torture can descry
57 Its own concenter'd recompense,
58 Triumphant where it dares defy,
59 And making Death a Victory.
Prometheus
In the early days of the universe, there was a great struggle for empire between Zeus and the Titans. The Titans, giant powers of heaven and earth, were for
seizing whatever they wanted, with no more ado than a whirlwind. Prometheus, the wisest of all their race, long tried to persuade them that good counsel
would avail more than violence; but they refused to listen. Then, seeing that such rulers would soon turn heaven and earth into chaos again, Prometheus left
them to their own devices, and went over to Zeus, whom he aided so well that the Titans were utterly overthrown. Down into Tartarus they went, to live
among the hidden fires of the earth; and there they spent a long term of bondage, muttering like storm, and shaking the roots of mountains. One of them
was Enceladus, who lay bound under Aetna; and one, Atlas, was made to stand and bear up the weight of the sky on his giant shoulders.
Zeus was left King of gods and men. Like any young ruler, he was eager to work great changes with his new power. Among other plans, he proposed to
destroy the race of men then living, and to replace it with some new order of creatures. Prometheus alone heard this scheme with indignation. Not only did
he plead for the life of man and save it, but ever after he spent his giant efforts to civilize the race, and to endow it with a wit near to that of gods.
In the Golden Age, men had lived free of care. They took no heed of daily wants, since Zeus gave them all things needful, and the earth brought forth
fruitage and harvest without asking the toil of husbandmen. If mortals were light of heart, however, their minds were empty of great enterprise. They did
not know how to build or plant or weave; their thoughts never flew far, and they had no wish to cross the sea.
But Prometheus loved earthly folk, and thought that they had been children long enough. He was a mighty workman, with the whole world for a workshop;
and little by little he taught men knowledge that is wonderful to know, so that they grew out of their childhood, and began to take thought for themselves.
Some people even say that he knew how to make men,--as we make shapes out of clay,--and set their five wits going. However that may be, he was certainly
a cunning workman. He taught men first to build huts out of clay, and to thatch roofs with straw. He showed them how to make bricks and hew marble. He
taught them numbers and letters, the signs of the seasons, and the coming and going of the stars. He showed them how to use for their healing the simple
herbs that once had no care save to grow and be fragrant. He taught them how to till the fields; how to tame the beasts, and set them also to work; how to
build ships that ride the water, and to put wings upon them that they may go faster, like birds.
With every new gift, men desired more and more. They set out to see unknown lands, and their ambitions grew with their knowledge. They were like a race
of poor gods gifted with dreams of great glory and the power to fashion marvellous things; and, though they had no endless youth to spend, the gods were
troubled.
Last of all, Prometheus went up secretly to heaven after the treasure of the immortals. He lighted a reed at the flame of the sun, and brought down the holy
fire which is dearest to the gods. For with the aid of fire all things are possible, all arts are perfected.
This was his greatest gift to man, but it was a theft from the immortal gods, and Zeus would endure no more. He could not take back the secret of fire; but
he had Prometheus chained to a lofty crag in the Caucasus, where every day a vulture came to prey upon his body, and at night the wound would heal, so
that it was ever to suffer again. It was a bitter penalty for so noble-hearted a rebel, and as time went by, and Zeus remembered his bygone services, he would
have made peace once more. He only waited till Prometheus should bow his stubborn spirit, but this the son of Titans would not do. Haughty as rock
beneath his daily torment, believing that he suffered for the good of mankind, he endured for years.
One secret hardened his spirit. He was sure that the empire of Zeus must fall some day, since he knew of a danger that threatened it. For there was a certain
beautiful sea-nymph, Thetis, whom Zeus desired for his wife. (This was before his marriage to Queen Juno.) Prometheus alone knew that Thetis was destined
to have a son who should be far greater than his father. If she married some mortal, then, the prophecy was not so wonderful; but if she were to marry the
King of gods and men, and her son should be greater than he, there could be no safety for the kingdom. This knowledge Prometheus kept securely hidden;
but he ever defied Zeus, and vexed him with dark sayings about a danger that threatened his sovereignty. No torment could wring the secret from him. Year
after year, lashed by the storms and scorched by the heat of the sun, he hung in chains and the vulture tore his vitals, while the young Oceanides wept at his
feet, and men sorrowed over the doom of their protector.
At last that earlier enmity between the gods and the Titans came to an end. The banished rebels were set free from Tartarus, and they themselves came and
besought their brother, Prometheus, to hear the terms of Zeus. For the King of gods and men had promised to pardon his enemy, if he would only reveal
this one troublous secret.
In all heaven and earth there was but one thing that marred the new harmony,--this long struggle between Zeus and Prometheus; and the Titan relented. He
spoke the prophecy, warned Zeus not to marry Thetis, and the two were reconciled. The hero Heracles (himself an earthly son of Zeus) slew the vulture and
set Prometheus free.
So ended a long feud. From the day of Prometheus, men spent their lives in ceaseless enterprise, forced to take heed for food and raiment, since they knew
how, and to ply their tasks of art and handicraft, They had taken unresting toil upon them, but they had a wondrous servant at their beck and call,--the
bright-eyed fire that is the treasure of the gods.
Rig Veda
A brief History of the text from http://www.ancient.eu/The_Vedas/
The Vedas are a collection of hymns and other religious texts composed in India between about 1500 and 1000 BCE.
It includes elements such as liturgical material as well as mythological accounts, poems, prayers, and formulas
considered to be sacred by the Vedic religion.
Origin & Authorship of the Vedas
The origin of the Vedas can be traced back as far as 1500 BCE, when a large group of nomads called the Aryans,
coming from central Asia, crossed the Hindu Kush Mountains, migrating into the Indian subcontinent. This was a
large migration and used to be seen as an invasion. This invasion hypothesis, however, is not unanimously accepted
by scholars today. All we know for certain, mainly through linguistic studies, is that the Aryan language gained
ascendency over the local languages in the Indian sub-continent. The language of the Vedas is Sanskrit, an ancestor
of most of the modern languages spoken today in South Asia.
Cremation was believed to prevent the spirit of the dead from remaining among the living, so worshippers of Agni
burned their dead, and Agni transported the soul.
We do not know much about the authors of these texts: In Vedic tradition the focus tends to be on the ideas rather
than on the authors, which may allow one to look at the message without being influenced by the messenger. Vedic
literature is religious in nature and as such tends to reflect the worldview, spiritual preoccupations, and social attitudes
of the Brahmans or priestly class of ancient India.The Vedas were first composed sometime around 1500-1000 BCE
in the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent - present day Pakistan and northwest India - and they were
transmitted orally over many generations before eventually being committed to writing. Like the Homeric epics, parts
of the Vedas were composed in different periods. The oldest of these texts is the Rig-Veda, but it is not possible to
establish precise dates for its composition. It is believed that the entire collection was completed by the end of the
second millennium BCE.
Rig Veda Creation Story
1. THEN was not non-existent nor existent: there was no realm of air, no sky beyond it.
What covered in, and where? and what gave shelter? Was water there, unfathomed depth of water?
2 Death was not then, nor was there aught immortal: no sign was there, the day's and night's divider.
That One Thing, breathless, breathed by its own nature: apart from it was nothing whatsoever.
3 Darkness there was: at first concealed in darkness this All was indiscriminated chaos.
All that existed then was void and form less: by the great power of Warmth was born that Unit.
4 Thereafter rose Desire in the beginning, Desire, the primal seed and germ of Spirit.
Sages who searched with their heart's thought discovered the existent's kinship in the non-existent.
5 Transversely was their severing line extended: what was above it then, and what below it?
There were begetters, there were mighty forces, free action here and energy up yonder
6 Who verily knows and who can here declare it, whence it was born and whence comes this creation?
The Gods are later than this world's production. Who knows then whence it first came into being?
7 He, the first origin of this creation, whether he formed it all or did not form it,
Whose eye controls this world in highest heaven, he verily knows it, or perhaps he knows not.
1. THE sacrifice drawn out with threads on every side, stretched by a hundred sacred ministers and one,—
This do these Fathers weave who hitherward are come: they sit beside the warp and cry, Weave forth, weave back.
2 The Man extends it and the Man unbinds it: even to this vault of heaven hath he outspun, it.
These pegs are fastened to the seat of worship: they made the Sāma-hymns their weaving shuttles.
3 What were the rule, the order and the model? What were the wooden fender and the butter?
What were the hymn, the chant, the recitation, when to the God all Deities paid worship?
4 Closely was Gāyatrī conjoined with Agni, and closely Savitar combined with Usnih.
Brilliant with Ukthas, Soma joined Anustup: Bṛhaspati's voice by Brhati was aided.
5 Virāj adhered to Varuṇa and Mitra: here Triṣṭup day by day was Indra's portion.
Jagatī entered all the Gods together: so by this knowledge men were raised to Ṛṣis.
6 So by this knowledge men were raised to Ṛṣis, when ancient sacrifice sprang up, our Fathers.
With the mind's eye I think that I behold them who first performed this sacrificial worship.
7 They who were versed in ritual and metre, in hymns and rules, were the Seven Godlike Ṛṣis.
Viewing the path of those of old, the sages have taken up the reins like chariot-drivers.
The Egyptian Creation Epic
<http://www.theologywebsite.com/etext/egypt/creation.shtml>
Harmonized from various versions of the Mythos
by Aaron Leitch
In the beginning there was only the Nun: the great celestial waters of the Unmanifest; the depths of the nighttime sky. Swimming within this
primordial Deep were the mighty Ogdoad: eight Gods who consisted of four Serpents, and four Frogs. There names were Nun and Nunet,
deities of the watery abyss; Heh and Hehet, deities of infinite space; Kek and Keket, deities of darkness; and Amon and Amonet, deities of
the invisible. These primordial Gods swam within the Waters, guarding the Great Egg that incubated the Creator.
In time, the Egg began to hatch. It split into two halves, dividing the waters of the Nun into the upper and lower, and making between them
a space wherein the Creator could fashion the world.
From the Egg arose a single blue Lotus. It rose high above the darkness of the abyss, and opened it's great petals. Within it's golden heart
rested a beautiful young God, the Creator Amen-Re, with one single finger pressed against His lips in Silence.
Light streamed from the body of this Divine Child, banishing darkness to the far reaches of the universe. Like a phoenix with flaming
plumage He arose, uttering a cry that shattered the eternal silence. This was the first sound- the first Word- and that Word manifested as a
living God. Thoth was His name: the Self-Created, the Logos, Wisdom.
Amon-Re then constructed an island for Himself to rest upon, and He surveyed the expanse of water around Him. He knew that He was
alone, and soon found He could not bear the solitude. He longed for others to share the Light with Him.
Thus, He began his creation. In this He is known as Khephera, the God of Creation, the God of the Rising Sun. He brought order to the
chaotic Ogdoad- setting Them in Their proper places- and it was thus the world came into existence. He accomplished this through the
mighty power of the Divine Word, Thoth, and that power was yet another God: Ptah, the architect of the world and all of its creatures.
The first to be created was the Great Goddess Maat; Justice, Truth, the Judge and Balance of Dualities; for, duality is the law of the universe.
Thoth took Her as His wife, and the two sustain the universe even unto this day; the Divine Word and Truth.
And more were created, in Their turn, by the thoughts of Amen-Re. He empowered Them with His word- by naming Them. First among
Them were Shu, the God of Air, and Tefnut, the Goddess of Moisture.
Yet, Shu and Tefnut were quickly lost to Re in the waters of the abyss, and He was once again alone. He therefore took an Eye from His
face and filled it with His own power. He called the Eye his daughter, Hathor, Goddess of the Sky, and sent Her out into the darkness to
find His children.
The light of Hathor pierced the forces of darkness and Shu and Tefnut were quickly found and returned to Their Father. As a reward, Re set
the Eye upon His brow in the form of the Great Cobra, the Uraeus Serpent. He swore an oath to Her that She would ever have power over
His enemies, and in ages to come both Gods and men would fear Her.
Now Shu and Tefnut loved each other, and in time Tefnut gave birth to twins. The eldest was Geb, God of the Earth. The younger was Nut,
Goddess of the Heavens. Re took the Star Goddess Nut for His wife, yet it was Geb for whom She yearned. It was Geb that She moved
toward. The Earth and Sky, entangled in love, were intermixed and chaotic. The universe was formless; as if rebelling against order.
Re, unaware, stumbled upon this union of Geb and Nut. Angered at his unfaithful wife, He forced the lovers apart. He pulled the Sky far
above the Earth, and held Them distant by force. He then set Shu between the lovers, upholding Nut in Her place to keep Them forever
apart. It was thus that the Air came to reside between Sky and Earth.
Though Re's wrath against His wife was not yet complete. He further decreed that Nut, impregnated by Her union with Geb, should never
give birth to Her young in any month of any year. Instead, They were to be locked within Her, never to see the light of day.
Nut mourned for Her loss; the loss of both Her lover and Her unborn children. Her lamentations reached even unto the ears of Thoth, the
Self Created. He rushed to Her side, and dried Her tears. He soothed Her and spoke with Her, discovering the pain which inflicted Her.
Thoth, who was the Lord of all magick and spells, knew that Re's decree could not be undone. Yet, he knew also that there was a way in
which to relieve great Nut of Her suffering.
To this end, Thoth created the game of draughts, and challenged the Moon Goddess Silene; whose light then rivaled that of the sun. Thoth
convinced Her to gamble a seventieth part of Her light for each day of the year. Being the Lord of Wisdom, He easily won from Her this
light, and to this day the moon dwindles and darkens at certain periods. Thoth pieced together the light he had won- enough to fashion five
whole days- and added them to the end of the 360-day lunar year.
These days did not rest within any month, nor any year, and thus Nut was able to bear Her children, one on each day. On the first was born
Osiris. As he came into the World a Great Voice was heard throughout the heavens proclaiming that the Lord of Creation was born.
On the second day was born the great Elder Horus, whose right eye is the sun, and left eye the Moon. The Sky Goddess' name, Hathor,
literally means "The Abode of Horus."
On the third day was born dark Set, the Lord of warfare and the burning deserts.
On the fourth day was born Isis, Goddess of Love, Magick, and Wisdom. The Great Lady of the heavens. Osiris took Her as His wife, and
there was great love between Them.
Finally, on the fifth day, was born Isis' beloved sister Nephthys. The dark aspect of Her sister, She was taken by Set as His wife, but there
was never love between Them at all. She, instead, remained always loyal to Her sister.
And thus is the birth of the Great Shining Ones, the Company of the Gods of Annu. They are the Ennead, the Great Company of Gods: Re;
His children Shu and Tefnut, His grandchildren Geb and Nut, and His great-grandchildren Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys. Many other Gods
were also created by Re; and He filled the sky above the earth, and the abyss below it with spirits, demons, and lesser Deities.
Last of all was created Man and the other creatures of the earth. The mighty Khnem'u fashioned them upon His potter's wheel, and Re
breathed into them the breath of life. Further, He made a land for them to dwell within, and named the kingdom Khemet (Egypt).
He protected the land with great barriers of desert, and created the river Nile so that it's waters would flood the land and rich crops would
be plentiful. He also made other countries, and for them he created a Nile in the sky that would rain down its waters and sustain their life.
He populated the world with all forms of animal, bird, fish, and plant; and gave them also the breath of life.
Each day Re walks through His kingdom, or sails across the sky in His Barque of Millions of Years (that is- the Ship of Eternity). To restrain
the forces of darkness and chaos, He created the kingship; He then established Himself as the first and greatest King of Egypt and reigned
for countless centuries in joy and peace.
But, alas, every evening the great primordial Lotus closes it's petals and sinks once more into the waters of the abyss. Darkness reigns
throughout the Night until the young God within the Lotus is reborn. The forces of darkness were not conquered forever at the beginning
of time; instead they surrounded the earth as serpents poised to attack the Sun God. The war between darkness and light sustains the world;
and when it comes to a final end, so too will the world.
Excerpts from Tao Ching
Tao Classic - Chapters 1 to 37
Chapter 1
Chapter 5
The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named is not the eternal name
The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth
The named is the mother of myriad things
Thus, constantly without desire, one observes its essence
Constantly with desire, one observes its manifestations
These two emerge together but differ in name
The unity is said to be the mystery
Mystery of mysteries, the door to all wonders
Heaven and Earth are impartial
They regard myriad things as straw dogs
The sages are impartial
They regard people as straw dogs
Chapter 2
Too many words hasten failure
Cannot compare to keeping to the void
When the world knows beauty as beauty, ugliness arises
When it knows good as good, evil arises
Thus being and non-being produce each other
Difficult and easy bring about each other
Long and short reveal each other
High and low support each other
Music and voice harmonize each other
Front and back follow each other
Therefore the sages:
Manage the work of detached actions
Conduct the teaching of no words
They work with myriad things but do not control
They create but do not possess
They act but do not presume
They succeed but do not dwell on success
It is because they do not dwell on success
That it never goes away
Chapter 3
Do not glorify the achievers
So the people will not squabble
Do not treasure goods that are hard to obtain
So the people will not become thieves
Do not show the desired things
So their hearts will not be confused
Thus the governance of the sage:
Empties their hearts
Fills their bellies
Weakens their ambitions
Strengthens their bones
Let the people have no cunning and no greed
So those who scheme will not dare to meddle
Act without contrivance
And nothing will be beyond control
The space between Heaven and Earth
Is it not like a bellows?
Empty, and yet never exhausted
It moves, and produces more
Chapter 7
Heaven and Earth are everlasting
The reason Heaven and Earth can last forever
Is that they do not exist for themselves
Thus they can last forever
Therefore the sages:
Place themselves last but end up in front
Are outside of themselves and yet survive
Is it not due to their selflessness?
That is how they can achieve their own goals
Chapter 8
The highest goodness resembles water
Water greatly benefits myriad things without contention
It stays in places that people dislike
Therefore it is similar to the Tao
Dwelling with the right location
Feeling with great depth
Giving with great kindness
Speaking with great integrity
Governing with great administration
Handling with great capability
Moving with great timing
Because it does not contend
It is therefore beyond reproach
Chapter 11
Chapter 29
Thirty spokes join in one hub
In its emptiness, there is the function of a vehicle
Mix clay to create a container
In its emptiness, there is the function of a container
Cut open doors and windows to create a room
In its emptiness, there is the function of a room
Those who wish to take the world and control it
I see that they cannot succeed
The world is a sacred instrument
One cannot control it
The one who controls it will fail
The one who grasps it will lose
Therefore, that which exists is used to create benefit
That which is empty is used to create functionality
Chapter 12
Because all things:
Either lead or follow
Either blow hot or cold
Either have strength or weakness
Either have ownership or take by force
The five colors make one blind in the eyes
The five sounds make one deaf in the ears
The five flavors make one tasteless in the mouth
Therefore the sage:
Eliminates extremes
Eliminates excess
Eliminates arrogance
Racing and hunting make one wild in the heart
Goods that are difficult to acquire make one cause damage
Chapter 31
Therefore the sages care for the stomach and not the eyes
That is why they discard the other and take this
A strong military, a tool of misfortune
All things detest it
Therefore, those who possess the Tao avoid it
Honorable gentlemen, while at home, value the left
When deploying the military, value the right
Chapter 14
Look at it, it cannot be seen
It is called colorless
Listen to it, it cannot be heard
It is called noiseless
Reach for it, it cannot be held
It is called formless
These three cannot be completely unraveled
So they are combined into one
Above it, not bright
Below it, not dark
Continuing endlessly, cannot be named
It returns back into nothingness
Thus it is called the form of the formless
The image of the imageless
This is called enigmatic
Confront it, its front cannot be seen
Follow it, its back cannot be seen
Wield the Tao of the ancients
To manage the existence of today
One can know the ancient beginning
It is called the Tao Axiom
The military is a tool of misfortune
Not the tool of honorable gentlemen
When using it out of necessity
Calm detachment should be above all
Victorious but without glory
Those who glorify
Are delighting in the killing
Those who delight in killing
Cannot achieve their ambitions upon the world
Auspicious events favor the left
Inauspicious events favor the right
The lieutenant general is positioned to the left
The major general is positioned to the right
We say that they are treated as if in a funeral
Those who have been killed
Should be mourned with sadness
Victory in war should be treated as a funeral
Chapter 33
Those who understand others are intelligent
Those who understand themselves are enlightened
Those who overcome others have strength
Those who overcome themselves are powerful
Those who know contentment are wealthy
Those who proceed vigorously have willpower
Those who do not lose their base endure
Those who die but do not perish have longevity