Pandora’s Box
What features of human existence is the story trying to explain?
Would you have opened the box?
Write reasons for both ‘NO’ and ‘YES’!
NO
YES
The message of the story is:
th
This 19 century engraving is
based on a painting by F.S. Church.
Week 1Monday Comprehension 1
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Names from Greek Myths
Explore the different name endings. Underline names that end
in ‘a’ in red, ‘us’ in blue ‘o’ in green and ‘e’ orange, or choose
your own colours.
Girls
Andromeda
Aphrodite
Arachne
Athene
Atlanta
Daphne
Demeter
Diana
Eurydice
Hera
Hydra
Medea
Medusa (the Gorgon)
Pandora
Penelope
Persephone
Boys
Apollo
Daedalus
Dictys
Echo
Epimetheus
Eurystheus
Heracles
Icarus
Menelaus
Midas
Minos
Narcissus
Odysseus
Perseus
Pluto
Prometheus
Theseus
Zeus
What do you notice?
Week 1 Tuesday Word reading 1
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Icarus
Once upon a time there was a boy who tried to fly. He flew
with his father, soaring over the shining, sun-dappled sea. His
father, who had created the wings which enabled them to fly,
was the most brilliant, the most cunning, the most inventive
designer who ever lived. But in his past was a dark secret, and
a labyrinth and a monster so terrible it could not be spoken of.
The boy’s name was Icarus. His father, Daedalus, had escaped
from Athens after his nephew, Talos, had died under very
peculiar and suspicious circumstances. Daedalus never spoke
to Icarus about what had happened – about how it was that
Talos had fallen, spiralling down from the roof of the highest
tower in Athens. But he knew that he and his father had been
on the run ever since, moving from city to city. Daedalus
designed and made moving toys of intricate detail and
extraordinary complexity, and sold them in the markets as
they travelled. The greatest designer and inventor in Greece
was reduced to pedalling toys like a common salesman!
Finally they found themselves in Crete, in the city of Knossos,
where Minos the king had his palace. Soon the rumour spread
around the capital that Daedalus was making amazing toys,
and that these could be bought in the market. The richest and
most important families in Knossos flocked to ensure that
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their children became the proud owners of a set of toy
soldiers that marched up a hill, or a wooden bird that flapped
its brightly feathered wings and opened its beak to catch a
fish. In due course, the fame of these wonderful toys spread
to the palace, and Daedalus was summoned by the king
himself.
Minos was not a nice man. He had tried to cheat Poseidon,
the god of the sea, and, as a result, had ended up with a
terrible and dark secret. His wife had given birth to a monster
– half gigantic bull and half man – named the Minotaur. This
was a beast so huge and so horrible that no one could look on
it without fainting. It devoured human flesh, and the king was
terribly afraid that, if the Minotaur escaped, his country would
live in fear forever, and his kingship would be destroyed.
Minos wanted Daedalus to design and build a huge cage for
the Minotaur – one that would keep it safe forever, a cage
from which it could never, ever escape.
Daedalus took up the king’s challenge. He built a labyrinth
beneath the palace; a labyrinth so complicated that anyone
entering the maze would be caught in its web of passages, and
would never able to find their way out again. The Minotaur
was released into the labyrinth and, every year, each of the
countries ruled by Minos was forced to send seven young men
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and seven maidens to the labyrinth to feed the monster’s foul
appetites. But, despite the fact that his terrible secret was at
last safely imprisoned in the labyrinth beneath his palace,
Minos was not a happy man. For Daedalus now knew of his
secret. And Daedalus, alone amongst men, also knew the
secret ways and paths of the labyrinth itself. Minos could not
stand the thought of Daedalus having this knowledge and so,
one night, as Daedalus and his son slept, he had them
rounded up and thrown, without any warning, into the
labyrinth itself.
Icarus was terrified but Daedalus calmed him. ‘Fear not,’ he
reminded him, ‘for I built this prison, and by that knowledge
we shall escape.’ As the Minotaur’s roars got nearer and
nearer, Daedalus and Icarus ran through the maze of
passages, Daedalus counting the twists and turns. Just as the
Minotaur was about to turn the last corner and devour them,
Daedalus touched a rock and opened a secret doorway which
led to the cliff wall at the edge of the sea. Pushing Icarus
through first, he hurled himself out just as the door slammed
shut, keeping the Minotaur in its labyrinthine gaol.
But now, Icarus and Daedalus were really scared. Wherever
they went on the island, they would be captured and killed by
the king’s soldiers. They spent the day miserably crouching in
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a small cave at the foot of the cliff on the edge of the shore.
The sea gulls flew screeching in and out of their cave, bringing
fish to the baby birds, who leant screaming over the sides of
their nests, balanced precariously on ledges along the cliff
face. Daedalus watched the swooping of the gulls as they
skimmed the water’s surface before flying gracefully round
and back to their young, he watched as feathers fell from their
nests and fluttered gently downwards, and, as he watched,
Daedalus, ever inventive, had an idea. ‘We’ll fly!’ he
exclaimed suddenly to his startled son. ‘We’ll fly away. That’s
how we’ll escape. We’ll fly!’
At dawn the next morning, Daedalus tracked down a bee’s
nest and robbed it of its wax. He sent Icarus to gather the
driftwood from along the seashore, and he cut down long,
straight, pliable branches from the willows growing along the
edge of the river which cascaded into the sea. Gently he
worked, designing the wings, sticking on the feathers with the
wax, and adapting the beating mechanism which he created
out of meticulously carved pieces of wood, levers fashioned
from driftwood and notches carved in the swathes of willow.
Finally they were ready – two pairs of strong, sturdy wings,
covered in the broad, long feathers of flight. Daedalus and
Icarus dragged themselves to the top of the cliff, and stood, as
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the sun rose, looking out over the sea. ‘We shall fly’, Daedalus
told his son. ‘We shall fly to freedom. Follow me. Fly neither
too low, where the sea spray will dampen your wings and they
will become heavy with water, nor too high, for the wax will
be melted by the hot sun. Follow me.’ And so saying,
Daedalus broke into a clumsy run toward the edge of the cliff
and then, wings creaking as they beat, flapped slowly out over
the glistening sea.
Icarus followed, making his own terrified run, and then out,
out, out over the water shining in the sunlight below. As he
flapped his large, unwieldy wings, and felt the air rush
beneath him and the wind in his hair and face, he dared to
look down. He was flying, he was gliding, he was swooping on
the currents and floating on the breeze! He felt free. He
understood the power and the fearlessness of flight. He was a
bird on the wing. He had left his feet behind and he was no
longer attached to the earth with its troubles and weights, its
heaviness and its depressions. He was at one with the sky. He
gazed up. Above him was only blue, a deep, drowning blue.
He tipped his wings and soared down and then up, a long slow
incline, reaching new heights. And now the tiny, fluffy clouds
were beneath him, and the sea was but a glistening haze in
the distance below. He soared again, down and then up, up,
up. Now he was surrounded by blue. Far below he could hear
the cries of the gulls as they swooped and quarrelled over the
water. Mingled with them he could hear his father’s warning
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shouts. But he cared not. Again he soared, and again, and
again, climbing higher and higher into the deep blueness
above.
Daedalus saw feathers floating past him, floating in ones and
twos, then in dozens and scores, floating down on the sea
breeze. Then, as he gazed in horror, almost forgetting to beat
his own wings, he saw Icarus, plummeting downwards, falling
out of the blue sky and into the mirror of the sea below.
Daedalus watched helplessly as his son’s body sank beneath
the waves, then he flapped his own weary way to safety.
(Available as a Hamilton Trust – Oral Story and in The
Hamilton Book of Traditional Tales)
http://www.hamiltontrust.org.uk/previous/resources.asp?lstDocumentType=2&lstResourceYear=3
&form=form&ID=5126&project=0
Week 1 Wednesday Comprehension 2
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Icarus (shorter version)
Once there was a monster, a half man-half bull called the
Minotaur. This strange and terrible beast lived in a deep, dark
Labyrinth on the island of Crete. The Labyrinth was created by
the cunning and clever mind of Daedalus.
Daedalus was a brilliant architect and inventor – in fact, he
was so brilliant that King Minos of Crete did not want to let
him go back to his home in Athens. Instead, he kept him as a
prisoner. Daedalus lived with his son Icarus in a tower of the
palace.
Although Daedalus and Icarus had every comfort that they
could ask for, the father longed to return home to Athens. His
son hardly remembered his home city, but he too wanted to
leave, because he longed to run and play in the open, rather
than be in a tower all day.
Daedalus looked out over the waves of the Mediterranean
Sea, and he realised that even if they could manage to slip out
of the tower and find a little boat, they wouldn’t be able to
sail very far before they were spotted and caught by one of
the ships of King Minos’s navy.
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He thought for a long time about the best way to escape, and
finally he came up with a plan, and this is what he did. He told
King Minos that he needed feathers and wax for a new
invention that he was working on. When these were brought
to him, he took them up onto the roof of the tower. Here he
put them in four lines, starting with the smallest fathers, and
following those with the longer ones, so that they made gentle
curves. After that he began to stick the feathers together with
thread in the middle and wax at the base. While he was
working, Icarus played with the wax, squashing it between his
finger and thumb, and when the feathers blew away in the
breeze he ran after them and caught them.
When Daedalus had finished, he showed Icarus his work. He
had made the feathers into two pairs of wings. He fastened
the larger pair to his arms, and began to flap them until his
feet took off from the floor and he began to hover in mid air.
Icarus laughed with delight and could not wait to try out the
smaller pair of wings. Over the next few days father and son
both practised with them until little Icaraus was almost as
good at flying as his father.
Then one morning Deadalus said to Icarus:
“Now Son, we are ready to leave this island for good. We shall
fly home to Athens. But although you are now quite good at
flying, you must not forget that it can be very dangerous. So
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listen carefully. Do not fly too high, or the sun will heat the
wax and your wings will fall apart”.
Little Icarus nodded to show his father that he had
understood. And then Daedalus led his son up onto the
battlements of the tower, and he jumped into mid air and
flapped his wings, and Icarus followed soon after.
Over the seas they flew, and at first Icarus felt frightened for
he had never gone very far in his practice flights. But soon he
found that he was really good at flying. In fact, it was the most
wonderful fun you could ever have. He began to swoop up
and down with the sea gulls. Wow! It was amazing ! His father
turned round and called:
“Icarus, Take Care!” and for a while after that Icarus obeyed
his father and flapped along behind him. But then his wings
caught a warm air current, and he found that he could soar
along and upwards almost without any effort. This was the
life.
His father called up to him
“Icarus, remember what I told you. Come down right now!”
But Icarus could not hear, and his father could not catch up
with him.
Icarus was way too close to the sun, and soon the wax that
held the feathers together began to melt. Gradually his wings
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began to lose their shape, and some of the feathers even
began to fall off. Icarus flapped his arms frantically, but it was
too late. He had lost the power of flight and down he plunged
into the sea.
Adapted from
http://storynory.com/2008/08/24/the-boy-who-flew-too-high/
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Week 1 Wednesday Comprehension 2
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Powerful Verbs
Underline the powerful verbs in each sentence.
 Talos spiralled down from the top of the highest tower in Athens.
 The greatest designer and inventor in Greece peddled toys like a
common salesman!
 They crouched miserably in a small cave at the foot of the cliff on
the edge of the shore.
 Daedalus watched the swooping of the gulls as they skimmed the
water’s surface and flew gracefully round and back to their
young. He gazed as feathers fell from their nests and fluttered
gently downwards.
 While he was working, Icarus played with the wax. He squashed
and squished it between his finger and thumb.
 Daedalus and Icarus dragged themselves to the top of the cliff,
and stood, as the sun rose, looking out over the sea.
 He swooped on the currents and floated on the breeze!
 Then, as he gazed in horror, almost forgetting to beat his own
wings, he saw his son. Icarus, plummeted downwards, falling out
of the blue sky and into the mirror of the sea below.
Write 2 sentences of your own using 2 of these synonyms for fell
– plummeted, plunged, dived, tumbled or dropped.
Now write 2 sentences of your own using more powerful verbs as
synonyms for sat, and 2 using powerful verbs as synonyms for went.
Week 1 Thursday Grammar 1
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Powerful Verbs
Underline the powerful verb in each sentence.
 Talos spiralled down from the top of the highest tower in
Athens.
 They crouched miserably in a small cave at the foot of the
cliff on the edge of the shore.
 While he was working, Icarus played with the wax. He
squashed and squished it between his finger and thumb.
 He swooped on the currents and floated on the breeze!
Write a sentence of your own using one of these synonyms for
fell – plummeted, plunged, dived, tumbled or dropped.
___________________________________________________
Write two different sentences of your own using a powerful
verb in place of ‘said’.
E.g. He said he would fly away from the tower to be free.
He yelled that he would fly away from the tower to be free.
Week 1 Thursday Grammar 1
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1. Daedalus and Icarus were locked in a tower by King Minos
Once upon a time, Daedalus, who was a great inventor, was
locked inside a tall tower with his son Icarus. They longed to
return to Athens but King Minos was frightened they would
reveal the secret of the labyrinth if he released them. For
many months they languished in the tower staring out over
the blue sea into the distance.
Week 1 Friday Composition 1
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Show your readers how, when, where or why something was done or happened by using…
Conjunctions, adverbs and prepositions
and
then
after
or
next
during
but
soon
in
when
so
because of
before
after
while
Week 2 Wednesday Grammar 3
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Examples of words with –logy from Greek logos, word or speech
Almost all precede the ending with -oanthropology the study of humankind
anthrōpos,
human being
archaeology
the study of human history and
prehistory through the excavation of
sites and the analysis of physical
remains
astrology
the study of the movements and
relative positions of celestial bodies
astron, star
interpreted as having an influence on
human affairs and the natural world
biology
the study of living organisms
arkhaios,
ancient
bios, life
bios, life, plus
the exploitation of biological processes
biotechnology
technē, art,
for industrial and other purposes
craft
chronology
the study of historical records to
establish the dates of past events
khronos, time
ecology
the branch of biology that deals with
the relations of organisms to one
another and to their physical
surroundings
oikos, house
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geology
the science which deals with the
physical structure and substance of the
gē, earth
earth, their history, and the processes
which act on them
the branch of physiology and medicine
which deals with the functions and
gunē, gunaik-,
gynaecology diseases specific to women and girls, woman,
especially those affecting the
female
reproductive system
the branch of science concerned with
meteōron, of
the processes and phenomena of the
meteorology
the
atmosphere, especially as a means of
atmosphere
forecasting the weather
microbiology
the branch of science that deals with
micro-organisms
mikros, small,
plus bios, life
neurology
the branch of medicine or biology that
deals with the anatomy, functions, and neuron, nerve,
organic disorders of nerves and the
sinew, tendon
nervous system
pathology
pathos,
the science of the causes and effects of
suffering,
diseases
disease
the branch of medicine concerned with
pharmakon,
pharmacology the uses, effects, and modes of action
drug
of medications
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physiology
the branch of biology that deals with
the normal functions of living
organisms and their parts
psychology
the scientific study of the human mind psukhē,
and its functions, especially those
breath, soul,
affecting behaviour in a given context mind
sociology
the study of the development,
structure, and functioning of human
society
technology
the application of scientific knowledge
technē, art,
for practical purposes, especially in
craft
industry
theology
the study of the nature of God and
religious belief
theos, god
topology
the study of ‘rubber sheet geometry’
and relationships in space
topos, place
zoology
the scientific study of the behaviour,
structure, classification, and
distribution of animals
zōion, animal
phusis, nature
Latin socius,
companion
Week 2 Thursday Transcription 3/Word reading 3
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Spelling words that end in -ology
Words that
end in -ology
What they mean
The Greek words
they comes from
astrology
the study of positions of
the planets and stars.
ideas about how they
affect human life.
astron, star
biology
the study of living things
bios, life
ecology
the branch of biology that oikos, house
studies how living things
relate to their
surroundings
geology
the scientific study of
earth
mythology
the branch of knowledge
that deals with myths
pathology
the science of causes and pathos, suffering,
effects of diseases
disease
zoology
the scientific study of
animals
gē, earth
zōion, animal
Week 2 Thursday Transcription 3/Word reading 3
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Objects from Greek Mythology
Object
Bed of Helius
Thunderbolt.
Function
This flying bed, hollow and with wings, was forged of gold by Hephaestus.
The thunderbolt was given by the Cyclops to Zeus, and when the god flings
one it is not lost; because an Eagle fetches it back.
Brass Castanets When Heracles could not drive the Stymphalian Birds from the wood,
Athena gave him brass castanets. By clashing these on a certain mountain,
he scared the birds.
T he Horn of
Amalthea owned a bull's horn, which had the power of supplying meat or
Plenty
drink in abundance.
Helmet of Hades This is the gift that the Cyclops gave Hades. The helmet rends the wearer
invisible. Perseus wore it when he went to kill Medusa.
Chair of
When Pirithous and Theseus descended to the Underworld so that
Forgetfulness
Pirithous could wed Persephone, Hades told both of them to sit on the
Chair of Forgetfulness, where they were held fast by coils of serpents.
Winged Sandals of Hermes lent Perseus his winged sandals when he went to kill Medusa.
Perseus
Shield of Athene
A bright shield that helped Perseus on his quest to fetch the head of
Medusa.
Week 2 Friday Composition 5
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Writing in the 3rd person (using he, she, it, they) and writing in the 1st person (using I, me, my, we).
Extracts from Persephone and the Pomegranate Seeds
1. But Pluto did not go to Demeter and ask to marry her daughter: he knew she
would say no. Instead, he harnessed his black chariot and thundered out into the
sunlight.
2. Pluto no longer thought his kingdom was dark or gloomy. Now that Persephone
sat on a throne beside his, it seemed bright and cheerful. Hosts of ghosts came
streaming through the darkness to gaze at his new bride. Pluto was very happy
indeed.
3. Oh and she was so very hungry! For days she had sat and pined, hoping her
mother might find her. But her mother did not come and did not come.
Week 3 Monday Grammar 5
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Writing in the 3rd person (using he, she, it, they) and writing in the 1st person (using I, me, my, we).
Change the extract to make Daedalus speak.
Icarus and Daedalus lived in great comfort in King Minos’ palace. But they lived the life of prisoners. Their rooms
were in the tallest palace tower, with beautiful views across the island. They ate delectable food and wore
expensive clothes. But at night the door of their fine apartment was locked, and a guard stood outside.
Change the extract to make Icarus speak.
By dipping first one wing, then the other, Icarus found that he could turn to the left and the right. The wind tugged
at his hair. His legs trailed behind him. He saw the fields and streams as he had never seen them before.
Change the extract to make Perseus speak.
Even in Herme’s winged sandals, it was a long time before Perseus spotted the Gorgon Medusa’s island. It lay below
him like a single grey eye in the face of the sea. He did not search about for the monster though: he now knew that
one sight of her would turn him to stone.
Change the extract to make Pandora speak.
Pandora looked out of the window. But in her heart of hearts she knew the voice was coming from the chest. She
pulled back the blanket with finger and thumb.
Week 3 Monday Grammar 5
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Writing in the 3rd person (using he, she, it, they) and writing in the 1st person (using I, me, my, we).
Use Theseus and the Minotaur from Greek Myths by Marcia Williams
Start on comic text box number 6.
Theseus, son of King Aegeus was angered by this cruelty.
and write it as if Theseus were speaking:
I am very angry that King Minos is so cruel to us.
Keep going as far as you can, telling the story in Theseus’ words. It is as if Theseus is saying it to you!
I am going to join the seven youths and seven girls and go to Athens...
Week 3 Monday Grammar 5
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Speech Marks Check List
1.
Speech Marks show when someone is talking.
2.
Speech Marks go around the words which are
spoken.
3.
Use a capital letter when someone starts to speak.
4.
Use a full stop at the end of the speech if the sentence has ended.
5.
Use a comma at the end of the speech if the sentence has not ended.
King Polydectes ground his teeth. “I see I must get rid of this wretched
boy.”
“I’d rather die than eat your food,” said Persephone, even though she was
very hungry.
6.
Every time a new person starts speaking start a new line.
Week 2 Tuesday Grammar 6
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Week 3 Tuesday Grammar 6
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Starting a story...
 At the very beginning, the gods ruled over an empty world.
 All the goddesses liked to run through the silent woods on Mount
Olympus.
 The island of Crete was ruled by King Minos whose reputation for cruelty
had spread to every shore.
 Once, when all cloths and clothes were woven by hand, there was a
needlewoman called Arachne more skilful than all the rest.
 There was once a king called Midas who was almost as stupid as he was
greedy.
 Long ago when fortune-tellers told the truth, there lived a very frightened
man.
Week 3 Thursday Composition 7
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