The lessons below engage your students in the investigation of ancient Greek and Roman mythology in Western art and literature.

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About Greek and Roman Mythology

Lessons 1–5 of 5

A Story on a Vase
Grades/Level: Lower Elementary (K–2), Upper Elementary (3–5)
Subjects: Visual Arts, English—Language Arts, History—Social Science
Lesson Overview: Students will examine a scene depicting Herakles (known as Hercules to the Romans) and the Hydra on the face of a black-figure hydria. They will then read Greek myths and choose one to depict in the style of the vase painter, known as the Eagle Painter.

Water Jar / attributed to Eagle Painter

Sculpting a Modern Hero
Grades/Level: Middle School (6–8)
Subjects: Visual Arts, History—Social Science
Lesson Overview: Students will examine the sculpture of the Greek hero Herakles (Hercules to the Romans) and discuss what it means to be a hero in ancient Greece and today. They will then choose a modern hero and create a sculpture that expresses the hero's identity and attributes.

Lansdowne Herakles / Greek

Contemporizing Myths
Grades/Level: Middle School (6–8)
Subjects: Visual Arts, English—Language Arts
Lesson Overview: Students will examine Rembrandt's Abduction of Europa and discuss how the artist has taken an ancient Greek myth and contemporized it for a 17th-century Dutch audience. They will then read origin myths and choose a scene to illustrate in a contemporary setting.

Abduction of Europa / Rembrandt

Writing from Mythological Narratives
Grades/Level: Upper Elementary (3–5), Middle School (6–8)
Subjects: Visual Arts, English—Language Arts
Lesson Overview: Students collaborate to compose a short piece of creative writing based on a painting depicting a mythological narrative. They then learn more about the mythological scene in the painting and adapt their original stories into tales from the life of the Greek hero Perseus.

Perseus & Phineus / Ricci

Referencing the Classical Past
Grades/Level: Middle School (6–8), High School (9–12)
Subjects: Visual Arts, History—Social Science
Lesson Overview: Students discuss the sculptural group Three Goddesses by Joseph Nollekens. They then discuss the 18th-century tradition of the Grand Tour and consider why wealthy 18th-century Europeans and people today seek associations with the classical past.

Three Goddesses / Nollekens

Lessons 1–5 of 5