Grades/Level: Middle School (6–8), High School (9–12)
Subjects: Visual Arts, English–Language Arts
Time Required: Short Activity
20 minutes
Author: J. Paul Getty Museum Education Staff

Activity Overview

Introduce students to classical mythology and Greek and Roman gods, goddesses, and heroes. Students read about and compare two images of a god, goddess, or hero.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:
• identify specific Greek and Roman gods, goddesses, and heroes in a work of art.
• compare two images of the same subject, identify their similarities and differences, and speculate about why artists represent different aspects of a character's personality.
• create a short story using attributes to describe the characters.

Materials

• Images of three pairs of objects from the Getty collection, below.
• Worksheet: Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes

Activity Steps

Step 1: Each of the three sets of images below contains two different representations of the same god, goddess, or hero. Divide your students into pairs and give each a copy of the images. Make copies of the Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes worksheet for each student.

Image pairs:
Zeus/Jupiter: Jupiter by Raon and The Abduction of Europa
Aphrodite/Venus: Venus marble sculpture and Venus and Adonis
Herakles/Hercules: Boy with a Dragon and Cabinet on a Stand

Step 2: Ask someone to read the first paragraph on the worksheet aloud and hold a class discussion. What is mythology? What do they know already about Greek and Roman gods, goddesses, and heroes? This activity is meant to get them thinking about mythology so that when they visit the Museum at the Getty Center they will have some background information.

Step 3: Tell the students that they each should have two different images of the same mythological character—either a god (Zeus/Jupiter), goddess (Aphrodite/Venus), or hero (Herakles/Hercules). Ask them to work in pairs for 15 minutes, reading the paragraph about their mythological figure, then answering the questions at the bottom of the activity sheet.

Step 4: After 15 minutes ask the students to present their answers and ideas to the class.

Step 5: Conclude the activity by holding a classroom discussion. Ask your students: What did they learn about mythology from doing the activity? How did reading about their god, goddess, or hero affect what they noticed in the images? Tell your students that when they visit the Getty Museum at the Getty Center they will see many more images of gods, goddesses, and heroes. Suggest that they look for other images of their god, goddess, or hero in the Museum.