THE MYTH OF
BELLEROPHON
Bellerophon was a good looking
young man, and the master of the
winged horse, Pegasus. He was so
handsome that a queen fell in love with
him, but Bellerophon did not feel the
same way about her.
The queen was broken hearted,
and asked the king to kill Bellerophon.
Unable to kill him himself, the king sent
Bellerophon to see King Lycia, who he
has asked to kill Bellerophon for him.
The king of Lycia was unable to kill
Bellerophon as well. Instead, he came
up with a plan – he decided to send
Bellerophon on a very difficult quest,
THE MYTH OF
BELLEROPHON
with the hope of him dying in the process. He asked Bellerophon to kill the
Chimera, a ferocious creature with the head of a lion and the body of a goat.
Bellerophon accepted the challenge. Because he was master of the
mighty Pegasus, he was able to fly high above the Chimera. Because the
Chimera was unable to get close to him, Bellerophon was able to kill it with his
bow and arrow.
After this heroic deed, Bellerophon became quite arrogant. He thought
his actions should allow him to sit among the gods at Mount Olympus. Pegasus
had no time for his arrogance, and promptly threw him off.
As a punishment for his arrogance, Bellerophon was left on Earth alone,
and the mighty Pegasus was brought to Mount Olympus to live among the
gods.
THE MYTH OF
BELLEROPHON
MYTH SUMMARY
WHO WERE THE MAIN CHARACTERS?
WHERE DID IT TAKE PLACE?
WHAT WERE THE MAIN EVENTS?
USE THE INFORMATION YOU GATHERED TO SUMMARIZE THE
STORY HERE.
THE MYTH OF
ATLANTA
When Atlanta was born, her father was
very disappointed, as he had hoped to have
a son. Because of this, he banished the baby
to the woods to die.
Atlanta, however, did not die. Instead,
she was raised by a bear. The bear taught
her how to live in the woods and be brave.
While living in the woods, Atlanta learned to
hunt, and became very skilled with a bow
and arrow.
When Atlanta’s father discovered that
his child was still alive, he decided that he
wanted her back. He tried to civilize her,
and told her that he would try and find her a
husband. Atlanta, however, had no interest in
being married. In order to delay the process
for as long as possible, Atlanta told her father
THE MYTH OF
ATLANTA
that she would only agree to marry a man who could beat her in a race.
Atlanta was very beautiful, and many wanted to marry her. However, none
were able to, as they could not beat her in a foot race. Atlanta had grown very
strong and fast while growing up in the woods.
One day a man named Melanion fell in love with Atlanta. Knowing the
challenge that awaited him, he prayed to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, to help
him win the race. Aphrodite responded, and gave Melanion three magic golden
apples to use to distract Atlanta during the race. In return, he had to promise to
make a sacrifice to Aphrodite after he won the race.
During the race, Melanion threw the apples at Atlanta’s feet. She was so distracted
by their beauty, that Melanion was able to run past her. Because of the golden
apples, Melanion was able to win both the race and Atlanta.
However, disaster soon struck. Melanion was so happy for winning the race
that he forgot his promise to Aphrodite. This made the goddess very angry. As
punishment, Aphrodite turned both Atlanta and Melanion into lions.
THE MYTH OF
ATLANTA
MYTH SUMMARY
WHO WERE THE MAIN CHARACTERS?
WHERE DID IT TAKE PLACE?
WHAT WERE THE MAIN EVENTS?
USE THE INFORMATION YOU GATHERED TO SUMMARIZE THE
STORY HERE.