Mythology

For ancient people mythology was a way of picturing the forces and processes at work in the world. These processes and world views were anthropomorphized into pictures of men and women whose interactions depicted the workings of the individual, the group, the community, the state, and the cosmos. For our work in AllinPeace we have chosen the mythology associated with ancient Greece. The 10-12 year old child gravitates toward these figures and relates strongly to their human characteristics. The myths explain the world in a way that the children at this age can deeply understand. In this sense we enliven the teaching of the disciplines of the Pentathlon (running, jumping, wrestling, discus, and javelin) by relating them through various mythological figures preeminently Zeus, Apollo, Hermes, Athena, Artemis, and Heracles. By teaching history, sport, literature, poetry, and music through these ancient mythical stories the children learn morals and values that are easily understood, assimilated, and applied. Mythology is an essential resource for high quality storytelling. In AllinPeace we bring the oral tradition alive by using these stories as an effective teaching tool.