大象传媒

The story of Prometheus and his punishment by Zeus for stealing fire from the gods leads to the story of Pandora and her box.

The video

Prometheus and Pandora

Please note that the animation includes depictions of violence from Greek mythology. We advise watching before sharing with your class.

Synopsis

The animation combines two well-known Ancient Greek myths. It begins with Prometheus, who along with his brother - Epimetheus - is charged by Zeus with populating the world. Prometheus creates the first humans - men only - but he wants them to be warm so he goes against Zeus's warning and steals fire from the gods. Zeus punishes Prometheus by chaining him to a rock, to be attacked every day by a huge eagle . But Zeus goes further. He orders Hephaestus to mould the first woman - Pandora - and demands that she be curious about all things.

Epimetheus falls in love with Pandora and Zeus allows them to live on Earth and be married. Zeus gives Pandora a box and tells her never to open it. But Pandora is curious and one day she opens the box鈥 and cruelty, hatred and despair escape into the world. Pandora slams the box shut but only one thing remains鈥 hope.

Teacher Notes

Taken from the complete Teacher Notes. See Resources.

Before watching the video

What do children remember of Zeus? What is his background and what impression do they have of him? What did they learn about the Titans in the previous film?

After watching the video

  • Playing God. Prometheus and Epimetheus were asked to create creatures with which to fill the Earth. What kind of creatures would pupils create? Task them with drawing and labelling a new life form. They should consider its habitat, lifestyle and eating habits and how this will affect its appearance and features. A template is provided for this task.
  • Fire! Prometheus wanted to give humans fire. Why is fire so important? Challenge pairs to come up with as many uses as possible in two minutes and to list them on whiteboards. After two minutes, go to each pair in turn for an idea. Pairs score a point for each correct answer and two points if they have come up with an answer that no other pair has suggested.
  • Dear Diary. Pandora鈥檚 actions had a devastating effect on the earth. Ask children to take the role of Pandora and write two diary entries: one before she opens the box and one afterwards. What drives her to defy Zeus? How does she feel afterwards?
  • Pandora鈥檚 box. What would children put in a box like Pandora鈥檚? Using the worksheet provided, ask them to choose five items, habits or concepts they would treasure and five they would like to get rid of forever. They will have to give reasons!
  • Room 101. Ask children to choose one item/concept/habit from the list of 鈥榟orrors鈥 they made in the previous activity and to make a case to the class for getting rid of it forever. As the teacher, you get to choose five to condemn forever based on the children鈥檚 arguments.

Resources - Teacher Notes from Teachit

Comprehensive Teacher Notes covering episodes 6 to 10, including worksheets and activities.

Ancient Greek myths

Click to display the worksheet full-size or print it (taken from the Teacher Notes).

Comprehension questions

Click to display the worksheet full-size or print it (taken from the Teacher Notes).

Treasures and horrors

The Teacher Notes for this series have been prepared in partnership with .

Other resources


大象传媒 Teach: Tales from Ancient Greece - audio versions of more popular Ancient Greek myths