"Myths And Their Transformations,"
	Hercules: The Internal and External Struggle - Elizabeth Brennan, Edison Elementary
	There are many versions of the myth of Hercules, both old and new. There is much diversity in the different renderings of the ancient tale, but all agree that Hercules' life was fraught with struggle&emdash;both internal struggles with his passions and external struggles with the beasts and monsters he was compelled to conquer. Descriptions of the twelve labors of Hercules vary, but the beasts and monsters themselves seem to be consistent in most versions. The description of the twelve labors included here was drawn primarily from ancient sources, including Hesiod, Appollodorus, Euripides, and Ovid. The curriculum unit has an interdisciplinary focus on Reading, Writing, Social Studies, Drama, and Art in grades one through four. Because a knowledge of the life and people of ancient Greece and the gods and goddesses of Olympus is important background information for understanding the story of Hercules, students begin the unit by learning about life in ancient Greece and the Olympian gods and goddesses. The unit concludes with interdisciplinary lessons on the myth of Hercules and annotated teacher, student, and resource bibliographies.