In-Class Projects
LITERATURE
21 Poems about Myths
Odysseus, short story with a sardonic ending
MUSIC
Zeus concert
This work captures the myth and legend of Zeus, the mythical master of the gods and men. A sky god, he controls lightning, which he uses as a weapon, and thunder. It opens as Zeus becomes involved in the Trojan war, hurling lightning bolts at his opponents.
The tension soon subsides as we are introduced to the eternally beautiful Hera, whom Zeus would eventually marry. The music then ensues as our story unfolds, as Zeus made his domain the mountaintops and clouds where he could survey all creation, and inflict pain and justice on all evildoers.
Tension builds as Zeus battles Typhon in hand to hand combat, ending ultimately with Zeus throwing the enormous Mt. Etna at the monster, pinning him underneath.
From here, the tension subsides, and a beautiful lyrical section builds to an ending of incredible power and grandeur as Zeus again reaffirms his stature as the ruler of Mt. Olympus.
J. S. Bach - Cantata 213 Hercules at Crossroads
Beethoven, The Creatures of Prometheus
Benjamin Britten - Young Apollo
Gluck / Wagner: Iphigénie en Aulide
Igor Stravinsky - Persephone (1933-34) #3 - Cuadro II - Perséfone en los infiernos
John Blow - Venus and Adonis, Act 2
Gluck - Orfeo ed Euridice - Dance of the Blessed Spirits
DANCE
Leda and the Swan Ballet - The Royal Ballet
Maenads - Scimm. Dance Company
VISUAL ARTS
Botticelli - Venus and Mars, c 1483.

Tempera on panel, 69 cm x 173 cm
Giovanni Bellini and Titian - Feast of the Gods

1514-1529 Oil on canvas
Dürer, Celestial Map of the Northern Sky, 1515

Pete Paul Rubens - Venus and Adonis c. 1635

Oil on canvas, 197 x 243 cm
John Vanderlyn - Ariadne Asleep on the Island of Naxos

1814
Pablo Picasso. Minotaur's Repose from the Vollard Suite

1933