With this posting, I move a
little closer to setting out the topic for my second set of autism and classical
myth resources for the Our Mythical
Childhood project. I also move a little closer to writing my abstract for
the upcoming Our Mythical History
conference in May of this year.
I said in the last posting
that it's comments from children that have given rise to the topic for the second
set of activities. These are the children from a local primary school's autism until who were taking part last autumn in a preliminary pilot study of the first set of resources. Now I shall finally share what it was that was said. When
the class’s teacher introduced Hercules, what the children wanted to know included ‘when
did he live?’ and ‘what historical period he was from?’ The second set of activities
offers an answer to these questions. They were also very interested in his club - and I'm considering how to make more of this attribute in future activities.
As a mythological figure, Herakles
is from no historical period. As a mythological figure,
Herakles was reimagined at various points in history. Indeed, this mythological
figure has a richer history in this regard than any other mythological personage.
This is something that Emma Stafford was so struck by in writing the ‘Afterwards’
section for her book on Herakles in the Gods
and Heroes of the Ancient World series that her work for this section grew
into an ambitious project which includes a series of conferences, books and an oratorio. And, as Alastair Blanshard
has shown, each age can have its own Herakles/Hercules.
I am going to focus for the
second set of activities on a time when Herakles was especially significant at
a particular point in history. I shall do this as a route into introducing
ancient Greek history. On the one hand, Herakles makes sense against a backdrop
of this particular period. On the other hand, the particular historical period
can be introduced via a study of one of the figures who was reimagined at this
time.
One way to introduce ancient
history is through its gods, heroes and myths. With Herakles as a starting point,
I aim to introduce an eventful time in ancient Greece – one where culture, society
and politics were changing – and where myths were transformed in light of these
various changes. This was the sixth century
BCE – a time of ferment, change and revolution. Specifically, the time in
question is the 560s and 550s, when Peisistratos came to dominance in one city,
Athens. This dominance was expressed through various mythological figures, not
least Herakles.
In a few days’ time (today
is Tuesday – I’ll be doing this on Friday), I have a few hours to spend in the British
Museum. I shall be spending this time looking at vases in several galleries to
gather together some images of Herakles, of Athena and of chariots. It is this
material that, as I plan to show, is especially pertinent to the historical
events that will be the focus of the activities.
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