Help Me Get Over the Mythology Hump

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  • dripdripsplat
    Participant

    Okay, I’m not exactly sure how to best word this, but the general thought is, I don’t feel comfortable studying mythology.

    We’re working through Module 1 currently, and of course there’s tons of mythology out there for this time period (as there will be for the next two modules, as well). I’m fairly certain my kids (13 & 12) completely understand that these characters are false gods and goddesses, and there is definitely a strong foundation of Bible, so I suppose I shouldn’t be worried… But I am… It’s odd, as I learned a lot about my own human shortcomings (vanity, envy, anger, etc.) through the stories, and really enjoyed studying mythology (which maybe is my hang-up, as there was no Christian/Biblical foundation in my life, and I really got into the greek gods/goddesses).

    Any suggestions (for me or the kids) would be greatly appreciated.

    TailorMade
    Participant

    We study this later in highschool. I have similar concerns. However, we do cover events (ex. Trojan Horse, etc.) and the geography/Paul’s journeys, etc.

    Becca<><

    TailorMade
    Participant

    Meant to say we cover that when they are younger.

    Rebekah P
    Participant

    I understand.  I too have some issues with studying this.  If your conscience is telling you that it’s not the time to do this, I think it’s best to listen to your conscience.  Paul stated,  “So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.”  Acts 24:16. You can always return to it when their older and, like Becca said, just cover the events and people during those time periods. 

    Everyone’s situation is unique and only God can truly tell you exactly what your family needs.  Trust that He will lead you in the right direction.

     

     

    HiddenJewel
    Participant

    Children need to learn how to think through material that is false. Each child will be ready to start this process at different ages. I do prefer to have taught them this process while still at home unstead of them fumbling through on their own once they hit the “real world”. But you have all of high school to teach those skills so it doesn’t have to be done in junior high.

    Kate Mom of 1
    Participant

    I made the choice to gloss over mythology and just focus on history with my 3rd grader.  Our entire discussion of it was a few sentences in a book. basically she knows all the ancients had polythesitic religions and we won’t go any farther than that until she’s older.  At this rate we’ll hit the ancients the second time around when she’s about 13-14. We’ll see if she’s ready to cover it then, and with how much depth. 

    nebby
    Participant

    My kids have never been confused about this. Greek culture forms a lot of the basis of ours, literary allusions etc, so I think one needs to cover it at some point. If anything, my kids realized on their own how hard it would be to worship multiple gods and how crazy messed up those gods were.

    Nebby

    http://www.letttersfromnebby.wordpress.com

    HiddenJewel
    Participant

    We were using TruthQuest when we studied Greece and Rome and it was great.

    caycecronk
    Member

    personally I don’t mind my kids hearing these stories! It gives me a chance to show them what the bible says and compare that with false Gods, Goddesses, etc and to let them see for there selves. I was very uneasy at first because my son seemed really into them and wanted all books on mythology but now he can tell me how that there is only one God and that is what he believes. Im worried about dealing with evolution in books, etc as well. Just explain to him what the bible says about such characters and they will understand!

    Bookworm
    Participant

    Go with your feelings if you’ve prayed about this.  But at some point, enough to be able to understand literary allusions at least.  It’s really tough to make headway in Romantic literature or poetry without knowing who all the mythical figures are!!!  My boys actually presented me with a well reasoned paper at one point on why they shouldn’t spend as much time on mythology as I had originally assigned them (we were doing AO at the time which is very mythology-heavy) but when they hit high school they admitted they needed to know more so we did a refresher and then kept a good mythology reference around for looking up the ones they did not know.  These stories are a cultural shorthand in our civilization.  We don’t have to believe them to learn to understand allusions to them.

    eawerner
    Participant

    Over at Ambleside Online they have some articles on teaching mythology that might be helpful to you.

    Personally, I don’t skim or gloss over the Bible, so it’s impossible to avoid explaining the worship of idols and false gods, along with the consequences of those actions.  The Bible is full of flawed and sinful people that we can read about, understand how they made the decisions they did because of their circumstances and their sinful nature, and learn from them.  Nothing in the Bible is there by accident, all of it is meant for us to grow closer to God. 

    Just my two cents.  🙂

    NJcountrygal
    Participant

    One thing I believe very deeply is that children should be taught Truth before teaching false gods or evolution, etc. We spent the last several years making sure My dd knew old testament history. Now she is 8 yrs. old. At this point I am making sure I preview anything with mythology. We are in ancient Egypt this year and so far every time we read about one of their false gods she is quick to point out how tragic it is that they would believe that way. One thing I love with the SCM history modules is the fact that you are learning Bible history along side secular. I have been getting ready for the next few years of Greek and Roman history. Because of all the mythology content my dh and I have decided to condense the two into one year at this age. We don’t want to avoid mythology altogether because we feel that to really understand a culture you must understand a little about how and what they believe and worship. However, we do want to be selective as to which ones are studied at this age. For instance, the story where the father builds wings for he and his son to escape captivity, but the son keeps flying higher until the sun melts the wings…… This story could teach against pride. Stories about throwing babies into fire to make them a god with powers…… These are the type we plan to avoid for now. I also have gone to book stores to personally look at any mythology book I plan to buy. I have saved myself some frustration because several have had very demented pictures that I don’t think my daughter would “appreciate”.

    2flowerboys
    Participant

    I never studied mythology and really I don’t feel like I missed out! I will be witholding this until the kids are older. I do want them to be grounded in the Bible first. No myths such as Greek, Santa, Easter Bunny, or the tooth fairy! They all are the same to me! LOL! I know it was part of their culture and when the time is right I will introduce them. Like I said even though I am ignorant when it comes to mythology, I don’t feel less educated! That is MHO!

    Bookworm
    Participant

    I don’t think anyone here would say teach lots of mythology BEFORE Bible.  🙂  BUT here is a poem that we just studied in English with my 7th and 11th graders:

    http://www.shmoop.com/ode-nightingale/poem-text.html

    It’s a lovely poem, a favorite of mine.  But I defy anyone to make any sort of serious study of it without bumping up against a mythological allusion!  This one even also has Biblical allusions.  🙂  

    Not to even mention that current political and journalistic discourse is full of phrases like “opening Pandora’s box”,  “Caught between Scylla and Charybdis” or even “between a rock and a hard place”   “She is a Cassandra”   “That is his Achilles’ heel”  “That’s a Trojan virus”  “Herculean effort”  “Don’t fly too close to the sun”  “He’s got the Midas touch’  “listen to the siren call”  “She’s a Penelope”  “bacchalian party”  “Atlas Shrugged”  🙂  The world is full of it, and you’ll miss a lot if you are clueless.  Any of these above phrases can call up a rich story to add limitless meaning, just like the allusions in the poem I cited above—we’d miss so much richness not get half the enjoyment of the poem if we had no clue!  Actually since we aren’t experts, we looked up Hippocrene, not remembering her.  But it sure helped that we didn’t have to look up every allusion in the poem.  

    Now, I’m not arguing that you must teach all of this to eight-year-olds.  I don’t.  But IMO it IS a part of setting your children’s feet in a large room, preparing them to draw maximum meaning from the literature and discourse they will be encountering all their lives.  These stories are part of Western civilization, having influenced writers since ancient times, right up to the present day.  Christian children are, and should be, first and foremost Christian children—but that does not rule out their also being educated beings who understand a lot about present culture because they understand basic mythology.  

    sheraz
    Participant

    Now, I’m not arguing that you must teach all of this to eight-year-olds.  I don’t.  But IMO it IS a part of setting your children’s feet in a large room, preparing them to draw maximum meaning from the literature and discourse they will be encountering all their lives.  These stories are part of Western civilization, having influenced writers since ancient times, right up to the present day.  Christian children are, and should be, first and foremost Christian children—but that does not rule out their also being educated beings who understand a lot about present culture because they understand basic mythology.  

    Agreeing with Bookworm – your lives are fuller when you understand where it came from.  It truly is part of being well-educated. Just like the Bible stories are part of our culture – whether or not you are a believer, it is there.  One is true and one is not, but both are in the very fabric of our culture.

    To the OP:  An interesting non-threatening way to share some of the more common stories is through Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book: A Wonder Story.  (He also wrote Tanglewood Tales, but we haven’t started it yet).  The myths are well-presented as stories, not set in stone fact, so it is easier to distinguish between fact and fiction, Biblical or not. My 11 and 12 yo dd get it and are not distressed by them. 

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