Hercules the Mighty

Essential questions: What is identity? What does it mean to be an outsider? How do we develop a sense of purpose?

Discuss identity and purpose. (5 minutes)

Ask students to respond to the question “Who are you?” in one sentence. Write students’ responses on the board. Discuss the ways in which students identify themselves. Is it through their relationships (“I’m Amy’s best friend”), their skills and talents (“I’m a great soccer player”), their names alone, or something else?

Explain that there are no wrong answers but that it’s important to think about what makes us who we are: our priorities, values, goals, and passions. Tell students they are going to read a play about a character whose answer to the “who are you” question changes over the course of the story. Ask students to consider how and why the character’s answer changes.

Preview text features. (3 minutes)

Review the illustrations and captions as a class. Ask, “What do the illustrations and captions tell you about the history and setting of the play?”

Preview vocabulary. (5 minutes)

Project our Words to Know Vocabulary Slideshow and review the words and the activity as a class. Highlighted words: arduous, deftly, dejected, destined, fawning, loathe, lyre, renown, subdue

Read the “As You Read” box on page 13.

Assign parts and read the play as a class.

Break students into groups to discuss the following questions.

Close-Reading Questions

• In Scene 1, why does Hercules storm out of class? (character, inference) Hercules is frustrated. He’s too large to play the lyre the way his teacher tells him to. And you can guess from his classmates’ comments that this isn’t the first time Hercules has struggled because of his size.
• Based on what Hera says in Scene 2, how does she feel about Hercules? (character, inference) Hera is jealous and resentful of the attention Zeus pays to Hercules.
• In Scene 3, why might the author have chosen to use the word looms (rather than appears, for instance) in the line “The girl looks up as Hercules’s giant shadow looms over her”? (word choice) The word looms emphasizes how huge Hercules is and how scary he seems. This helps to explain his feelings of frustration and isolation; even when he is being kind, people respond with fear.
• How would you describe Hera’s tone at the end of Scene 4, when she calls Hercules a “foolish lug”? (tone) Hera’s tone is smug and mocking. She believes that Hercules is overconfident and that he’ll never survive the labors.
• In Scene 5, why does Hera tell King Eury that Hercules could easily take Eury’s kingdom? (character’s motivation) Hera wants Eury to dislike and fear Hercules so that Eury will agree that Hercules must die.
• In Scene 7, Hercules tells Athena, “I do not need help. I am the mighty Hercules !” How is this different from the way Hercules talks about himself in Scene 1? What is the reason for this change? (character) In Scene 1, Hercules says, “Everything I do is wrong! Why can’t I just be normal?” By Scene 7, Hercules is proud to be extraordinary. He changes because he has a goal and a purpose and because he is now admired and praised by many people.
• At the end of Scene 8, why does Hercules drop to his knees when he sees Zeus? (inference) Zeus is Hercules’s father, but he’s also the king of the gods. Hercules is showing respect for Zeus.
• By the end, have Hera’s feelings toward Hercules changed? (character) Not much. Hera speaks of his achievements but does so while rolling her eyes.

Critical-Thinking Questions

• Is it fair that Hercules has to work so hard to earn his place on Mount Olympus? Some students may say yes: Hercules is half mortal, so he isn’t automatically entitled to a place on Mount Olympus. Plus, the tasks that Hercules completes bring him fame and help him to develop self-confidence and an identity. Other students may say no: Hercules is Zeus’s son, and he has a right to be with his father.
• Was it right for Athena to help Hercules defeat the hydra? Some students may say yes, because Hercules was in real danger. Plus, Athena gave Hercules only minimal help; she told him the danger he faced but left it to him to find a solution. Other students, however, may say no, it was not right because Hercules succeeded only with Athena’s help.
• There are many versions of the myth of the 12 labors of Hercules. Scope’s version is unusual in that it presents battling the hydra as Hercules’s final task. (Traditionally, capturing Cerberus is the final task.) Why might the author have chosen to make fighting the hydra the last of the labors? By making the final labor the one in which Hercules must be not only strong but also clever, the author emphasizes that being clever is an important heroic quality. Hercules demonstrates that he has this quality despite how others, such as Hera, perceive him.

Featured Skill: Character (15 minutes)

Break students into groups to complete the activity Analyzing Hercules. This activity will prepare students to respond to the writing prompt on page 16. For alternate culminating tasks, see the boxes below.