Myths and Monsters - Love and Marriage

This is the story of the myths that deal with Love and marriage.  Marriage was an arrangement in the early time of history.  They were often made to keep the peace between two different kingdoms.  This is a series called Myths and Monsters and can be found on Netflix as well.  This would be a good show to show in an English class while they are studying mythologies.  You could easily break up the stories and then show them in class.

The first story presented and woven into the story of love is the story of Agamemnon’s daughter Iphigenia.  She was on her way to marry Achilles.  However, Achilles refused the marriage.  What Iphigenia did not know that the marriage was all a ploy.  Agamemnon had displeased the goddess Artemis.  Agamemnon wanted to invade Troy, but Artemis would not send the wind to get the fleet to Troy.  Artemis demanded a sacrifice.  Instead of marriage, Iphigenia was sacrificed.

The documentary tells the story of Thor trying to get back his hammer from his brother Loki.  Loki demanded to marry Freya in exchange for the hammer’s return.  Freya refused and so Thor was advised to disguise himself as a bride to get the hammer back.  Thor did so and when the hammer was placed in his lap during the wedding feast he had his chance.  He revealed his true form and chased the wedding guests out.  He had his hammer back.  Norse women were not silent and meek and despite what Thor’s story shows.  Although they could not be chieftains, they could wield power in Norse society.

The next story is an Irish and Cornish legend.  It is the story of Tristan and Isolde.  Tristan was to escort Isolde to her wedding to his uncle.  Unfortunately, they drank a love potion and they fell in love.  Isolde would go on to marry the Irish King.  The affair continued behind the King’s back.  The king would discover the affair and wanted to kill the couple.  Tristan and Isolde fled into the wild but were consumed with guilt.  Tristan and Isolde would eventually break up, securing peace between Ireland and Cornwall.  Another story along those lines involved Lancelot and Guinevere.

The Greeks were victorious over the Trojans.  The Trojan survivors fled from the city and one of those survivors was Aeneas.  Aeneas lost his wife and family in Troy and made his way to the west.  He ended up in Troy where he met the beautiful Queen Dido.  Queen Dido founded the city of Carthage.  When Aeneas ended up on the Carthaginian shores, she sheltered him.  Eventually, Dido and Aeneas fell in love.  Unfortunately, Aeneas had another destiny: he was to found Rome.  He left Dido to fulfill his destiny.  Dido arranged for a pyre to be built in the middle of the palace courtyard and she threw herself into the pyre.  This would foresee centuries of conflict between Carthage and Rome.

Jason and the Golden Fleece is another story based on life.  Medea helped Jason in his search for the Golden Fleece.  She fell in love with him and then after Jason found the Golden Fleece went with him on his adventures.  They married and had several sons.  Eventually, they settled in Corinth, where Jason would abandon her and the family to marry the daughter of Corinth.  She would murder her sons with Jason.

To find out more continue to watch the documentary.  In the meantime, keep this documentary in your files to share with a class.  You can always use clips from this documentary in a lecture too.  As I said in the beginning, it would be a good documentary to show in an English classroom.

You can access the video on YouTube here.