Deities I - Handicraft instructions of Roman & Greek deities
Living While Watching the Sky
The world of antiquity was filled with faith. Not in the way that every person the past thought of the divine intensively or with fervor, or felt threatened by the supernatural world wherever they went. But the deities of antiquity, the experiences and myths that entwined their lives were always present in the lives of ancient Romans and Greeks.
The stories of the deeds of Greco-Roman deities were passed down and over time formed lore of interconnected stories from which the pantheon was created – the entirety of the known deities of that epoch. The handicraft instructions Deities I make four Greco-Roman deities of that pantheon tangible.
Four Deities with History
No deity is like another. Every deity of the pantheons of Rome or Greece had their unique position in the hierarchy of gods. Every deity had its own characteristics. Like Zeus, called Jupiter among the Romans, the father of the gods, brother of Hades and Poseidon: He ruled highest, he had the power to throw lightning and transforms – against the will of his wife Hera – sadly way too often into an animal or element to go on amorous adventures.
But not all Greco-Roman deities were always part of the big family of the gods. Dionysus, for example, became later part of the “family”. The Celtic goddess Epona was originally responsible for the health of horses. When the Celts served as Roman soldiers – after the conquests of Caesar – their belief changed over time and Epona became patron of cavalry and a goddess of war.
The handicraft instructions Deities I contain four well-known Greco-Roman deities:
- Mercury / Hermes
- Jupiter / Zeus
- Venus / Aphrodite
- Mars / Ares
- 10 colored sheets with self-explanatory instructions
- Suitable for children over 6 years of age
A Distinctive Mark for Everyone
The figured are marked by their typical attributes: Zeus, the father of the gods, carries lightning and a powerful eagle rests on his shoulder, which he will later send against the thief Prometheus.
Hermes, messenger of the gods, owns winged sandals and the staff, which would become a symbol for the healing arts and medicine. The god of war, Mars is armed and primed and Aphrodite ascends from a mussel, like in the famous painting, as “foam-arisen” out of the sea.
Divine Views
It is much easier to explain the Greco-Roman deities, their world and their fascinating stories, if history is made visible before one’s eyes. Let your students and children experience Greco-Roman deities and use the handicraft instructions Deities I to show them how colorful the world of the gods once was.
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