Reaching Olympus: The Greek Myths, Heroes, Beasts, and Monsters

I am a veteran English teacher of almost 30 years and am a self-proclaimed mythology fanatic. Two years ago I was asked to create a World mythology elective for 9th and 10th graders that I call Gods, Monsters, and Heroes. I struggled to find resources that would be fun and accessible that also retain the sophistication and richness of the original texts. I needed something between the corny, (dumbed down) versions and the lofty, academic (dry) versions.Zachary Hamby to the rescue! His materials are perfect for my class. The students absolutely LOVE when we read one of his reader’s theater scripts, There are roles that are small enough that even the most reluctant readers will volunteer, and much larger, staring roles, that my aspiring actors are happy to take. I typically take the part of the narrator which thanks to Mr. Hamby’s writing style, strategically allows me to check for understanding and is also where he so brilliantly weaves in the more sophisticated concepts.I have purchased nearly a dozen of Mr. Hamby’s titles and love them all. They help my students appreciate the stories of World mythology and the cultures that created them. I truly believe Zachary Hamby is keeping mythology alive for a generation that may have given up on it.

As a former English teacher and a homeschool mom, I love this book. It perfectly balances fun and facts. My 11 - year old son loves it too!

great resource for middle school mythology unit

Great way to teach Greek mythology and the kids love it, but you do have to be careful. Not all material is appropriate for middle schoolers, so be sure to read the plays over yourself before giving them to your students!

Unfortunately, many of the same reader's theater scripts in this edition are the same as the Greek Mythology for Teens edition. Also, the introductory information is less than the other book. However, my students really enjoy the scripts and I will continue to recommend Mythology Teacher Zachary Hamby in the future.

Dear teachers, when you are teaching Greek Mythology, it is not enough to merely retell the myths, or to assign the readings. No, it must come to life for students to buy in. They must want to know what happened in these stories to these characters, or you will face losing them in the endless names and details. That is why this book is so important for your classroom (and mine!). Here are the major Greek myths not only retold, but re-imagined with expression and dialogue and with the teen reader in mind. These are meant to be read aloud, but unlike Shakespeare, the plays here are written with language the students will recognize.My students loved reading these. I gave them a few costume pieces and a character name tag with their script, and students clamoured to get their favorite part. Why? Because there was no pressure, no moving from their desks, no memorizing, no need to perform, it was all right there in the script. The more we read, the more they put their own expression into it because they liked the response from the rest of the class. I love these resource. It is fun to read, and the scripts have all the important mythological information. These scripts bring the myths to life. I love this book!

I've taught a high school Myths and Legends 9-12 elective class for a few years now, and it was/is hard work developing good "classic" mythological material. You know, besides using Her. Her being Hamilton, of course. As Hamby himself explains in his introduction, there's good to be said of Hamilton, but her 1940's diction and syntax simply don't work well for high school students of today. Hamilton sometimes seems more concerned with explaining whether it's Ovid's translation or someone else's, rather than telling a good tale. And that's ironic. There's a reason Greek (and Roman, and Norse, and Native American, and...)mythology is compelling. To paraphrase an old political axiom, it's the stories, stupid.By the end of my first year of teaching M & L, I realized I sometimes was pulling a Hamilton, by getting in the way of the stories by spending too much time on background and family trees when we really needed to focus on the bigger truths the myths reveal for us. Also, there's nothing wrong with enjoying ourselves as we learn! By year two, I was pulling in relevant and engaging material where I could -- I could kiss the History Channel makers of  Clash of the Gods: 3 - Disc Set , for example -- but still struggled with finding age-appropriate modern ways of presenting the classic myths as text to read. (I mention age-appropriate because as much as I love Spivey's  Songs on Bronze: The Greek Myths Made Real  I sadly realized that several of them toed or veered past the PG-13 line with my students; I wouldn't feel comfortable using that as a "textbook" with freshmen.) So, what to do?A few years ago, I "met" Hamby on an English teacher educational social network site, and this is where I first learned about his Reader Theater versions of myths. I was instantly captivated and amused. THIS was the age-appropriate, entertaining and (last but not least) educational way of getting students to learn the myths. If there was any fault in the previous editions, it was lack of supplemental material for teachers. Not a big problem for me, since I happened to have a pretty decent background of mythology to rely on. But for a teacher new to the content, there could be context issues.The advantage of his latest "Reaching Olympus" series of books is that supplemental material is included. Short summaries of the entire myth. Big picture questions to pose, as well as short ones to check comprehension. Recommended materials. All of this without losing one of Hamby's strengths, a great wit. For a teacher, this pragmatic approach is extremely helpful.Last year M & L was taught by another teacher, so this is my first year where I will use several of Hamby's Reader's Theater scripts throughout and from the beginning. From other "readalongs" we've already done in class this school year, I know these scripts will engage my students. Thank you, Mr. Hamby!

very good

I love it! Just what I was looking for! Fun and motivating scripts. Looking forward to using them with my students

I cannot sing enough praise about this product!! My students LOVE the readers theatre. I teach several different levels but the students that had the most fun with it were surprisingly my Classical Civ 12th Grade students. I also used it for teaching English as a way to teach plot, characters and symbols. Great buy!