Classical Myths IESMolí de la Vila de Capellades
Norma Jorba

UNIT 3 - LESSON 6

The Trojan War: Truth or myth?

1 hour

Aims

  1. To compare history and myth
  2. To think about possible causes for possible events
  3. To interpret archaeological sources

Objectives

TEACHING OBJECTIVES

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Content

  • To teach the concept of oral literature
  • To introduce the possiblility suggested by archaeologists that a Troyan war may have happened
  • To show that it seems to be some historical truth in the myth

Cognition

  • To promote making hypoteses about historicity of the Trojan War
  • To present a selection of primary and secondary sources
  • To promote interpretation of achaeological sources
  • To encourage to make hypotheses about the possible cause of the Trojan War

Communication

  • To introduce the language for expressing cause
  • To introduce the language for expressing possibility
  • To promote expression of geographical location

Culture

  • To increase students awareness of the importance of archaeological and literary heritage
  • To make students aware that importance of archaeological sources lays in the data they can provide

Content

Learners will be able to:

  • identify Homer’s Iliad as the product of an oral tradition
  • know that the historicity of the Trojan War has not been definetively prooved
  • know the archaeological evidence which supports that it may be some historical truth in the myth

Cognition

Learners will be able to:

  • distinguish myth and historicity of Troy
  • draw conclusions about the possibility ofa historical basis for the myth of Troy
  • classify historic sources into primary and secondary sources
  • interpret archaeological sources related to Troy and the Mycenaean world
  • make deductions about the causes of a possible war of Troy from Troy’s geographical location

Communication

Learners will be able to:

  • justify hypoteses about the cause of the Trojan War
  • express possible events related to Troy and the Mycenaean world using ‘may /might’
  • explain the geographical location of Troy and relate it to the cause of the war

Culture

Learners will be able to:

  • show greater awareness of the importance of archaeological and literary heritage
  • be aware of the work of archaeologiscists after excavations
  • be aware of the role of archaeological and literary sources for the construction of history

Activities (Teacher's notes)

1. Step 1: in pairs, write down a list including three parts of the story explained by the myth of Troy which must be just fantasy. One of them should be related to the cause of the war, another one to the development of the war, and another one to the end of the war.

Step 2: in pairs as well. Write down some aspects of the myth that you think might be true.

2. Step 1: plenary. Look carefully at the sources in the handout and classify them into primary and secondary sources.

Step 2: in pairs. Tick the boxes of the chart according to the kind of evidence that each source may provide.

Materials

  • Handouts for the students.
  • Power-point with the images of the sources.

Assessment

The teacher assesses the work done during the session.