UNT 2 - READING 1 Myth ■ From Tales from the Odyssey, retold by Mary Pope Osborne

You will read a story from a famous myth written a long time ago. Myths are very old stories. The ancient Greeks believed that gods and goddesses ruled the world. The Greeks created myths about
the gods to help explain the world around them. For example, they believed that thunder and lightning were signs that the gods were angry.
Tales from the Odyssey are retold myths from a book called The Odyssey by Homer, an ancient Greek storyteller. An odyssey is a long journey full of many adventures. This story tells about a king, Odysseus. After fighting for many years in the Trojan War, Odysseus wanted to return to his kingdom and his family. But he and his men angered the gods, so they suffered a very long and difficult journey home.

Literary Words

• plot: a sequence of connected events in a story
• character: a person who takes part in the action of a story
• point of view: how the writer chooses to narrate the story

Academic Words

• abandon = leave someone or something that you are responsible for
• collapse = fall down suddenly
• finally = after a long time
• investigate = search for information by looking or asking questions
• react = behave in a certain way because of what someone has done or said to you
• strategy = set of plans and skills to gain success

Roots vict, laps, vis, mem, mand:

Many English words come from Greek or Latin and still keep parts of the words from which they came. These word parts are called roots. Learning word roots can help you understand the meaning of many words. The chart below shows some roots, their meanings, their origins, and some English words that contain them.

Linguistic Note

Latin and Greek Roots in Numerals

Students from language backgrounds with few or no Latin or Greek roots may find studying such roots confusing. Point out that entire word groups, such as numerals, show clusters of Latin and Greek roots. Write the words semester and trimester on the board, and circle the Greek root semi meaning half, and the Latin root tri meaning three. Write other words with the numeral roots 1 though 10 on the board: universal, duplicate, tripod, quarter, Pentagon, sextet, septennial, octave, decimal, centimeter/centigrade. Point out that the Roman calendar divides the year in 10 months: September was the seventh, October the eighth, November the ninth, and December the tenth month of the year.

Highlighted Words:

1. veil, covering
2. zigzagged, moved in a pattern like a line of Z’s
3. frantically, anxiously
4. hurling, throwing
5. valiantly, bravely
6. alas, sadly
7. wrath, great anger
8. provisions, food and supplies
9. tarry, delay
10. famished, very hungry
11. make haste, move quickly or hurry up
12. flailing, waving arms and legs in an uncontrolled way