Revista Sabir 2020

GREEK MYTHOLOGY STORIES AND AN AFRICAN ONE
HOW NAUGHTY HERMES
INVENTED THE LYRE
In Olympus there were a lot of gods each
one with their own power..
Zeus guarded the gods and controlled
them with his ray. Poseidon was the god
of the sea with his trident and Hades
ruled the underworld. They were the
bosses of the gods and then there were
the others like Hermes, the most mischievous
god of all Olympus.
Hermes went flying everywhere because
he had wings. He wore a helmet
with wings, shoes with wings and also
had wings on his heels. He flew very
fast and the other gods couldn't get him
when he got mad, and that happened
many times because Hermes always did
some mischief.
One day Hermes was walking along the
beach when he met a turtle that had died
because he was very old. He was over
two hundred years old. Hermes saw that
only the shell was left and that the turtle
had gone to heaven, so he took the shell
and thought what he could do with it.
He thought it would be a good idea to put
some strings through the shell and when
he played the strings, music began to
play. He played a very beautiful melody
with the strings that people and gods
liked.
However, Apollo was very envious of
Hermes and wanted the musical turtle
so he took advantage of one of Hermes'
antics to get the lyre.
Once Hermes stole all Apollo’s sheep,
well, it was a joke! Hermes made them
invisible and Apollo was three days
looking for the sheep. Apollo screamed
and kicked because he knew it had been
Hermes' thing, until Zeus had to bring order
and told Hermes that he had to return
the sheep and also compensate Apollo in
some way. Hermes delivered Apollo the
lyre which he had created with a turtle
shell.
SIlvia Martin Corrionero
B1
THE RAPE OF EUROPA
There was a time when the name for each
continent wasn’t decided yet.
In the case of Europe, Greek mythology
tells us that while Zeus was watching
the world from Olympus, he saw a
Phoenician princess called Europa on
the beach with her friends. He fell in love
with her and decided to seduce her, but
he knew people were afraid of gods, so
he went to the beach as a beautiful, white
and quiet bull. When Europa saw him,
she got closer and climbed on top of him
and then, the bull went into the sea and
swam until they arrived at the magical
island of Crete, , the same island where
the Daedalus labyrinth was, and she decided
to stay there.
Her family travelled half the world looking
for her, including Italy, Spain, Portugal,
France and Holland … At every
place they arrived they asked the same
question: have you seen Europa? However,
nobody had seen her and the people
started to ask for Europa too and they
mentioned her so many times that every
place where the family had looked for
her become known as Europa.
Why didn’t they find her? Well, because
at that time a bronze giant called Talos
didn't let anyone enter the island of
Crete, so Europa’s family could never
find her. But that’s another story ...
Ainhoa Córcoles
B1
PERSEUS AGAINST
MEDUSA
In the past there were many Greek heroes.
History says that there was one who was
the strongest of all, Perseus. This man was
famous because he fought
against gorgon Medusa.
She was a bad woman, she
turned people who looked at
her into rocks. She also wore
many snakes on her head.
One day Perseo decided
to fight against Medusa. He
asked other Greek heroes for
help so each hero gave him
something for his fight. Perseo
picked up all the things
and went to look for Medusa.
She was turning people into
rocks and when she was tired
she sat on a rock. Perseo took
advantage of this moment to
attack her and cut her head.
History says that from Medusa’s blood
Pegasus was born. Pegasus was a powerful
hores. He could fly over the clouds
because he had wings. Perseo used him
to go back home.
HOW A RAINBOW IS
FORMED
Lydia Rodenas
B1
Iris is one of the most fascinating goddesses
of all Olympus.
Her mission is to carry messages for Zeus
on rainy days to gods and the human beings
everywhere in heaven or on earth.
She draws a bow in the sky and paints it
with colored pencils. Each colour means
a different recipient.
The blue colour is a message for Poseidon
from Zeus and it means: "stop your anger
with the sea".
The green colour is a message for Mother
Nature and it means: "take care of yourself".
The yellow colour is a message
for the Sun and it means: "don't shine so
much, because you can burn the people".
However, when she paints the bow with
all the colours, that is a message for human
beings meaning a sad, cloudy and
gray day is over.
Isabel Cabello
B1
THE SONG,
AN AFRICAN LEGEND
In Africa, there is a tribe, where instead
of considering the date of birth, as the
day a child is born, it is considered as the
day that child was thought by his mother.
When a woman decides to have a child,
she goes under a tree and concentrates
until she hears the song of the child she
wants to be born. Later, she shows it to
his future son’s father and they sing it together.
This is when they decide to have
the child. The townspeople also learn
the song, and it is the mother of the future
baby who teaches it. When the baby is
born, the old women and all the people
sing the song to welcome him.
When the child grows up and does
something good, to reward him, the
people of the tribe sing his song. On the
other hand, if the child does something
wrong, they call him to the center of the
town and people get around him and
sing his song to him. For this tribe, the
way to solve a behaviour is through love,
and not through punishment. If a couple
joins, they sing their songs and if a person
dies, they also sing it, to say goodbye
and to honour that person.
Marina Santos Gutiérrez
B1
HERCULES AND THE VIA
LACTEA.
In ancient times, the Greek gods used to
have children with people who weren't
their partners.
One day,the king of the gods, Zeus, fell in
love with a mortal woman and they had
a son,the most famous and strong of all
time,Hercules.
Hercules had lots of problems from the
day of his birth, because Hera, Zeus's
wife, was very angry with Zeus because
he had a son with another woman.
When Hercules was born, all gods were
very happy because they knew he would
be a wonderful hero, but one day, Hera
went down from Olympus and she put two
snakes in Hercules's bed to kill him but
it was Hercules with his strong arms who
killed the snakes, and he was just a baby.
From that moment, he was loved by all
the gods and they tried to protect him
from Hera.
One day, god Hermes tried to leave the
baby on Hera's chest because if the baby
drank Hera's milk he would be immortal
but she saw the baby and she hit him
and pushed him away. Her milk was spilt
on the sky and became stars like a cotton
rainbow that we can see in summer
nights. This is The Via Lactea.
Juan Miguel Martín Requena
B1
THE FIRST SPIDER WEB
Arachne was bor in Lydia. She was very
skilled with the loom and a lot of merchants
from the region used to go to her
house to buy her creations.
However, Arachne was a bit vain and
she was very proud of her creations. She
thought that she was better than Athena,
the goddess of crafts. This reached Athena’s
ears and, of course, she got angry
and she decided to get off to Olympus.
Athena talked to Arachne and they challenged
for a competition. They were
several days without eating or sleeping,
only working at the loom. When their
creations were finished, Arachne was
the best but Athena didn’t want to recognise
it and nobody wanted to contradict
her because she was the goddess.
Athena was so angry that turned Arachne
into a hairy spider. The mearchants
were frightened of her and asked Athena
to soften the punishment. In the end, the
goddess decided that from that moment
spiders would always be weaving.
Juana Belotto
B1
PENELOPE WEAVES
WHILE SHE WAITS FOR
ULYSSES
The Trojan War finished and Ulysses, on
his way back home, Ithaca, found sirens
and some magic beings, and it took him
a long time to get back.
Penelope, his wife, was waiting for him
while a lot of suitors from Ithaca, their
country, were insisting on marrying her.
The suitors went to her palace every
day because they wanted Penelope to
choose another husband, but she wanted
to wait for Ulysses because she really
loved him.
She had a good idea
to distract her suitors.
She said to them that
when she finished
weaving a blanket, she
would choose a new
husband, and they
accepted her offer.
She was sure Ulysses
would come back
home, she only had to
be patient.
During the day Penelope
weaved the blanket,
but at nights
she unweaved
what she had done, so she was
able to gain time.
Penelope had her reward for
waiting for Ulysses because he
came back to the palace and he
chased out all her suitors.
Marina Roldán Ortiz
B1
THE INCANDESCENT
HUGS OF TALOS
Creta is a Greek island that has always had
many charms among their visitors.Like
other islands, it has its own history also.
Many years ago, Zeus, a Greek god, hid
his lover Europa in this place, because
he didn’t want anyone to meet her. For
this reason Zeus put Talos on watch so
that nobody could approach the island.
Talos was a bronze giant that has icor instead
of blood, a green liquid that heated
him up. When sailors approached
Crete he began to run to greet him. A
lot of them got scared while others who
arrived to the shore got scorched when
Talos gave them his burning hug.
One day, Jason the hero and Medea the
sorcerer went to Crete. Talos went to
greet them and Jason was terrified, but
the smart woman Medea with her spells
put Talos to sleep and they had the opportunity
to take out the green liquid and
kill him.
This is the reason why Crete is still covered
with this liquid and receives so
many visits.
Marta Martin
B1
THE UNDERWATER
KINGDOM OF POSEIDON,
GOD OF THE SEA
There was a Greek god, his name was
Poseidon. He reigned over all the seas,
He always preferred to be at the bottom
of the sea with his sea creatures, octopuses,
whales, dolphins and colorful fish
rather than to be on the surface. There
was a time when he came out from the
bottom of the sea more often.
One day, Poseidon climbed to the surface,
walked for a while on the beach and saw
a family enjoying their meal at the beach.
The bad thing came later when the family
finished their meal and they left many
things on the sand. Poseidon got angry.
He got on his seahorse and went back to
his underwater home. There he took his
trident and began to stir the wàters as if
he were stirring soup. The sea got rough,
the waves were really high and a great
storm began. That made all the people to
have to run away and go home because
the place was very dangerous.
Sometimes, Poseidon shows his dissatisfaction
with the people of the planet and
he stirs the water of the sea with his trident.
These are the days when you’d better
not go to the beach or the sea.
Ainhoa González Núñez
B1
THE WOODEN HORSE
A long, long time ago, the Troyan war
started when Helen was caught by the
king of the Troyans. Helen was the most
beautiful woman in the world and she
was married to Menelaus, who was the
king of Sparta.
For a long time the Troyans fought but
couldn’t win the war, until one day when
the Greekd decided to hide near Troya
because they wanted everybody to think
that they had got back home. However,
everything was a lie.
They wanted Troya, but they didn’t know
how to get in. Although it was so difficult,
finally, Ulyses had an idea, a smart trick,
to build a wooden horse as a present and
fill it with Greeks to try to get into Troya
and so rescue Helen. And so they did.
The Troyans thought the huge horse was
a gift, for this reason they decided to let
it enter the city. They didn’t imagine that
everything was a trick. Then, at night,
the Troyans celebrated a party and they
drank and ate and danced for hours.
Suddenly, the best Greek fighters started
to get out from the stomach of the horse.
They opened the doors of Troya. They
killed the king and burned the city. They
won the war and also they found Helen.
Sometimes things are not what they
seem to be. However, true and honest
love can move mountains.
Mayra Montero
B1
THE STORY OF ULYSSES
AND THE SIRENS
The story of Ulysses and the Sirens
is an ancient Greek story
that tells the journey and the adventures
that happened on Ulysses'
boat when he was going
back home to his family after 10
years of war.
On this return journey, which
was very long, they had many
dangers, but the worst danger
was passing by the island of the
Sirens in the Mediterranean Sea.
Ulysses, who was very brave,
was really scared this time. He
had heard stories about the sirens causing
the boats to hit rocks with their songs
and he had to avoid it. However, he was
very curious and wanted to hear them,
so he had an idea and ordered his crew
to cover their ears and tie him to the
ship’s strongest mast. When the sirens
saw the ship they began to call Ulysses
by his name with a wonderful song and
although Ulysses tried to untie himself,
he couldn’t. That’s what saved them.
Therefore, in the end, he could hear the
sirens, avoid hitting the rocks and go
back home to his beloved wife Penelope.
Toñi Díaz Marí
B1
ULYSSES ON THE ISLAND
OF THE CYCLOPS
On one of his travels, when Ulysses and
his sailors were returning home, after
the Trojan war, they landed on the island
of the Cyclops. They didn’t know that
they existed, so they entered the island
without fear, looking for food. They found
some huge pieces of cheese in a cave
and they started to eat.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake,
and dozens of sheep entered. Behind
them a gigantic, ugly and filthy being
with a single eye appeared. He was a
Cyclop called Polyphemus, who, with
an enormous force, closed the entrance
with an immense rock. When the Cyclop
discovered Ulysses and his sailors,
he got very angry. Ulysses, who feared
problems, told him that his name was
Nobody.
The giant ate two of his men and Ulysses
attempted to calm him down by offering
wine. He liked it so much that he drank
and drank, until he got drunk and fell
asleep. Ulysses and his men took advantage
of this and stuck a spear in his eye.
The Cyclop opened the cave and came
out asking for help from his brothers, but
as he told them that ‘Nobody’ had hurt
him, they ignored him. Ulysses and his
men were able to escape from the cave
and return to their ship to continue their
journey and their adventures.
Pilar Torres Costa
B1
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