Telling and Retelling the Tantalus Story: Mythology Series ELA for Grades 8-9

Engage English Language Arts Students (grades 8-9) with the ancient Greek Myth of the Lydian King Tantalus — the deceiver who thought he was equal to the gods!

The myth of Tantalus is chilling, really. Right up there with Sisyphus and Ixion! Kids will love tracking down the allusions to this extraordinary Greek hero tale. Aligned with Common Core Standards, this individual lesson pack prompts students to discuss the myth, compare it to other works of art, work in groups, learn new vocabulary in context, and to complete a writing activity.

• This resource is optimized for distance learning. The product includes PDF and Google Workspace files. Modify this resource for student use on Google Classroom and other classroom management sites.

Use this Digital Download for a Three-day English Language Arts Lesson

Using my tested-in-the-classroom resources, middle school kids will want to discuss the greedy and status-climbing antics of King Tantalus and the captivating way his story has permeated into our modern consciousness and language. So I have loaded this resource with discussion questions that will get your students talking and writing! N.B. — The text of the myth is not included in this digital download, but I provide multiple links to the story online.

Common Core Standards: This resource aligns well with the reading literature standard: “Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux-Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus).”

This Resource Includes the Following Features:

• 1 Teacher Three-day Lesson Calendar
  • With a teacher-tested stamp of approval, follow my suggestions on how to teach the myth of Tantalus in a three-day block. Start with artwork, read the text, engage in questions and short writing and sharing, and cap off the lesson with a writing activity.
• 1 Illustrated Reading Card
  • Tantalus: Dictionary Entry
• 2 Art + Literature Connections (with Visual Aids)
  • Compare the text with famous works of art by Gioacchino Assereto and Hendrik Goltzius.
• 1 Key Characters and Places Worksheet
  • Orient your learners by identifying the story’s characters and geographical location.
• 10 Reading Comprehension Questions
  • Either use these questions as a quiz after reading or in a discussion or small group setting.
• 7 Critical Thinking Questions
  • Use these questions for whole-class discussions, but I also like to spice things up and get my middle school students moving by having a carousel-style conversation.
• 6 Frayer Model Vocabulary Cards (with student sample)
  • Frayer models are a way to get kids to think about vocabulary visually in a four-section square —- A square for meaning, one for examples, another for non-examples, and a sketch. It is amazing to see the work they produce. A great way to decorate your classroom to showcase your kids’ vocabulary-in-text understanding. The cards contain terms, geography, challenging words (as well as contextual entries that fit the story).
• 2 Exit Tickets
  • Exit tickets are a way to get data about your students’ understanding of the lesson right before the class is finished. Collect these exit tickets and quickly see what ideas your students picked up about the myth of Sisyphus. I also provide two different tickets to offer academic choices for students.
• 1 Essay Writing Activity (with visual starter and prompt)
  • Cap this three-day lesson with a fun writing activity that has students reimagining the myth, replacing Tantalus’s punishment with our modern problems of loneliness, fast-food addiction, and sugary drinks.
• 1 Further Reading List
  • Don’t disregard this further reading list if you think it is merely a bibliography. Share the list with your students or have them do projects based on the available research. Assign different sources to students and organize presentations where learning can go deeper into this popular myth.
• Answer Keys for all student-facing documents
  • Teachers always ask for answer keys for my products, so I made sure I gave you plenty of guidance on what to expect from students in their written and oral responses.
  • Standards Alignment Chart

I created this resource with middle school students in mind. It is designed for an English Language Arts Mythology unit —

• On characteristics of the epic hero (and as a pre-lesson on the hero’s journey).
• Use it in a genre unit on cautionary tales or tales of unusual punishments in history!
• Use this resource as a stand-alone lesson or pair it with a larger unit on Myth, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Robert Graves’s Greek Myths, or Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, Parallel Myths.

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