Summer Reading, Mythology Study Guide
The Why
In the course of the next four years, much of the literature you read will contain allusions to Greek
mythology. The stories of King Midas (Merchant of Venice), Jason and the Argonauts (Merchant of
Venice), and Prometheus (Frankenstein) all figure prominently in works you will read at St. X. (You may
have already come across allusions to Eros and Psyche in Ender’s Game.) Knowing these allusions will
help you to have a much deeper understanding of and appreciation for the works that you read. In
addition, the English language contains a considerable number of words and phrases that were born in
mythology (martial, panacea, euphemism, narcissistic). As a result, the English Department at St. Xavier
feels that freshmen students will benefit from having a foundation in Greek mythology before they even
enter the building.
The What
To encourage dedication to learning these stories, students can expect an objective test on the content
contained in Heroes, Gods and Monster of the Greek Myths by Bernard Evslin within the first week of
school.
The How
You’ll notice that Evslin’s book is broken up into four sections: THE GODS, NATURE MYTHS, DEMIGODS,
and FABLES. To assist students in learning this content, the freshmen learning team at St. Xavier has
created a study guide so that students can get a sense of what to study. We have organized the study
guide into the same groupings as the ones contained in the book. Please be diligent in your study of the
myths. This task will be one of your first opportunities to demonstrate your preparedness for high
school.
Note 1: Because there are only two fables, they have been grouped with the DEMIGODS section.
Note 2: Please note the files of JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS and of HERCULES. Although these two
stories are not contained in Evslin’s book, they are referenced so frequently that we have added them to
the summer reading.
