Transcript 20130826074414x

Legends
Lost city of Atlantis
Legend?
King Arthur
Legend?
Robin Hood
Legend?
Paul Bunyan
Legends
•Folktales
•Help explain the past
•Passed down from
generation to
generation
A Chinese Legend
Explains the
Beginning of China
Huangshan (the Yellow Mountains)
China’s Beginnings
Egg
cracked
Created
sky and
earth
P’an Gu
Came from
egg
First man
Grew for
18,000 years
died
P’an Gu’s Body Becomes…
Head split – sun and moon
Blood – rivers and seas
Hair – forests and meadows
Perspiration – rain
Breath – wind
Voice - thunder
An African Legend
Explains why the sun
shines more brightly
than the moon
Sun vs Moon
God created Moon (bigger
and brighter) and Sun
Sun became jealous and
attacked moon
Sun begged for mercy
Sun attacked again & threw
Moon into the mud
Moon now was not as bright
God steps in….
•Sun brighter and shines
during the day for kings
and workers
•Moon shines only at night
for thieves and witches
A Rumanian
Legend
Explains the creation of
mountains and valleys
God made the heavens
•He use a ball of thread to
measure the heavens
•Began creating earth
beneath them
•Mole offered to help
Mole helps….
•Mole held the thread
while God wove and
shaped the earth
•Mole let out too much
thread so earth was too
big to fit under the
heavens
•Mole was afraid and
buried himself
Help from Bee
•God sent Bee to ask
Mole to find out what
should be done
•Mole did not answer
•So Bee had a plan…..
Bee’s Plan
•Bee hid in flowers to overhear
Mole (as he would often talk
out loud to himself)
•Bee heard Mole say to push
mountains up and valleys in
•Bee flew away to tell God
Curse turned to Blessing….
• Mole heard Bee fly away and
cursed Bee (Feed on yourself)
• God turned Mole’s curse into a
blessing: Bees make honey
• Mole lives underground and is
afraid to come out
Legends explain:
Creation
Deeds
Stars
Why maple trees have red
leaves
Geographic features
Many more
Learning About the Past
• Writing developed more than 5,000 years
ago
• Laws, poems, speeches, battle plans,
letters, contracts
• Legends were then written down
• Many were thought to be fact
• Archeologists and anthropologists work
together to find the truth about legends