MA= load (output)/Force (Input)
Monday, January 27, 2014
Simple Machines
MA= load (output)/Force (Input)
Friday, January 24, 2014
Antigone
As part of their study of Ancient Greece the Serpents learned about Greek drama and read" Oedipus" and "Antigone". They got to perform "Antigone" at Gathering and did an awesome job!
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Friday, January 17, 2014
Gathering
Each Friday the students at Seabury get together for Gathering where they hear announcements, share their classwork, are recognized for achievements and sing together. This week was also the day everyone was invited to wear their Seahawks gear to support the team before Sunday's game. The Serpents got into the Seahawks spirit, one of the Serpents told the school about Martin Luther King Jr. and the First Lego League robotics team was recognized for getting second place at their first competition and moving on to the next level!
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Greek Myths
Serpents are studying Greek mythology. In this assignment they were asked to include two or more Greek gods/goddesses in a myth about the creation of a geographical landmark. Here is what a few of our super serpents came up with:
The Mariana Trench
By: GTS
Oceanus arrived at the Palace of Pearls
Oceanus boomed, “That’s my throne!”
Poseidon yelled back, “Is that a
challenge?”
Poseidon stood up swiftly and
pointed his trident at Oceanus. Oceanus drew his huge serpent that had spikes
down its spine. The serpent stood straight out like a sword. They began yelling
at each other.
“This is my throne!” Yelled
Poseidon, “YOU GAVE IT TO ME!”
Oceanus replied, “I want it back, I
need a bigger palace!”
Poseidon used his trident to stir
water and pointed it forward and released the water and hit Oceanus so hard
that it made him fly back into a wall. Oceanus stood and spun his serpent and
created a tornado and released it at Poseidon. He was flung back and hit the
throne.
Poseidon exclaimed, “We should do
this outside so we don’t ruin the palace!” Oceanus agreed.
Once outside, the two gods hurled
tidal waves and bone-shattering earthquakes directed at each other. They did
this for a year. Eventually, they created a giant crack on the ocean floor.
Suddenly, a colossal octopus emerged from the crack! The octopus grabbed
Oceanus and Poseidon and began smashing them into the ground over and over.
THUNK, THUNK, THUNK!!
Poseidon stifled out a yelled, “We
should put our differences behind us!” –THUNK, THUNK, THUNK! “Let’s defeat this
colossal beast together!”
Oceanus replied, “O—“ THUNK, THUNK,
“—K!”
Poseidon stabbed his trident into
the tentacle that imprisoned him and black blood gushed out of the octopus’s
arm and it let go of Poseidon.
Poseidon shouted at Oceanus, “USE
YOUR SERPENT SWORD TO CUT THE MONSTER’S TENTACLE!”
Oceanus did so and was freed.
Oceanus and Poseidon swam quickly towards the beast. They both stabbed and hit
the octopus several times in the face and eyes. Finally, the octopus died.
Poseidon said, “Now that this
colossal octopus is dead, we should do something about you wanting my palace
back that is mine.”
Oceanus replied, “I have an idea!
We should build another palace together!”
Poseidon agreed and they went to
work. The gods used their powers to build the second palace. First, they made
the main hall and then the garden. After that, they created four towers. They
added giant, luxurious beds to the bedrooms. The palace was decorated with gold
and pearls.
After the palace was complete, they
sat down and agreed on a peace treaty. But to this day, the giant crack in the
sea is still there. And it is known as the Mariana Trench.
Grand
Canyon:
How
it was formed
By: DS
Many millennia ago,
when Zeus was king (not that he isn’t still, but at the earlier bit of his
reign)while Athena was still there though not too early, a large battle was
fought on what is now the U.S.A, against the oddest creatures ever known to
man.(and god.)But let us start at the beginning. How the war was started, Gaia,
the earth god made a prophecy that a child of Zeus’s would overthrow him, being
the new king/queen.
Well
this prophecy was wrong, Athena was born from his forehead, springing out fully
clothed, an adult pretty much. But being born from inside Zeus changed Athena,
so instead of overthrowing him, Athena fought by his side. Gaia was furious.
She sent the giants to destroy Olympus, only to add an impenetrable hide to
Athena’s Pallas. Gaia, now enraged, destroyed the base of the mountain, falling
in the U.S.A.. There Gaia created the Nyrads.
The
Nyrads were like stone, but quite fast for stone. They had beady black eyes,
which were full of hatred. They had four arms, all very strong, each able to
lift a truck full of lead. But the Olympians fought bravely, scarring Gaia with
deep canyons and ravines, the Nyrads had caused her more harm than good, not
one could survive the Olympians, Athena and Zeus being the bravest because
together they are practically unstoppable. The mountain was somehow fixed, and
normal living resumed.
But Gaia would not give
up. Reviving the Nyrads was difficult, but she managed. The Nyrads attempted to
invade mount Olympus, but to no success. The Nyrads were defeated. Gaia made
huge spiders, after again knocking down the mountain.
This time the Olympians
were at a stalling point, but they managed to defeat the giant spiders, which
were called Thorians. Gaia finally couldn’t do anything about the Olympians so she
fell into a deep slumber. Centuries later, Gaia woke up fully refreshed.
Gaia
knew she couldn’t defeat the Olympians, or at least she thought, but the Nyrads
knew what to do. They asked Gaia to make more, so they could extinguish the
flame. Gaia did what they asked, afraid of what they would do to her. Thing is,
it didn’t work. The Nyrads wouldn’t work against the Olympians. They were just
too strong. Somehow, the Olympians would not fall. Battle after battle after
battle, the Olympians would remain the victor.
Why
Stars Explode
By: WC
Hades hated the light. He didn’t like
anything that was good or light. He wanted to destroy all of it, but he could
not overthrow Jupiter. He thought of a way to destroy the light and Jupiter, he
would sneak in and put out the flame of Olympus! He could knock out a guard and
put on the Olympian clothes, walk up to the tower, and put out the flame. So he
went to tell Persephone about his plan. When Persephone came back for spring
and summer, she told her mother about Hades. When Persephone went back, her
mother told Jupiter what Persephone said.
Jupiter foiled Hades’s plan to destroy all
light and put him in jail, and put a spell on him so he could not destroy
light. But Hades didn’t stop there. He threw insults so bad to the guards that
they went complaining to Jupiter. With the guards gone, he easily escaped the
prison.
Hades could not destroy light anymore so he
went on thinking about how to destroy light again. He finally figured out how
to destroy light. He exploded stars! He flew past Olympus and out into space.
Luckily some guards saw him and came after him. The guards chased him as he
blew up the stars around him. Every time he blew up a star, the guards put one
back. So every time a star is destroyed, another one gets born somewhere in the
galaxy.
How Islands Were Made
By: MP
Before
islands were made the sea was wide and empty. If people sailed on it they would
keep sailing and sailing for many weeks until they found land but then they
would realize that it was not an island but the next continent. So they would
sail back the way they had come.
This
went on for many years until one day a woman fell off of a ship. She yelled at
the people on the ship but they did not hear her because they were preparing
for a storm that was coming very soon. The woman tried to climb up the ship but
it was too wet and slippery. She knew how to swim pretty well so she tried to
swim next to the ship but the ship was very fast so it kept moving farther and
farther away until she couldn’t see it anymore.
The
woman kept swimming for the rest of the day but grew more and more tired. By
night time she could no longer keep swimming. She was too tired. So she decided
to float on her back. It was comfortable so she fell asleep.
A
couple hours later she woke up. Miraculously she had survived! Then she
realized that the storm was very close now. She had to get to safety. But there
was no safety. She was in the middle of a wide ocean with all the land miles
away. She would have to just keep swimming and hope for the best.
Unfortunately
the best didn’t come. The storm got closer and closer and the waves got wilder.
Thunder boomed and rain started falling. Lightning flashed. The storm got worse
and worse. The woman could not keep swimming. She began to drown. She needed to
get somewhere she could rest. But there was nowhere,
anywhere close. She prayed. Suddenly the earth began to quake. There was a big
rumbling sound and an island popped up. I mean literally popped up. You could
hear the pop! The woman collapsed
on the island. “Thank you Gaia!” she cried. She knew that Gaia had made the
island because well it makes sense doesn’t it? I mean Gaia is like the goddess
of the earth so it would make sense that she would make land in the middle of
the ocean. Anyway since the woman was feeling very thankful at the moment she
thanked all the other gods as well. “Thank you!” Then she fell asleep.
When
she woke up she was on a beautiful island. She decided to explore it. It was
very pretty but she decided that she wanted to go home. But then she realized
that she couldn’t go home because there was water all around her and she didn’t
have a boat or anything. She began to get very sad because she missed her
family. The god Poseidon pitied her. He parted the water to make a path for the
woman. The woman quickly thanked him and started her journey.
It
was a very long and tiring journey but not as tiring as swimming. When she got
back to her house she found her family inside waiting happily for her.
That
night she had a dream where she was talking to Gaia. But it wasn’t exactly a
dream because it didn’t feel like one. Anyway Gaia asked the woman “Why did you
leave my island? I created it especially for you.” The woman replied “It was a
very nice island but I was missing my family.” Gaia said “But I wanted to help
you.” The woman said “If you make more islands it would help. People are dying
to discover them.” “Okay I will do that.” said Gaia. And she did.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Mythology Poems
The Serpents researched Greek gods and goddesses then wrote poems about them. Here are several of them:
By: BS
Artemis
A Huntress, Goddess
of the Hunt, a maiden, a god
A daughter of Zeus
and Leto, sister of Apollo
Lover of animals,
nature, and Orion
Who protects mothers
and children
Who needs more
servants
Who fears Cronus
Who gives and helps
children into the world
Resident of Mt.
Olympus
Diana
By: MS
Athena
Goddess of wisdom, and war, her
symbol is the owl, and she turned Arachne into a spider
A daughter of Zeus and Metis, niece
of Poseidon.
Love of arts
Protector of Athens
Who needs a helmet and spear
Who fears violence
Who gives guidance
Resident of Mt.Olympus
Minerva
By: DS
Apollo
God
of the sun, music, poetry, and medicine.
A
relative of Artemis, his twin sister.
Loves
Daphne, turned into a laurel tree.
Protects
his mother and sister.
Fears
the gorgons, Medusa’s family.
Giving
music to the world.
Resides
in Olympus.
Apollo
By: MP
Artemis
Goddess of
Hunting, Chastity and the Moon
Daughter of
Zeus and Leto, twin of Apollo
Lover of
hunting and wild animals
Who protects
women and small children
Who needs
her bow and arrow
Who fears
nothing
Resident of
Mt. Olympus
Diana
By: OM
Ares
Young,
Strong, Handsome and Big
Related
to Zeus, Hera and Cronus
Lover
of Aphrodite, Eos, and Persephone
Protector
of Zeus his father, Hera his mother and his sister Eilithya
Needs
his sword, chariot and four fire breathing horses
Fears
mostly Adonis, Sisyphos and Diomedes
Gives
War, Blood and Death
Resident
of War
Mars
By: SB
Apollo
God of sun, light, poetry, and
medicine
Son of Zeus
Lover of twin Artemis and mother Leto
Who protects oracles
Who needs a bow and arrows
Who fears Kronos
Who gives light to humans and
foresight to wise women
Resident of Olympus
Apollo
Monday, January 6, 2014
Hercules Thirteenth Labor
After reading the Twelve Labors of Hercules the Serpents took a shot at writing their version of what Hercules would have to do for his thirteenth labor. Here are a few.
By: K.C.
The goddess Hera, determined to make trouble for Hercules, made him lose his mind. In a confused and angry state, he killed his own wife and children. When he awakened from his "temporary insanity," Hercules was shocked and upset by what he'd done. He prayed to the god Apollo for guidance, and the god's oracle told him he would have to serve Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns and Mycenae, for twelve years, in punishment for the murders.
Hercules’s labors were so difficult they were almost impossible but he did have a little bit of help from Athena and Hermes. The worst punishment Hercules got had to clean the sickening litter boxes for all the fat cats in the kingdom until he got his family back (Terrible right?). It took him all twenty four hours in a day. And when he was done he had to put in his very dangerous toxic waste bag. In fact, all of the other labors are myths. That’s because Hercules didn’t want to embarrass himself. Also he didn’t have enough time to do all of those because he was on litter box duty.
The person who gave him that labor was Eurytheus was very strong (considering his name means broad strength you’d guess he was strong). How he did it? No one knows for sure but most people have some theories. One of the theories was he took some days off without telling anyone but people had close watch on him so that probably didn’t happen. Another theory was Athena and Hermes did a little bit more than they were supposed to. But what most people think is since this was way worse than other labors he felt a tiny bit bad (at this point he couldn’t help feeling even a tiny bit bad.) Yes, Hercules did have to spend 24 hours a day working but not all of that time did he clean out reeking with stench litter boxes every day. At sundown he had to walk to Eurytheus’s castle and make him three course, cost of $650, dinner. Of course it was Hercules’s money they were spending here (oh yeah, I guess he got a petite bit of sleep). So basically a typical day for Hercules was clean the litter boxes walk to Eurytheus castle make him dinner and possibly get some sleep. No one said he liked it, he just had to do it ‘cause there was no getting out of it. When his labor was definitively over and Hercules finally got to see his family he was as happy as can be( I’m serious, no one’s ever been as happy as Hercules was that day). He actually became close friends with Eurytheus and that’s when Eurytheus “created” the 12 labors of Hercules (dramatic voice).
The story of Hercules (the fake one) became a legend. But sadly Hercules had to leave for the filming of the hit Disney movie “Hercules” And when he came back he found out everyone threw him a surprise party! “Surprise!” everyone shouted when he entered his house. And from this day the party’s still going on. And they don’t even notice.
By: K.C.
Heracles’ 13th labor was one of the hardest yet. For his first task he had to destroy the temple of Tartarus and the monster inside it. He traveled far and wide and when he got there it was already night. In the morning he got up and went into the temple. When he got to the temple he heard an earsplitting, “Raaaaeeeeaaaaeeee!!!!!” Heracles said, “Looks like I’ve found my monster!” Then he took out sword and ran. The monster had giant bronze horns and could shoot spikes from his tail otherwise it was a giant acid spitting purple hydra. He cut off one of its heads. It exploded and then on the neck of the head he just sliced off there were five (now furious) heads.
Its heads hissed, “You are not welcome here.”
Heracles grinned and challenged, "If I am not welcome here why do you try to kill me instead of drive me out?”
Heracles’ plan had worked!! The hydra was confused!! Then Heracles stabbed the hydra in the heart. As it was dying it said, “The temple cannot be destroyed by a sword foolish hero!!!!” Then it breathed its final breath.
Then he went back to where he had left his supplies. Hercules spent three long days and nights thinking. He finally had an idea!! He would push the temple down! The next day Hercules set to work. He started to push the blocks out and away from the temple. Block by block by heavy block he slowly deconstructed the temple. For six long weeks Hercules worked. Every morning Hercules got up at dawn and –only stopping to eat– he set to work and every evening he worked till he could not see a thing. When he finally finished he was starving.
The next day Hercules traveled back to Eurytheus. On the way Hercules went thru a town and they thanked him for destroying it because the monster came down every night and ate one of there yaks now they could know that there yaks would be safe. The moment Eurytheus saw Hercules alive he ran from his palace. Then Hercules took Eurytheus’ throne and became king.
By: D.S.
“Hercules??? That should have killed you!” Said Eurytheus. “Either way, I have another task for you.”
“WHAT?!?!?!?!” Hercules shouted. “YOU SAID TWELVE! I ALREADY DID A THIRTEENTH!” he shouted in anger.
“Calm down. I made a mistake, everyone makes mistakes,” said Eurytheus.
“Your task?” Hercules said, still trembling in a rage.
This was Eurytheus’s bluff, never to end the tasks. “Your (not) final task is to climb the mountain huron-juae.”
“The mountain of blades!” Hercules realized, in shock. Then he realized he was falling through a trapdoor. He landed hard on the ground. He then realized he fell down the mountain, and that meant there was a path. He looked, realizing it was a maze. “Well, I might as well get started.”
It was steeper than Hercules expected, becoming exhausted within minutes. But if he stopped, he would have to start over. He then hit a dead end. “Darn!” Hercules said to himself. He stopped, and then lost his footing, falling back down the mountain. He looked again. The dead end turned into blades, along with everything else he walked on. He would have to wait until the blades went back in the ground. Meanwhile Eurytheus was chuckling to himself. “He will never get up!”
Many attempts later Hercules was still stumped. “I do not have the energy to continue,” he moaned. He was musing how to get up when it hit him, the blades were an illusion. They were not actually there. “Well, that was easy to figure out. The blades cannot go through the mountain, thus the others are illusions too,” Hercules said to himself. Still, he needed more energy.
“Hercules is defeated!!!” Eurytheus said, but was wrong, but it still would take many more days. Still Hercules eventually appeared. Would he have a fifteenth? Yes, but Eurytheus will be pretty helpless if the bluff is uncovered. But would it? Not likely, because Hercules wanted his family to be alive again.
By: M.P.
Hercules was given thirteen labors because the goddess Hera, determined to make trouble for him, made him lose his mind. In his state of insanity he killed his wife and children. When he was himself again Hercules was shocked and upset at what he had done. He prayed to the god Apollo for guidance. Apollo’s oracle said he would have to serve Eurystheus, a king for thirteen years as a punishment. That meant he had to do thirteen labors
At first he only had to do ten labors. But two of them Eurystheus said didn’t count because Hercules had help. Also he had to do a thirteenth because Eurystheus said Hercules didn’t learn his lesson enough. Hercules had to do many hard tasks such as kill the Hydra, drive away an enormous flock of killer birds, and bring back Hippolyte’s belt. He did them all.
His thirteenth labor was to bring back the horn of the Althaean unicorn. This unicorn was a very special unicorn. If anyone trespassed into its land it would kill them. Also it was an excellent fighter and no one had ever beaten it. It fought with its horn and its hooves and could kill a person by merely stabbing or kicking them lightly. The unicorn lived in a forest in the far-off land of Akjafaif which wasn’t found on any map. This seemed an extremely difficult task but Hercules was also an excellent fighter and clever too.
Hercules found the forest of Akjafaif without too much difficulty. The problem was getting inside. It looked as if he could just walk in but he knew that the unicorn would come charging towards him and he wouldn’t stand a chance. Just then the unicorn walked over and saw Hercules standing there. Hercules took in some breath. The unicorn was so unbelievably beautiful. It was pure white with golden hooves and a silver horn tipped with luminous blue. Eurystheus had said that the horn had healing powers and granted immortality to the holder. No surprise. The unicorn watched Hercules with suspicion but decided he wasn’t a huge threat. Hercules had an idea. Eurystheus had said that the unicorn ate doughnuts. Hercules decided that he would go to the nearest bakery and get some doughnuts. Then he would bribe the unicorn out with them.
Hercules put the doughnuts a few feet away from the entrance to the forest and waited. He knew that the unicorn knew it couldn’t just walk off to find food elsewhere. Then Hercules could just stride into the forest. But if the unicorn came and ate the doughnuts then Hercules could fight him or whatever he was going to do. Hercules sat there and waited day after day until the unicorn couldn’t take it anymore. It was too hungry. It ran out but Hercules was ready. He quickly jumped around the unicorn and blocked the entrance of the forest. The unicorn screamed in rage but then looked at the doughnuts. It stood there deciding. Then it chose the doughnuts. The unicorn ate them up then charged at Hercules who stood ready with his sword. He sliced off the horn and used it as an additional weapon until the unicorn grew too tired without the aid of its horn. It collapsed on the ground and lay there defeated. Hercules had won!!!!!!!!
Hercules traveled home tired and weary from his fight with the unicorn. Eurystheus decided he was free to go. Hercules would normally celebrate but instead he went home. He needed to sleep. He would celebrate tomorrow.
By: K.C.
The goddess Hera, determined to make trouble for Hercules, made him lose his mind. In a confused and angry state, he killed his own wife and children. When he awakened from his "temporary insanity," Hercules was shocked and upset by what he'd done. He prayed to the god Apollo for guidance, and the god's oracle told him he would have to serve Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns and Mycenae, for twelve years, in punishment for the murders.
Hercules’s labors were so difficult they were almost impossible but he did have a little bit of help from Athena and Hermes. The worst punishment Hercules got had to clean the sickening litter boxes for all the fat cats in the kingdom until he got his family back (Terrible right?). It took him all twenty four hours in a day. And when he was done he had to put in his very dangerous toxic waste bag. In fact, all of the other labors are myths. That’s because Hercules didn’t want to embarrass himself. Also he didn’t have enough time to do all of those because he was on litter box duty.
The person who gave him that labor was Eurytheus was very strong (considering his name means broad strength you’d guess he was strong). How he did it? No one knows for sure but most people have some theories. One of the theories was he took some days off without telling anyone but people had close watch on him so that probably didn’t happen. Another theory was Athena and Hermes did a little bit more than they were supposed to. But what most people think is since this was way worse than other labors he felt a tiny bit bad (at this point he couldn’t help feeling even a tiny bit bad.) Yes, Hercules did have to spend 24 hours a day working but not all of that time did he clean out reeking with stench litter boxes every day. At sundown he had to walk to Eurytheus’s castle and make him three course, cost of $650, dinner. Of course it was Hercules’s money they were spending here (oh yeah, I guess he got a petite bit of sleep). So basically a typical day for Hercules was clean the litter boxes walk to Eurytheus castle make him dinner and possibly get some sleep. No one said he liked it, he just had to do it ‘cause there was no getting out of it. When his labor was definitively over and Hercules finally got to see his family he was as happy as can be( I’m serious, no one’s ever been as happy as Hercules was that day). He actually became close friends with Eurytheus and that’s when Eurytheus “created” the 12 labors of Hercules (dramatic voice).
The story of Hercules (the fake one) became a legend. But sadly Hercules had to leave for the filming of the hit Disney movie “Hercules” And when he came back he found out everyone threw him a surprise party! “Surprise!” everyone shouted when he entered his house. And from this day the party’s still going on. And they don’t even notice.
By: K.C.
Heracles’ 13th labor was one of the hardest yet. For his first task he had to destroy the temple of Tartarus and the monster inside it. He traveled far and wide and when he got there it was already night. In the morning he got up and went into the temple. When he got to the temple he heard an earsplitting, “Raaaaeeeeaaaaeeee!!!!!” Heracles said, “Looks like I’ve found my monster!” Then he took out sword and ran. The monster had giant bronze horns and could shoot spikes from his tail otherwise it was a giant acid spitting purple hydra. He cut off one of its heads. It exploded and then on the neck of the head he just sliced off there were five (now furious) heads.
Its heads hissed, “You are not welcome here.”
Heracles grinned and challenged, "If I am not welcome here why do you try to kill me instead of drive me out?”
Heracles’ plan had worked!! The hydra was confused!! Then Heracles stabbed the hydra in the heart. As it was dying it said, “The temple cannot be destroyed by a sword foolish hero!!!!” Then it breathed its final breath.
Then he went back to where he had left his supplies. Hercules spent three long days and nights thinking. He finally had an idea!! He would push the temple down! The next day Hercules set to work. He started to push the blocks out and away from the temple. Block by block by heavy block he slowly deconstructed the temple. For six long weeks Hercules worked. Every morning Hercules got up at dawn and –only stopping to eat– he set to work and every evening he worked till he could not see a thing. When he finally finished he was starving.
The next day Hercules traveled back to Eurytheus. On the way Hercules went thru a town and they thanked him for destroying it because the monster came down every night and ate one of there yaks now they could know that there yaks would be safe. The moment Eurytheus saw Hercules alive he ran from his palace. Then Hercules took Eurytheus’ throne and became king.
By: D.S.
“Hercules??? That should have killed you!” Said Eurytheus. “Either way, I have another task for you.”
“WHAT?!?!?!?!” Hercules shouted. “YOU SAID TWELVE! I ALREADY DID A THIRTEENTH!” he shouted in anger.
“Calm down. I made a mistake, everyone makes mistakes,” said Eurytheus.
“Your task?” Hercules said, still trembling in a rage.
This was Eurytheus’s bluff, never to end the tasks. “Your (not) final task is to climb the mountain huron-juae.”
“The mountain of blades!” Hercules realized, in shock. Then he realized he was falling through a trapdoor. He landed hard on the ground. He then realized he fell down the mountain, and that meant there was a path. He looked, realizing it was a maze. “Well, I might as well get started.”
It was steeper than Hercules expected, becoming exhausted within minutes. But if he stopped, he would have to start over. He then hit a dead end. “Darn!” Hercules said to himself. He stopped, and then lost his footing, falling back down the mountain. He looked again. The dead end turned into blades, along with everything else he walked on. He would have to wait until the blades went back in the ground. Meanwhile Eurytheus was chuckling to himself. “He will never get up!”
Many attempts later Hercules was still stumped. “I do not have the energy to continue,” he moaned. He was musing how to get up when it hit him, the blades were an illusion. They were not actually there. “Well, that was easy to figure out. The blades cannot go through the mountain, thus the others are illusions too,” Hercules said to himself. Still, he needed more energy.
“Hercules is defeated!!!” Eurytheus said, but was wrong, but it still would take many more days. Still Hercules eventually appeared. Would he have a fifteenth? Yes, but Eurytheus will be pretty helpless if the bluff is uncovered. But would it? Not likely, because Hercules wanted his family to be alive again.
By: M.P.
Hercules was given thirteen labors because the goddess Hera, determined to make trouble for him, made him lose his mind. In his state of insanity he killed his wife and children. When he was himself again Hercules was shocked and upset at what he had done. He prayed to the god Apollo for guidance. Apollo’s oracle said he would have to serve Eurystheus, a king for thirteen years as a punishment. That meant he had to do thirteen labors
At first he only had to do ten labors. But two of them Eurystheus said didn’t count because Hercules had help. Also he had to do a thirteenth because Eurystheus said Hercules didn’t learn his lesson enough. Hercules had to do many hard tasks such as kill the Hydra, drive away an enormous flock of killer birds, and bring back Hippolyte’s belt. He did them all.
His thirteenth labor was to bring back the horn of the Althaean unicorn. This unicorn was a very special unicorn. If anyone trespassed into its land it would kill them. Also it was an excellent fighter and no one had ever beaten it. It fought with its horn and its hooves and could kill a person by merely stabbing or kicking them lightly. The unicorn lived in a forest in the far-off land of Akjafaif which wasn’t found on any map. This seemed an extremely difficult task but Hercules was also an excellent fighter and clever too.
Hercules found the forest of Akjafaif without too much difficulty. The problem was getting inside. It looked as if he could just walk in but he knew that the unicorn would come charging towards him and he wouldn’t stand a chance. Just then the unicorn walked over and saw Hercules standing there. Hercules took in some breath. The unicorn was so unbelievably beautiful. It was pure white with golden hooves and a silver horn tipped with luminous blue. Eurystheus had said that the horn had healing powers and granted immortality to the holder. No surprise. The unicorn watched Hercules with suspicion but decided he wasn’t a huge threat. Hercules had an idea. Eurystheus had said that the unicorn ate doughnuts. Hercules decided that he would go to the nearest bakery and get some doughnuts. Then he would bribe the unicorn out with them.
Hercules put the doughnuts a few feet away from the entrance to the forest and waited. He knew that the unicorn knew it couldn’t just walk off to find food elsewhere. Then Hercules could just stride into the forest. But if the unicorn came and ate the doughnuts then Hercules could fight him or whatever he was going to do. Hercules sat there and waited day after day until the unicorn couldn’t take it anymore. It was too hungry. It ran out but Hercules was ready. He quickly jumped around the unicorn and blocked the entrance of the forest. The unicorn screamed in rage but then looked at the doughnuts. It stood there deciding. Then it chose the doughnuts. The unicorn ate them up then charged at Hercules who stood ready with his sword. He sliced off the horn and used it as an additional weapon until the unicorn grew too tired without the aid of its horn. It collapsed on the ground and lay there defeated. Hercules had won!!!!!!!!
Hercules traveled home tired and weary from his fight with the unicorn. Eurystheus decided he was free to go. Hercules would normally celebrate but instead he went home. He needed to sleep. He would celebrate tomorrow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)