I'm confused by the literature choice for this unit. D'aulaires' Book of Greek Myths has some serious fundamentals wrong. For starters, Gaea and Ouranos do not _fall in love_; Ouranos rapes Gaea and her retribution was to fashion the weapon Cronus uses to castrate Ouranos. Ouranos' genitals fall into the sea to create Aphrodite, but the book just says that no one knows the origin story of Aphrodite. I'd have to read the entire book to know for sure everything else it has wrong. I think, in particular, that it is inherently dangerous to wrap a story of rape in a story of love. So now instead of using the cultivated lesson plans for this unit, I have to find other more credible and reliable sources for my 12-year-old to read, that way he can practice more research and fact-checking skills while still learning about the subject matter that he was so excited for.

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Hello,

Thank you for reaching out to us regarding the D'aulaires' Book of Greek Myths that we have chosen for our curriculum. This book does contain a retelling of many of the myths, and as you have mentioned, some of these myths have been changed from their traditional form. One of the goals of this change is to make the Greek myths more palatable to a broader and younger audience. All families are different, and as I am sure you can appreciate, not all families share your inclination toward authenticity in this instance.

At Moving Beyond the Page, we are huge fans of parents being able to pick and choose what their children are exposed to. It is one of the things we love about homeschooling. There should be plenty of alternative versions of these stories available online that do include the rape of Gaea and the castration of Ouranos that you can find for your son. I would encourage you to find one of those that you like and provide that story alongside the one in the book we provide. It might even be an opportunity to complete a comparative reading of the two stories.

Please let us know if you have any feedback about this topic or any other we have chosen for our curriculum.

Keith

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