"Declion, your mother sent you to visit your grandpa and I this summer so that you could help us out on the farm. A little hard work and elbow grease will be good for a young man lie you," grandma replied gently as grandmothers do.
"But I don't know how to do anything on a farm. I don't know how to drive a tractor or feed a herd of cattle. I don't want to help!" Declion complained even louder.
"Declion, let me tell you a story about the man you were named after. There once was huge flood that swallowed up the entire earth because the gods Jupiter and Neptune were angry at the world. The were only two survivors from the flood and their names were Deucalion and Pyrrha. They were devastated by their desolation and begged the goddess, Themis, for her help in restoring the human race. They were told by Themis that they had to, "...throw behind [them] the bones of [their] great mother."
"They had to do WHAT?" Declion asked with wide eyes.
"Haha. Patience, grandson. You will see what they meant in a moment," grandma chuckled.
"Deuclion and Pyrrha were just as confused by Themis's statement as you are. Eventually they discovered the true meaning behind Themis's demand and cast behind them the bones of their mother in the form of stones from their mother earth. The stones they threw then turned into people. 'So the toughness of our race, our ability to endure hard labour, and the proof we give of the source from which we are sprung,' grandma said slowly as the story came to an end.
"So you see my sweet grandson, you are created from the stones of the earth and have it in your bones to do the tasks I assign you on the farm," grandma said with a smile.
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| (From resilient stones to a resilient race. Web source: Flickr) |
Authors note: For this storytelling assignment, I decided to not change anything about the actual story of Deuclion and Pyrrha, but instead to create another story around it with a lesson. I thought that this would be best accomplished by having a sweet grandmother convince her grandson that he is capable of working hard because he came from the stones of the earth.
Bibliography: "Deuclion and Pyrrha" by Tony Kline from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Websource: Un-Textbook
This was a really neat way to handle the story. I liked the bratty kid being taught a life lesson about hard work in this roundabout way. It's especially sweet that the grandmother takes such a kind way to say "Too bad, you're not getting out of this so suck it up" - which is definitely what my grandmother would have said, haha.
ReplyDeleteJordan, what a unique way of telling this story! I like that you didn't 're-tell' the actual story, but you still got the point across about the original story and what it entailed. I read this story for my Week 2 unit, and thought it was so odd that they were told to throw the bones of their mothers. I think I was about as wide eyed as Declion, especially when they translated it to mean stones of the Earth, who knew?! But I really liked your take on this story, and your creativity in coming up wit a story in a story concept! Good job!
ReplyDeleteI really liked your story! I thought it was especially creative to put a sort of story within another story. I’ve never heard of Deucalion and Pyrrha, but the Greek myth tied surprisingly well into the story you imagined. It was definitely an interesting way to get the kid to work in the situation he was in by the grandma, who clearly made her point to the grandkid.
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