Lead-in

  • What do you know about Greek mythology?
  • How many Greek gods can you name?

Presentation

Pre

  • What do you know about the relationship between the Greek gods?

Top Down

  • What do you think Zeus’ father was like? Read and check.

Cronus sired several children by Rhea: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon, but swallowed them all as soon as they were born, since he had learned from Gaia and Uranus that he was destined to be overthrown by his son as he had previously overthrown Uranus, his own father, an oracle that Rhea heard and wished to avert.

When Zeus was about to be born, Rhea sought Gaia to devise a plan to save him, so that Cronus would get his retribution for his acts against Uranus and his own children. Rhea gave birth to Zeus in Crete, handing Cronus a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes, which he promptly swallowed.

After reaching manhood, Zeus forced Cronus to disgorge first the stone (which was set down at Python under the glens of Parnassus to be a sign to mortal men, the Omphalos) then his siblings in reverse order of swallowing. In some versions, Metis gave Cronus an emetic to force him to disgorge the babies, or Zeus cut Cronus’s stomach open. Then Zeus released the brothers of Cronus, the Hecatonchires, and the Cyclopes, from their dungeon in Tartarus, killing their guard, Campe.

As a token of their appreciation, the Cyclopes gave him thunder and the thunderbolt, or lightning, which had previously been hidden by Gaia. Together, Zeus, his brothers and sisters, Hecatonchires, and Cyclopes overthrew Cronus and the other Titans, in the combat called the Titanomachy. The defeated Titans were then cast into a shadowy underworld region known as Tartarus. Atlas, one of the titans who fought against Zeus, was punished by having to hold up the sky.

Source

Bottom Up

  1. Answer the following questions.
    1. Why did Cronus swallow his children?
    2. What did the Cyclops give Zeus, in return for their freedom? 
    3. Where were the lightning and the thunder before that?
  2. Organize the events in the order in which they happened.
  • The Cyclopes gave Zeus thunder and lightning.
  • Cronus swallowed his children.
  • Zeus reached manhood and released his brothers, the Hecatonchires, and the Cyclopes.
  • Zeus, his brothers, his sisters, the Hecatonchires, and the Cyclopes overthrew Cronus and the other Titans.
  • Cronus learned that he would be overthrown by his son.
  • When Zeus was about to be born, Rhea and Gaia devised a plan to save his life.
  • Cronus learned that he would be overthrown by his son.
  • Cronus swallowed his children.
  • When Zeus was about to be born, Rhea and Gaia devised a plan to save his life.
  • Zeus reached manhood and released his brothers, the Hecatonchires, and the Cyclopes.
  • Zeus, his brothers, his sisters, the Hecatonchires, and the Cyclopes overthrew Cronus and the other Titans.
  • The Cyclopes gave Zeus thunder and lightning.

Post

  • What would you have done in Cronus’ place if you learned that one of your sons had intentions of overthrowing you?
  • Do you think it’s possible to make a proper analogy between myths and real life? If so, how?

Target Language

Past Perfect Simple

Affirmative

Subject + Had + Past Participle

  • He had learned from Gaia and Uranus that he was destined to be overthrown by his son.
  • He had previously overthrown Uranus, his own father.
  • The Cyclopes gave him thunder and the thunderbolt, or lightning, which had previously been hidden by Gaia.

Negative

Subject + Had + NOT + Past Participle

  • Before being freed, the Cyclopes hadn’t given Zeus thunder and lightning.
  • Before Zeus, Cronus’ children had never escaped his cruelty.

Never = NOT + ever

Interrogative

Had + Subject + Past Participle

  • Had anyone warned Cronus that he’d be overthrown?
  • What had been hidden by Gaia and then passed on to Zeus by the Cyclopes?

Short Answers

  • Yes, I had.
  • No, I hadn’t.

Controlled Practice

  • Match the text types from the lesson with their definitions.
  1. Which happened first, a) or b)?

“Cronus sired several children by Rhea […] since he had learned from Gaia and Uranus that he was destined to be overthrown by his son as he had previously overthrown Uranus, his own father.”

a) Cronus learned that he would be overthrown by one of his sons. 
b) Cronus swallowed his children.

  1. Which happened first, a) or b)?

“As a token of their appreciation, the Cyclopes gave him thunder and the thunderbolt, or lightning, which had previously been hidden by Gaia.”

a) The Cyclopes gave Zeus thunder and lightning.
b) Gaia hid thunder and lightning.

  1. Which happened first, a) or b)?

“Cronus sired several children by Rhea […] since he had learned from Gaia and Uranus that he was destined to be overthrown by his son as he had previously overthrown Uranus, his own father.”

a) Cronus learned that he would be overthrown by one of his sons. 
b) Cronus swallowed his children.

  1. Which happened first, a) or b)?

“As a token of their appreciation, the Cyclopes gave him thunder and the thunderbolt, or lightning, which had previously been hidden by Gaia.”

a) The Cyclopes gave Zeus thunder and lightning.
b) Gaia hid thunder and lightning.

Freer Practice

  • Which kind of text would you recommend for people in these situations?
    • a person who loves travelling
    • a person who wants to become a parent
    • a broken-hearted person
    • a person who needs to restore their faith in the human race
    • a person who needs a change in their lives

Production

  • Complete the sentences to make them true about yourself.
    • When I turned 18, …
    • Before moving to the place I live right now, …
    • Before I started studying English, …
    • Before I started working as a/an ____, …
    • When I left my parents’ house, …
    • Before my first serious relationship, …
    • When I graduated from school/university, …
    • By the time I woke up today, …

Homework

Fill in the gaps with ‘Past Simple‘ or ‘Past Perfect‘.

  1. We use the ____ to talk about events with a specific time in the past.
  2. We use the ____  to talk about events that happened before a ____  event.
  3. We need the auxiliary verb have and the main verb in the past participle form in order to structure the ____.
  1. We use the Past Simple to talk about events with a specific time in the past.
  2. We use the Past Perfect to talk about events that happened before a Past Simple event.
  3. We need the auxiliary verb have and the main verb in the past participle form in order to structure the Past Perfect.

Complete the sentences with the Past Perfect.

Example: I wish I ____ (know). > I wish I had known.

  1. I woke up with a hangover yesterday because I ____ (drink) too much beer the night before.
  2. This is not her first time abroad. Before she came to the USA, she ____ (be) to five different countries.
  3. The reason why they ate so much during lunchtime is that they ____  (have) enough time to get breakfast this morning. 
  4. Although they were from the same school, they ____  (meet) before. 
  5. You asked me to pay for dinner. ____ you ____  (forget) your wallet at home? 
  1. I woke up with a hangover yesterday because I had drunk too much beer the night before.
  2. This is not her first time abroad. Before she came to the USA, she had been to five different countries.
  3. The reason why they ate so much during lunchtime is that they hadn’t had enough time to get breakfast this morning.
  4. Although they were from the same school, they had met before. (meet)
  5. You asked me to pay for dinner. Had you forgotten your wallet at home? (forget)

Complete the sentences with the Past Simple or Past Perfect.

Example: Cronus _______ (kill) his father and his sons before Zeus, only the king of the gods managed to escape and defeat him. > Cronus had killed his …

  1. He _______ (not watch) the movie with us because he ________ (see) it before.
  2. When I _______ (get) home after the party, I _______ (realize) I _______ (lose) my keys somewhere.
  3. Susan _______ (feel) really sad thinking everyone ________ (forget) her birthday, but actually we ________ (prepare) a very special surprise.
  4. _______ you _______ (try) tacos before you _______ (travel) to Mexico?
  5. I _______ (live) in Amsterdam and Barcelona before I _______ (move) to Rome.
  1. He didn’t watch the movie with us because he had seen it before.
  2. When I got home after the party, I realized I had lost my keys somewhere.
  3. Susan felt really sad thinking everyone had forgotten her birthday, but actually we had prepared a very special surprise.
  4. Had you tried tacos before you traveled to Mexico?
  5. I had lived in Amsterdam and Barcelona before I moved to Rome.

Put the words in the correct order to form sentences.

Example: eaten / I / so / teen / when / hadn’t / much / wish / was / I / cake / I / a > I wish i hadn’t eaten so much cake when I was a teen.

  1. Jonh / bus / the / departed / , / left / By / already / house / time / his / the / had
  2. hadn’t / when / arrived / had / Maria / breakfast / she / work / at
  3. Mexico / already / Jorge / visited / had
  4. eating / woke / had / he / chocolate / Brian / dreamt / before / of / up
  5. house / moved / was / abandoned / Snakes / before / had / in / not / the 
  1. By the time John left his house, the bus had already departed.
  2. Maria hadn’t had breakfast when she arrived at work.
  3. Jorge had already visited Mexico.
  4. Brian had dreamt of eating chocolate before he woke up.
  5. Snakes had not moved in before the house was abandoned.

Correct the sentences.

  1. The plane left by the time he’d arrived at the airport.
  2. She drank too much coffee, so she had stayed up all night.
  3. He never played football until last weekend.
  4. My neighbor had asked if we saw her dog anywhere.
  5. Had you seen this movie yet?
  1. The plane had left by the time he arrived at the airport.
  2. She had drunk too much coffee, so she stayed up all night.
  3. He’d never played football until last weekend.
  4. My neighbor asked if we’d seen her dog anywhere. 
  5. Have you seen this movie yet?

Writing

Write a story from your past using the target language from this lesson.