[philspar]

Thanks for starting this thread Stephen.  Not sure if I can add much as the texts listed in your original post cover nearly all my favourites such as Odysseus, Athena, the Minotaur, Arachne, Procrustes, Harpies, Pegasus, Medusa & the Cyclops.  Across the Homeric texts there also many concepts with the one I quote the most being that of Xenia – ‘sacred hospitality’.  I often theorise on the kind of world we’d live in if this ancient Greek tradition had spread the earth with even half the success of the Greek alphabet!

It might be worth adding some more snake-related myths – the Adam/Eve/Serpent & Medusa motifs are a bit negative.  For example, we could balance up the list with the Ouroboros regeneration myth.  From here in Australia there is also dreamtime myth of The Rainbow Serpent.  Although there are many variations of the myth the Rainbow Serpent generally depicts a creator related to natural cycles and regeneration.

Another great Australian animal-related myth I teach all my children is of Tiddalik the Frog.  This myth is a great way to introduce younger children to the ideas of co-operation and sharing.  (Tiddalik is a bit greedy and drinks up all the waters leaving the other animals to work together as they’re dying of thirst.)