Theseus

Which myths would you cover in your classroom or share with your children? Why? What would be your objectives and what activities would you use to reach these objectives?

I’d have no issue with sharing the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur with children, though of course the age of the child would impact which telling I would use. I always felt something shorter and more concise was more drawing to children. Chapter books to be handled in a chapter a sitting and so on mostly because that’s how I still read myself when I have the chance. Limiting my reading time and cutting off at author approved pausing points, cliffhanger or no, is best when you’re busy I’ve always felt, but that’s neither here nor there.
Theseus’s adventure with the Minotaur is exciting and fine for young children. The Minotaur is a little scary maybe, but again that depends on the telling I feel. Godwin’s telling was short and sweet. He didn’t go into great detail, but that leaves more to the imagination at times. The death of Aegean in the end was sad, but that sort of thing does happen in fairytales as well and few bat an eye.
Hawthorne's telling is more interesting and more like a story than a simple summary. Here we actually see the process of Theseus being brave, we see the action as opposed to being told about it. We actually truly meet Ariadne, who in one version I've read in the past he took her with him back home and another he took her, but left her on a nearby island. I rather like this ending instead, it shows her to be a strong female in her own right. I feel this would be the telling I would deliver to children.
Kingsley also told a story. He worked in the story of Icaros (or Icarus) flying too close to the sun with his wax wings that melted and led to his death. The story again runs the same, though here we see Ariadne and Theseus developing feelings for one another and she leaving with him.
I do wish that there had been more variety and less a matter of presenting the same myth told differently though. I know there were still the other two, but there are so many myths out there and not just Greek! I feel that I'd want to promote as much mythology as I could, though I admit that I would mostly use Greek tales to bring in children who have heard or seen references to such things in their shows, movies, and cartoons. I love displays, so maybe during a mythology week, there could be an event where kids could get worksheets with mazes or maybe large maze on a dry erase board they could take up and get a free bookmark for playing. I'd also involve things that would be readily recognizable, such as Hercules and Pegasus.

Agreed that myths in certain versions are as fine as fairy tales to young kids; also agreed that myths are a great way to introduce kids to many cultures, and I'd include these, as well as other Greek myths, during Mythology Week at your library.