4 ELEMENTS

Project logo
Improve the foreign language learning and intercultural competences of adults through e-learning

The project

FOUR ELEMENTS is an initiative called to raise awareness and appreciation of the importance of culture and heritage as well as to train educators working with adult learners who want to improve their skills and competences necessary in today’s EU labour market.

The project will take advantage of the potential of the common European cultural values associated to the 4 elements earth, water, air and fire) to empower adults to improve their digital, foreign language and intercultural competences.

The partnership expects to develop and deliver innovative teaching materials presented in a culturally accessible E-book consisting of European legends and stories – giving visibility to the underlying common EU values and principles, especially adapted to learners with special needs.

To achieved such objectives, partners will develop:

An interactive map: a collection of legends and stories related to earth, water, air and fire, in different EU countries.

Digital Books with national legends and stories related to the four elements.

Methodological recommendations for adult educators.

To find more information, access the Four Elements platform here.

Digital books

The nations of Europe all have rich cultures of myth and folklore which give the different regions their particular individual flavour. Here we have grouped traditional stories from Belgium, Estonia, France, Greece, Italy, Slovenia and Spain according to the four elements: earth, air, wind and fire.

They are specially adapted to adult learners and can be used to develop language or ICT skills among your students while enhancing intercultural understanding.

Alongside the stories, this digital book contains interactive exercises and is in Easy Read format. All the material in it can be downloaded and printed. Teachers and trainers will find tips and suggestions for how to use it on the Recommendations section of this site.

European partnership

Four Elements is an Erasmus+ KA204 project designed to highlight the importance of culture and heritage at European Union level. It aims to train educators working with adult learners to enable them to acquire the skills and competences, including linguistic and digital skills and competences, required in the European labour market.

The project is coordinated by : CVO EduKempen (Belgium). The partnership also includes DomSpain Consulting (Spain), The Central Library of Võru County (Estonia), Les Apprimeurs (France), Istituto dei Sordi di Torino (Italy), Slovenian Third Age University (Slovenia), MyArtist (Greece).

Erasmus+ project

Erasmus logo The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Achilles’ heel

MYTH

Main element: Water

Language of the original: Greek

Origin of the legend: Greek mythology

To find more information about the legend, access the Four Elements platform here.

A traditional story about Achilles, the central hero of Homer’s Iliad, and his immortality and the way he died.
We chose this myth because we believe that it is nice to acknowledge that everyone has a vulnerable point.

In Greek mythology, Achilles was the son of the immortal Nereid Thetis, and Peleus, the king of the Myrmidons. Zeus and Poseidon were rivals for the hand of the beautiful Nereid Thetis, until Prometheus told them a prophecy concerning Thetis. The prophecy said that Thetis would give birth to a boy that would grow to be greater than his father. That was the moment when the two gods stopped their rivalry over Thetis and decided to marry her to the mortal Peleus, the king of the Myrmidons.

Being a son of one mortal and one immortal parent, Achilles was born to be a mortal. When Achilles was just a little baby it was foretold that he would die young. Thetis, his mother, decided to make him invulnerable and washed his whole body, when he was still a baby, in the waters of the River Styx. The Styx was a river that formed the boundaries between Earth and the Underworld.The River Styx, according to Greek mythology, took its name and its miraculous powers from the daughter of Tethys, Styx. If someone washed their body in the waters of the river, they would become invulnerable. When Thetis washed Achilles’ body in the River Styx, she held onto him by his heel. Although the rest of his body was protected, his heel was not. It was the only vulnerable spot in Achilles’ body.

Achilles grew up to be a great man and a Trojan War hero, surviving many great battles. Concerning his death there are two versions, but in both of them Achilles dies from a poisoned arrow that hits him in the heel. The first version says that after the gods saw how many men Achilles had killed in war, they decided it was time for him to die. When Paris shot a poisoned arrow, the god Apollo guided it to Achilles’ heel. In the other version, Achilles fell in love with one of the Trojan princesses, Polyxeni, and asked his father, Priamos, for permission to marry her. Priamos was willing to give his blessing, because that was a way for the Trojan War to end. He would also have the great warrior, Achilles, by his side. But Polyxeni was the sister of Paris, who had started the Trojan War when he kidnapped the beautiful Helen. If Achilles married Polyxeni, Paris would have to leave Helen and hide in the woods. So Paris shot a poisoned arrow into Achilles’ heel as the wedding was taking place, killing him.

Αχίλλειος Πτέρνα

Μύθος

Στοιχείο: Νερό

Γλώσσα του πρωτοτύπου: Ελληνικά

Συγγραφέας: Greek mythology

Για να βρείτε περισσότερες πληροφορίες σχετικά με το μύθο, αποκτήστε πρόσβαση στην πλατφόρμα των 4 στοιχείων εδώ.

Στην ελληνική μυθολογία, ο Αχιλλέας ήταν ο γιος της αθάνατης Νηρηίδας Θέτιδας και του θνητού Πηλέα, βασιλιά των Μυρμιδών. Ο Δίας και ο Ποσειδώνας είχαν μια φιλονικία για το ποιος θα πάρει το χέρι της όμορφης Θέτιδας, μέχρι που ο Προμηθέας τούς είπε μια προφητεία για τη Θέτιδα. Η προφητεία έλεγε ότι η Θέτιδα θα έκανε ένα γιο, ο οποίος θα γινόταν δυνατότερος από τον πατέρα του. Οι δύο θεοί σταμάτησαν να μαλώνουν για τη Θέτιδα και αποφάσισαν να την παντρέψουν με τον Πηλέα.

Ο Αχιλλέας, ως γιος ενός θνητού και ενός αθάνατου γονιού, γεννήθηκε θνητός. Όταν ο Αχιλλέας ήταν ακόμη μωρό, ακουγόταν ότι θα πεθάνει νωρίς. Η Θέτιδα αποφάσισε να τον κάνει άτρωτο και για το λόγο αυτό τον έκανε μπάνιο σε ένα ποτάμι που ονομαζόταν Στίγα. Η Στίγα ήταν ένα μυθικό πλάσμα και ένα ποτάμι που έδειχνε τα όρια της Γης με τον Κάτω Κόσμο. Το ποτάμι Στίγα μπορούσε να κάνει κάποιον που βυθιζόταν στα νερά της άτρωτο. Όταν η Θέτιδα βύθισε τον Αχιλλέα στη Στίγα, τον κρατούσε από τη μια του φτέρνα, με αποτέλεσμα να πλυθεί όλο του το σώμα στα νερά της εκτός από τη φτέρνα του, που την έκανε και το τρωτό του σημείο.

Μεγαλώνοντας ο Αχιλλέας έγινε ένας τρανός πολεμιστής της Τροίας και επέζησε πολλές μάχες. Όσο αφορά στο θάνατό του υπάρχουν δύο εκδοχές, σύμφωνα με τη μυθολογία. Η μια λέει ότι αφού ο Αχιλλέας είχε σκοτώσει πολλούς αντιπάλους του στον πόλεμο, οι θεοί αποφάσισαν ότι είχε έρθει η ώρα να πεθάνει, από ένα δηλητηριώδες βέλος που έριξε ο Πάρης και πέτυχε τον Αχιλλέα στο τρωτό σημείο του, τη φτέρνα. Η άλλη εκδοχή λέει ότι ο Αχιλλέας ερωτεύτηκε μια πριγκίπισσα από την Τροία, την Πολυξένη, και ζήτησε το χέρι της από τον πατέρα της, τον Πρίαμο. Ο Πρίαμος συμφώνησε με το γάμο αυτό, γιατί έτσι θα σηματοδοτείτο το τέλος του Τρωικού πολέμου. Αλλά αν ο Αχιλλέας παντρευόταν την Πολυξένη, την αδερφή του Πάρη, ο Πάρης θα έπρεπε να αφήσει την Ωραία Ελένη της Τροίας. Έτσι, ο Πάρης κρύφτηκε στα φυτά και κατά τη διάρκεια του κρυφού γάμου του Αχιλλέα με την Πολυξένη, σκοτώνει τον Αχιλλέα με ένα δηλητηριώδες βέλος, σημαδεύοντας τη φτέρνα του.

Κομηνέα, Σ., Γιοβάνος, Α. (2016). ΜΥΘΙΚΟΙ ΗΡΩΕΣ: ΑΧΙΛΛΕΑΣ (1st ed.). Αθήνα: Εκδόσεις Ψυχογιός.