Mister James Teaches English

Over many thousands of years people have created animals that do not actually exist. Here are some, starting with the most recent: Aloysius Snuffleupagus (/ˌsnʌfəlˈʌpəɡəs/), more commonly known as Mr. Snuffleupagus or Snuffy for short, is one of the characters on Sesame Street. His head bears resemblances to elephants and mammoths, but he has no tusks or (visible) ears. He also has a tail similar in shape to that of a dinosaur (like a sauropod; in particular, a Brontosaurus). He has thick, brown hair and a trunk, or "snuffle", that drags along the ground. Snuffy is also Big Bird's best friend, and has a younger sister named Alice. For many years, only Big Bird would see Snuffy, because he would always leave while Big Bird went to get the others, leading everyone else to believe Snuffy was simply an imaginary friend. After Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird, Big Bird finally succeeded in revealing Snuffy to his friends on Sesame Street. Before that, the main adu...

 

  The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiralling horn projecting from its forehead.  The earliest written description of a unicorn comes from a book written in the 5th century BC. Indica or Indika contains a mix of dubious stories and myths about the East, possibly India, compiled by the Greek physician and historian Ctesias the Cnidian. Ctesias was the physician to the king of the Achaemenid Empire, Artaxerxes II (c435-358 BC). As part of his role, Ctesias accompanied the king on various expeditions and battles and, therefore, became well acquainted with the neighbouring lands. This allowed the physician to pen treatises on rivers and lands, including Persia and India. Some of the information is based on first-hand experience, however, the rest was pieced together through various stories told by travellers. As early as the 6th century, theories were expressed as to why unicorns were rarely seen....

  For a very long time, Hercules (Heracles) did not know he was half man and half god. His mother was a mortal. But his father was a king - a very special king, the king of all the gods, the mighty Zeus. Zeus loved his little son. But Hera, Zeus' wife, hated Hercules. She was very jealous. She tried all kinds of ways to kill Hercules, including sending a couple of big snakes into his crib. Hercules crushed those snakes in a flash! Hercules was incredibly strong, even as a baby! To keep his small son safe from attack, Zeus sent him to live with a mortal family on earth in the ancient Greek city-state of Argos. Hercules grew up noble and loved. He married and had a couple of kids. He was happy, but he did not fit in on earth. He was too big and too strong. He was hard to miss. Hera soon discovered his location. The rest of the story of Hercules is a bunch of little stories that together tell the tale of how Hercules used clever tricks and great courage to stay alive and earn his way ...

Prometheus and Fire Icarus and Daedalus Medusa and Athena A myth is a classic or legendary story that usually focuses on a particular hero or event, and explains mysteries of nature, existence, or the universe with no true basis in fact. Myths exist in every culture; but the most well known in Western culture and literature are part of Greek and Roman mythology. The characters in myths—usually gods, goddesses, warriors, and heroes—are often responsible for the creation and maintenance of elements of nature, as well as physical, emotional, and practical aspects of human existence—for example Zeus; the god of the sky and the earth and father of gods and men, and Aphrodite; the goddess of love and fertility. A culture’s collective myths make up its mythology, a term that predates the word “myth” by centuries. The term myth stems from the ancient Greek muthos, meaning a speech, account, rumor, story, fable, etc. The terms myth and mythology as we understand them today arose in the E...