A myth is a story that was made up long ago. Often it explains something people could not understand.

Like all stories, a myth has characters, a setting, and a plot.

CHARACTERS

goddess

god

ANCIENT GREECE

SETTING

time: thousands of years ago place: Athens, Greece

PLOT

beginning

middle

end

Thousands of years ago, the gods were dividing up the land. Poseidon, the god of the sea, found a city that he liked. He wanted it for his own. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, saw the same city. She wanted it, too.

Poseidon and Athena agreed to a contest. They decided to each give a gift to the city and let the people choose the best gift. The winner could have the city.

Poseidon touched the rocky mountainside. A river gushed out. Athena touched the dark earth. An olive tree sprang up.

The people looked at the gifts. They tasted the water. It was salty, like the sea. It was of no use to them.

Then they studied the tree. They saw that they could eat the fat olives or make oil from them. They knew that they could use the tree’s wood to build things. They chose Athena.

Athena named the city Athens. The people built a large building to honor her, but they never forgot Poseidon. For many years, a salty pond and an olive tree remained near the building to remind people of the contest.

Poseidon’s gift is a river of salt water. Athena’s gift is an olive tree.

Check Your Understanding

• 1. Who are the two main characters in this myth?

• 2. What is the setting of this story?

• 3. Which paragraph tells about the problem in the myth? What happens next? How does the myth end?