Legendary Characters

Legendary Characters

Learn about famous fictional and mythical characters!

1. Divide the characters into at least four different categories.
2. Copy the name of each character.
3. Add a small coloured sketch to help you remember the information.
4. Write the key words as notes.

Achilles – a mythical Greek hero from the Trojan War
Aladdin – a young man who is tricked into retrieving a magical lamp in Middle Eastern folktales
Aphrodite – Greek goddess of love and beauty
Apollo – Greek god of light
Ares – Greek god of war and violence
Artemis – Greek goddess of hunting and wild animals
Athena – Greek goddess of wisdom
Diana – Roman goddess of hunting and wild animals
Demeter – Greek goddess of the earth and plants
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – a character who is partly good and partly evil
Gaea – the first divine being in Greek mythology, the Earth, who arose from the empty universe or Chaos
Gandalf – wise wizard in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Gilgamesh – hero in Babylonian mythology
Hades – Greek god, ruler of the underworld
Helen of Troy – the mythical daughter of the Greek god Zeus
Hera – Greek goddess of marriage and wife of Zeus
Hermes – Greek messenger of the gods
Icarus – the son of Daedalus, in Greek mythology, who flies to close to the sun
Jason – a mythical Greek hero who led a group of heroes, the Argonauts, in search of the Golden Fleece, the gold wool of a sacred ram
Jupiter – Roman king of the gods
Juno – wife of Jupiter
King Arthur – a legendary leader in 5th and 6th century Britain who defended his country against the Saxon invaders
Marduk – strongest god in Babylonian mythology
Mars – Roman god of war
Mary Poppins – a fictional nanny in London who can fly and takes the children in her care on many marvellous adventures
Merlin – a wizard from the time of King Arthur
Midas – a mythical Greek king; everything he touched turned to gold
Minotaur – a mythical Greek creature with the head of a bull and the body of a man
Narcissus – a mythical Greek young man known for his beauty and vanity
Neptune – Roman god of the sea
Odin – Norse ruler of the gods
Odysseus (Ulysses) – a mythical Greek character who takes ten years to travel home after the Trojan War
Oedipus – a mythological Greek king who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother
Olympians – the most powerful group of Greek gods
Pandora – in Greek mythology, the first woman and the one who let out of a box all the evils in the world
Pegasus – a mythical Greek winged horse
Phoenix – a mythical bird that lives up to 1,000 years before burning up in a fire and then rising again from the ashes
Pollyanna – a fictional character who is always optimistic, no matter what the circumstances
Poseidon – Greek god of the oceans
Robin Hood – a legendary English character from the Middle Ages who stole from the rich and gave to the poor
Romulus and Remus – the mythical founders of Rome
Saturn – Roman god of time
Sherlock Holmes – fictional British detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Thor – Norse god of thunder and battle
Titans – the first group of Greek gods
Venus – Roman god of love and beauty
William Tell – a legendary Swiss character who was to be executed, along with his son, unless he could shoot an apple off the top of his son’s head with a single shot from a crossbow
Zeus – father of the gods in Greek mythology

Click HERE for quotations about mythology.

Click HERE to learn about more literary classics!

Literature Test 1
Name and Div. ____________________________
Score / 13
Match the characters and descriptions

1. a mythical Greek hero from the Trojan War ________________
2. a character who is partly good and partly evil
________________

3. Greek goddess of the earth and plants ________________
4. a young man who is tricked into retrieving a magical lamp in Middle Eastern folktales ________________
5. Greek goddess of wisdom
________________

6. Greek goddess of love and beauty ________________
7. Roman goddess of hunting and wild animals
________________

8. Greek god of war and violence ________________
9. Greek god of light ________________
10. Greek goddess of hunting and wild animals ________________
11. first divine being in Greek mythology, the Earth, who arose from the empty universe or Chaos ________________
12. wise wizard in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien ________________
13. hero in Babylonian mythology ________________

Achilles  
Aladdin 
Aphrodite
Apollo
Ares  
Artemis  
Athena 
Diana
Demeter
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde  
Gaea  
Gandalf 
Gilgamesh 

Literature Test 2
Name and Div. ____________________________
Score / 15

Match the characters and descriptions

1. Greek god, ruler of the underworld ____________________
2. wife of Jupiter
____________________
3. the mythical daughter of the Greek god Zeus ____________________
4. a legendary leader in 5th and 6th century Britain who defended his country against the Saxon invaders
____________________
5. Roman king of the gods ____________________
6. a mythical Greek hero who led a group of heroes, the Argonauts, in search of the Golden Fleece, the gold wool of a sacred ram ____________________
7. Greek goddess of marriage and wife of Zeus ____________________
8. strongest god in Babylonian mythology ____________________

9. wizard from the time of King Arthur ____________________
10. mythical Greek creature with the head of a bull and the body of a man ____________________
11. Greek messenger of the gods ____________________
12. the son of Daedalus, in Greek mythology, who flies to close to the sun ____________________
13. Roman god of war ____________________
14. a fictional nanny in London who can fly and takes the children in her care on many marvellous adventures ____________________
15. a mythical Greek king; everything he touched turned to gold ____________________

Hades
Helen of Troy
Hera
Hermes
Icarus
Jason
Juno
Jupiter
King Arthur
Marduk
Mars
Mary Poppins
Merlin
Midas
Minotaur

 

 

Literature Test 3
Name and Div. ____________________________
Score / 18
Match the characters and descriptions

1. Norse god of thunder and battle ________________
2. Norse ruler of the gods ________________
3. Roman god of time
________________
4. Roman god of love and beauty ________________
5. the mythical founders of Rome ________________
6. in Greek mythology, the first woman and the one who let out of a box all the evils in the world ________________
7. the first group of Greek gods ________________
8. father of the gods in Greek mythology ________________
9. the most powerful group of Greek gods ________________
10. Greek god of the oceans ________________
11. a mythical Greek character who takes ten years to travel home after the Trojan War ________________
12. a mythological Greek king who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother ________________
13. a mythical Greek winged horse ________________
14. a mythical bird that lives up to 1,000 years before burning up in a fire and then rising again from the ashes ________________
15. a legendary English character from the Middle Ages who stole from the rich and gave to the poor ________________
16. fictional British detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ________________
17. a fictional character who is always optimistic, no matter what the circumstances
________________
18. a legendary Swiss character who was to be executed, along with his son, unless he could shoot an apple off the top of his son’s head with a single shot from a crossbow ________________

Odin
Odysseus (Ulysses)
Oedipus
Olympians
Pandora
Pegasus
Phoenix
Pollyanna
Poseidon
Robin Hood
Romulus and Remus
Saturn
Sherlock Holmes
Thor
Titans
Venus
William Tell
Zeus

Literature Test 4
Name and Div. ____________________________
Score     / 10
Match the characters and descriptions

1. a mythical hero from the Trojan War ____________
2. the mythical daughter of the Greek god Zeus ___________
3. son of Greek Daedalus who flew to close to the sun ___________
4. mythical Greek king whose touch turned things to gold ___________
5. mythical Greek creature with head of bull and body of man ___________
6. mythical Greek winged horse ___________
7. mythical bird that burns up and then rises from the ashes ___________
8. mythical Greek young man known for his beauty and vanity ___________
9. mythical Greek young woman who let in all the evils in the world
10. mythical Greek who takes ten years to travel home after Trojan War ___________

a. Achilles
b. Midas
c. Phoenix
d. Odysseus (Ulysses)
e. Pegasus
f. Icarus
g. Minotaur
h. Helen
i. Narcissus
j. Pandora

Literature Test 5
Name and Div. ____________________________
Score / 8
Match the characters and descriptions

1. a young man tricked into retrieving a magical lamp ________________
2. legendary leader in 5th-6th century Britain _______________
3. legendary English character who stole from rich and gave to poor _____________
4. legendary Swiss character who shot an apple off his son’s head _________________
5. fictional nanny from London who can fly ________________
6. wizard from the time of King Arthur ________________
7. fictional character who is always hopeful and optimistic ________________
8. fictional character who is sometimes good and sometimes evil ________________

a. Aladdin
b. Mary Poppins
c. Merlin
d. William Tell
e. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
f. Pollyanna
g. Robin Hood
h. King Arthur

[This page may be copied for use with students if the following credit is provided: ©2014 Sophie Rosen.]

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