Myths

12 MYTHS
When a person becomes a myth…

IES ‘MARIA ZAMBRANO’
Bilingual School

MUSIC
MOVIES
CELEBRITIES…

ELVIS PRESLEY 1
WHY IS ELVIS PRESLEY A MYTH?

WHY DID HE BECOME A CELEBRITY?

WHAT DID HE DO TO BE ADORED BY HIS FANS?

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HIS LIFE?

IS THERE ANY ANECDOTE YOU CAN SHARE?

ELVIS PRESLEY’S PROFILE:

Elvis Aaron Presley was born to Vernon and Gladys Presley in a two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 8, 1935.
His twin brother, Jessie Garon, was stillborn, leaving Elvis to grow up as an only child. He and his parents moved to Memphis,
Tennessee, in 1948, and Elvis graduated from Humes High School there in 1953.

Elvis’ musical influences were the pop and country music of the time, the gospel music he heard in church and at the all-
night gospel sings he frequently attended, and the black R&B he absorbed on historic Beale Street as a Memphis teenager.

In 1954, Elvis began his singing career with the legendary Sun Records label in Memphis. In late 1955, his recording contract was sold to RCA Victor. By 1956,
he was an international sensation. With a sound and style that uniquely combined his diverse musical influences and blurred and challenged the social and
racial barriers of the time, he ushered in a whole new era of American music and popular culture.
He starred in 33 successful films, made history with his television appearances and specials, and knew great acclaim through his many, often record-
breaking, live concert performances on tour and in Las Vegas. Globally, he has sold over one billion records, more than any other artist. His American sales
have earned him gold, platinum or multi-platinum awards. Among his many awards and accolades were 14 Grammy nominations (3 wins) from the National
Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award which he received at age 36, and his being named One of the Ten
Outstanding Young Men of the Nation for 1970 by the United States Jaycees. Without any of the special privileges, his celebrity status might have afforded
him, he honorably served his country in the U.S. Army.
His talent, good looks, sensuality, charisma, and good humor endeared him to millions, as did the humility and human kindness he demonstrated
throughout his life. Known the world over by his first name, he is regarded as one of the most important figures of twentieth century popular culture. Elvis
died at his Memphis home, Graceland, on August 16, 1977.

CLEOPATRA 2
WHY IS CLEOPATRA A MYTH?

WHY DID SHE BECOME A CELEBRITY?

WHAT DID SHE DO TO BE ADMIRED EVERYWHERE?

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HER LIFE?


CLEOPATRA’S PROFILE:
As queen of ancient Egypt, Cleopatra is one of the famous female rulers in history. Her family had ruled Egypt for
more than 100 years before she was born around 69 BC. The stories and myths surrounding Cleopatra's tragic life
inspired a number of books, movies, and plays, including Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare. Cleopatra has
become one of the most well-known ancient Egyptians.
(born 70/69 —died August of 30 , Alexandria) Egyptian queen, famous in history and drama as the lover of
Julius Caesar and later the wife of Marc Antony. She became queen on the death of her father, Ptolemy XII, in 51
and ruled successively with her two brothers Ptolemy XIII (51–47) and Ptolemy XIV (47–44) and her son Ptolemy XV
Caesar (44–30). After the Roman armies of Octavian (the future emperor Augustus) defeated their combined forces,
Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide, and Egypt fell under Roman domination. Cleopatra actively influenced
Roman politics at a crucial period, and she came to represent, as did no other woman of antiquity, the prototype of
the romantic femme fatale.

Cleopatra realized that she needed Roman support, or, more specifically, Caesar's support, if she
was to regain her throne. Each was determined to use the other. Caesar sought money for
repayment of the debts incurred by Cleopatra's father, Auletes, as he struggled to retain his throne.
Cleopatra was determined to keep her throne and, if possible, to restore the glories of the first
Ptolemies and recover as much as possible of their dominions, which had included southern Syria
and Palestine. Caesar and Cleopatra became lovers and spent the winter besieged in Alexandria.

JAMES DEAN A MOVIE ICON

WHY IS JAMES DEAN A MYTH?
3

WHAT DID HE DO TO BE ADORED BY HIS FANS?



JEAMES DEAN’S PROFILE:

James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955) was an American film actor. He is a
cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in
which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his
stardom were as loner Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955), and as the surly ranch hand, Jett Rink, in
Giant (1956). Dean's enduring fame and popularity rests on his performances in only these three
films, all leading roles. His premature death in a car crash cemented his legendary status.
Dean was the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and
remains the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations. In 1999, the
American Film Institute ranked Dean the 18th best male movie star on their
AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list.

JEANNE D’ARC JOAN of ARC
4
WHY IS JEANNE D’ARC A MYTH?


WHAT DID SHE DO TO BE ADMIRED IN FRANCE?



JEANNE D’ARC’S PROFILE:
Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans“ (1412 in Domremy, France– 30 May 1431),
is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in what is
now eastern France, who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several
important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the
coronation of Charles VII. She was captured by the Burgundians, transferred to the English
in exchange for money, put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais for charges of
"insubordination and heterodoxy,” and burned at the stake as a heretic when she was 19
years old.
Legend says that she was born to auspicious signs held to be a forecast of national
triumph. However, what is more certain is that her family were poor and her region had
suffered from the long conflict between England and France.

EL CID CAMPEADOR 5
WHY IS ‘EL CID’ A MYTH?
A WAR ICON

WHAT DID HE DO TO BE HATED BY MUSLIMS?



EL CID’S PROFILE:
Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (1043 – July 10, 1099), known as El Cid Campeador (Spanish "The
lord-master of military arts"), was a Castilian nobleman, military leader, and diplomat.
Exiled from the court of the Spanish Emperor Alfonso VI of León and Castile, El Cid went on
to command a Moorish force consisting of Muladis, Berbers, Arabs and Malians, under
Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud, Moorish king of the northeast Al-Andalus city of Zaragoza, and
his successor, Al-Mustein II.
After the Christian defeat at the Battle of Sagrajas in 1086, El Cid was recalled to service by
Alfonso VI, and commanded a combined Christian and Moorish army, which he used to
create his own fiefdom in the Moorish Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia.
Rodrigo Díaz was educated in the royal court of Castile and became the alférez, the chief
general, of Alfonso VI, and his most valuable asset in the fight against the Moors.

AMAZONS 6
WHY ARE AMAZONS A MYTH?

WHY DID THEY BECOME A CELEBRITY?

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HEIR LIFE?


AMAZONS’S PROFILE:

The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity.
Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia (modern territory of Ukraine).
Other historiographers place them in Asia Minor, or Libya.
Notable queens of the Amazons are Penthesilea, who participated in the Trojan War, and her
sister Hippolyta, whose magical girdle, given to her by her father Ares, was the object of one of
the labours of Hercules. Amazonian raiders were often depicted in battle with Greek warriors in
amazonomachies in classical art.
The Amazons have become associated with various historical peoples throughout the
Roman Empire period and Late Antiquity. In Roman historiography, there are various accounts of
Amazon raids in Asia Minor. From the Early Modern period, their name has become a term for
woman warriors in general.

Abraham LINCOLN 7
WHY IS LINCOLN A MYTH?


WHAT DID HE DO TO BE ADORED BY AMERICAN PEOPLE?



LINCOLN’S PROFILE:

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the
16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until
his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great
constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union,
while ending slavery, and promoting economic and financial modernization. Reared in a
poor family on the western frontier, Lincoln was mostly self-educated. He became a
country lawyer, a Whig Party, Illinois state legislator in the 1830s, a one-term member of
the United States House of Representatives in the 1840s, but he failed in two attempts to
be elected to the United States Senate in the 1850s. After opposing the expansion of
slavery in the United States in his campaign debates and speeches,[1] Lincoln secured the
Republican Party nomination and was elected president in 1860.

VIRIATO 8
WHY IS VIRIATO A MYTH?


WHAT DID HE DO TO BE RESPECTED BY ROMANS?



VIRIATO’S PROFILE:

Viriathus (Viriato in Spanish) (died 138 BC)
was the most important leader of the
Lusitanian people that resisted Roman
expansion into the regions of Western Hispania
(as the Romans would call it), where the
Roman province of Lusitania would be
Viriathus led the Lusitanians to several victories established (in the areas comprising most of
over the Romans between 147 BC and 139 BC Portugal, Extremadura and south of the Douro
before he was betrayed to the Romans and killed.
"It seemed as if, in that thoroughly prosaic age, one river in Spain).
of the Homeric heroes had reappeared."

POCAHONTAS 9
WHY IS POCAHONTAS A MYTH?




WHAT DID HE DO TO BE RESPECTED BY PEOPLE?

POCAHONTAS’S PROFILE:

Pocahontas was born in Gloucester County, Virginia, in March 1595. Her real
Native American name, given by her father, Chief Powhatan, was Matoaka. Her
pet name was Pocahontas, meaning "my favorite daughter" and "frolicsome." In
1607, settlers came to the Chesapeake Bay area and a man named John Smith,
the military leader of Jamestown, was taken prisoner by her people some years
later. Pocahontas was the one who saved John Smith's life, possibly having flung
herself over him as he was about to be clubbed to death, but this has not been
proven true. After saving him, she urged her Native American people that he be
returned to Jamestown and her father, Chief Powhatan, honored her request.

RASPUTIN 10
WHY IS RASPUTIN A MYTH?


WHAT DID HE DO TO BE ADMIRED EVERYWHERE?



RASPUTIN’S PROFILE:
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (22 January 1869 – 29 December 1916) was a Russian
Orthodox Christian and mystic who is perceived as having influenced the latter days of the
Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and their only son Alexei. Some people
called Rasputin the "Mad Monk“, while others considered him a "strannik" (or religious
pilgrim) and even a starets ("elder", a title usually reserved for monk-confessors), believing
him to be a psychic and faith healer.
It has been argued that Rasputin helped to discredit the tsarist government, leading to the
fall of the Romanov dynasty in 1917. Contemporary opinions saw Rasputin variously as a
saintly mystic, visionary, healer and prophet or, on the contrary, as a debauched religious
charlatan. There has been much uncertainty over Rasputin's life and influence as accounts
of his life have often been based on dubious memoirs, hearsay and legend.

MARILYN MONROE
WHY IS MARILYN A MYTH? 11

WHAT DID SHE DO TO BE ADORED BY HER FANS?



MARILYN MONROE’S PROFILE:

Norma Jeane Mortensen Baker (June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962), professionally recognized as Marilyn
Monroe, was an American actress, model, and singer, who became a major sex symbol, starring in a
number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s and early 1960s.
After spending much of her childhood in foster homes, Monroe began a career as a model, which led to a
film contract in 1946 with Twentieth Century-Fox. Her early film appearances were minor, but her
performances in The Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve (both 1950) drew attention to her. By 1953,
Monroe had progressed to a leading role in Niagara (1953), a melodramatic film noir that dwelt on her
seductiveness. Her "dumb blonde" persona was used to comic effect in subsequent films such as
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) and The Seven Year Itch (1955).
Limited by typecasting, Monroe studied at the Actors Studio to broaden her range. She has often been
cited as both a pop and a cultural icon as well as the quintessential American sex symbol.

DRAKUL DRACULA
12
WHY IS JAMES DEAN A MYTH?


WHAT DID HE DO TO ATTRACT PEOPLE?



DRAKUL’S PROFILE:

Count Dracula, a fictional character in the Dracula novel, was inspired by one of the
best-known figures of Romanian history, Vlad Dracula, nicknamed Vlad Tepes
(Vlad the Impaler), who was the ruler of Walachia at various times from 1456-1462.
Born in 1431 in Sighisoara, he resided all his adult life in Walachia, except for
periods of imprisonment at Pest and Visegrad (in Hungary).
Some say that Transylvania sits on one of Earth's strongest magnetic fields and
its people have extra-sensory perception. Vampires are believed to hang around
crossroads.

THE END…

THERE ARE MANY MORE PEOPLE WHO BECAME
MYTHS IN THE PAST… AND WHO WILL TAKE PART OF
THE FUTURE.

Myths

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