Thrilling Third Graders~ Ancient Greek Snakes!

What do snakes have to do with ancient Greece?

Asclepius, in the ancient times, was almost always depicted as a middle-aged man holding a rod with a snake rapped around it. The snake symbolizes the snake bite, which was the worst kind of disease someone could have and very difficult to cure. However, Asclepius had the power to heal even the snake bite. This rod with the snake is known as the “Rod of Asclepius” and is even today the symbol of the physicians throughout the world. 

Most of you will recognize this symbol below!

 It is the caduceus. It is often mistakenly used as a symbol of medicine and medical practice (especially in North America), due to historical confusion with the traditional medical symbol, the rod of Asclepius. The Rod of Asclepius has only a single snake and no wings, so it is similar in form to the caduceus with its two snakes and often with wings

(wikipedia)

Athena, the Greek god of wisdom shown with serpents on her chiton

Third Graders made beautiful mythological snakes using many different materials.

TAYLOR

The hardest part they'll tell you was cutting the cardboard. It took us 2 class periods and many sore fingers!

ABBY

We painted them first, then wrapped them with yarn and wire to give them a bit of texture.

BECCA

CALEB

After that we painted again with metallics and glued on sequins for some extra sparkle.

Let's get a closeup of that wonderful detail!

REESE

TANNER

Tongues from wire and eyes were added last.

JESSICA

SHANNON

LOVE how MATTHEW added a few extra tongues!

BEN

More detail!

CARTER

ARIANNA

PAIGE