The Hidden Oracle

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. List 6-8 Ancient Greek gods and goddesses. What are some key beliefs that the Ancient Greeks had about their gods and goddesses?

Teaching Suggestion: Although The Hidden Oracle takes place in contemporary times, students will understand its action and characters more fully with a basic background in Ancient Greek mythology and religion. This prompt might be used initially to gather data on what students already know and to activate their existing schemas. These and similar resources might be helpful in establishing additional context and knowledge. After some investigation time, students can revise their answers to demonstrate their increased understanding.

• This 12-minute video introduces the most important Greek gods and goddesses.
• This 3-minute video from National Geographic explores religious beliefs of the Ancient Greeks.

2. Who is Apollo? Based on legends, myths, and stories that include this figure, what are his traits? What is he the god of?

Teaching Suggestion: The Hidden Oracle features several gods and demigods, but its main focus is Apollo. If students watch the first video linked above, they will have some information about Apollo that they can use to offer a preliminary answer to this prompt. Students might work in pairs to review visual images of Apollo from a variety of sources (visual art, comics, film) to make predictions about his traits and characteristics. After studying the information in the resources below or similar resources, students should understand more about this central figure in Riordan’s book and be prepared to revise and improve their answers.

• This article thoroughly discusses Apollo’s characteristics and several stories associated with him. (Teacher-appropriate; not student-facing due to length and some mature content. Excerpted passages may be selected for readers.)
• This article describes this god’s history and characteristics that support Apollo as the embodiment of Ancient Greek values. (Teacher-appropriate; not student-facing due to some mature content.)

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

Which do you enjoy reading more—myths and legends, or modern stories? Why? What might be interesting about a book that blends very old myths with a modern setting?

Teaching Suggestion: This prompt is intended to increase students’ interest in reading The Hidden Oracle by underscoring that texts of this nature offer elements that appeal to many kinds of readers. Students may enjoy debating which type of story is more enjoyable to read; they might discuss the first two questions in the prompt in small groups or as a class and then spend a few minutes writing individual answers to the prompt’s final question.