Introduction
After seven failed attempts, King Eurystheus has still not rid himself of his cousin Heracles. Perhaps, he thinks, combat with a warrior-king of divine birth, some man-eating mares, and a savage tribe would to be enough; and certainly, things do not look good for our hero at first.
ARES, the god of war,* had a son named Diomedes, lord of the Bistones, a warrior-tribe that lived near Lake Vistonida in Thrace.* Down by the sea Diomedes kept a string of savage mares, chained to bronze mangers in which he gave them man’s flesh to eat.
Understandably, in sending Heracles to steal these man-eating mares from their warlike master and his barbarous tribe, King Eurystheus hoped that even his cousin would meet his match.
Heracles began by driving the mares into the sea, but to his horror they dragged his friend Abderus in after them, who drowned while Heracles fended off the enraged Bistones. In a fury of vengeance he fed Diomedes to his own mares, which instantly became tame, and followed Heracles back meekly to Tiryns.
Having no real use for them, Eurystheus let the placid mares wander onto Mount Olympus, where wild beasts devoured them, though rumour had it that one of their descendants became a favourite of Alexander the Great.
Ares in Greek mythology corresponds roughly to Mars in Roman mythology; but for the Greeks, Ares was very much the god of brute force and violence only; the deity of military strategy and generalship was his sister Athena.
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Précis
Heracles was sent to Thrace by Eurystheus, to kidnap the man-eating mares of King Diomedes, which proved unexpectedly easy when, angered by the death of his friends, Heracles threw Diomedes himself to the mares, after which they became suddenly tame. Frustrated once again in his campaign to see Heracles ‘accidentally’ killed, Eurystheus let the horses go. (56 / 60 words)
Heracles was sent to Thrace by Eurystheus, to kidnap the man-eating mares of King Diomedes, which proved unexpectedly easy when, angered by the death of his friends, Heracles threw Diomedes himself to the mares, after which they became suddenly tame. Frustrated once again in his campaign to see Heracles ‘accidentally’ killed, Eurystheus let the horses go.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: because, despite, may, not, otherwise, unless, until, who.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Cousin. Lord. Use.
2 After. Keep. Real.
3 Drag. Near. Placid.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
dct (5+1)
deceit. dicta. duct. edict. educate.
ducat.
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