Michael Wood: In Search of Myths and Heroes DVD 2PK

These quest companions in addition to the lesson plans provided on the PBS website produced amazing results from my students. This resource material is interesting and helful to and for visual/auditory learners. I highly recommend this series for teachers as a companion to fruitful project opportunities.

It is difficult to tell how many nations have succumbed to the myth of a monarchy upon the basis of the Stories of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, but surely there have been many. The influence of England and its evolution in international history, (as identified by Wood from his presentation of the myth of Arthur) deserves far more than mere info-tainment treatment. It deserves serious scholarly treatment of the human approach to its political, psychological, and economic existence, and how that is organized in every nation. The attempt to discover the accuracy with which Wood portrayed the mythological/historical events in the development of Arthur as King may lie at the root of humanities ills, and surely needs a gender perspective that isnt purely male in origin, as women may take a far different perspective of the tales of Britains origin, and the message within the medium of Arthur as handed down by the Celts. The Celtic version is obviously far different than the British version of the tales, and that gap deserves reconciliation that is not likely to come from mere artistry and theatrics. The hint of religious conversion from Catholicism to Protestantism should not be overlooked in a distortion of the tale in retrospect as it provides the divergence of the two cultures, in retrospect. Sensing study groups in the offing, the introduction by Wood should be capitalized upon to recreate its potential, a rebirth of human history that seeks to fuse the parallel universes into one complete whole, for the benefit of mankind. Can myths so heavily invented, and invested upon be summarily dismissed as innocent diversions? Whether intended or not, Wood has surrepticitiously opened the Pandoras box of modern human history to view the myths as truth. And that deserves considerably greater scrutiny to reveal its full and complete impact upon every cultures human history.

My wife and I are both thoroughly well educated in the humanities. Mr. Wood has a genius for developing and presenting a fresh perspective with a deepening clarity that entertains while it unveils and instructs the viewers about historical and literary truths. We have felt our knowledge affirmed and also enjoyed feeling it grow as we watch these films. -- Norm Ruth