by Niall Fitzgibbon (Perseus and Medusa summary by Jacob Pratt)

On 23rd September Class 4 had a Greek day, as part of their ongoing project on the Ancient Greeks. An educational theatre company led the day with two people called Daphne and Arastopholes (their actual names were Suzy and Robert).

When Class 4 came into school they were dressed up in Ancient Greek clothing, either togas, armour or chitons and himations. There were some people who hadn’t dressed up and they looked rather odd amongst the white clothing of their classmates.

Then, after register, they went through into the hall. Waiting inside for Class 4 were the people who were running the day. Some Greek music was playing whilst the children sat down, then Daphne introduced herself and quickly spotted the children who weren’t wearing Greek costume. She dressed them in chitons and himations (a chiton is a bit like a tunic, it goes down to your knees and has short sleeves; a himation is an oblong shape of cloth which went over your left shoulder and was held in place by a piece of string tied around your waist).

After that Daphne told Class 4 some interesting information about the Olympics in Ancient Greek times. For example, she told the children about how the people who took part ran naked, they did this because they wanted to show the gods that they has been right to create them and that in their opinion man was a beautiful creature. She also talked about how Greece was divided up into city states. The Spartans, she said, were particularly gruesome as if their babies looked ill or weak they were left on a mountain for three days and only if the baby survived was it deemed worthy of protecting.

When it was time for break Class 4 all went outside to get some fresh air, but all of them were eager to continue with their day.

Then it was time to do some drama. Class 4 split into six groups who were each given a topic to perform a play about. One group was given the task of doing a play about school, or Grammatis as the Ancient Greeks called it. A slave called a pedagogus was used by rich children (only boys went to school) to take beatings for their master when they got a sum or something like that wrong.

After lunch they all went back into the hall to perform their plays in fornt of their classmates. All of the plays were very good.

After that they made wreaths out of willow and wisteria which made a big mess in the classroom.

Class 4 then went into the hall for the last time for the most fun-packed part of the day, with Arastopholes the playwright. First the children learnt some interesting things about Ancient Greek theatre, such as: did you know that women weren’t allowed to watch or even take part in the theatre, so even women’s parts were played by men?

Then, finally, Arastopholes rehearsed his new play about Perseus and Medusa, using a number of the children as actors (who had to wear masks), a chorus (whose job was to let the audience know what is going on) and musicians.

In the myth King Acrisus tells everyone in his city to buy him a horse, however Perseus was poor so he went to Acrisus and begged him for mercy. The King said that the only thing he could do as a forfeit was to kill Medusa (a hideous woman with serpents for hair, and if you looked at her you were instantly turned to stone). So, rising to the challenge, Perseus polished his shield so much that he could use it as a mirror. He the walked backwards and seeing Medusa’s reflection in his shield he swiped his sword and chopped off her head!