Class Assembly – Ancient Greece
Setting: The Theatre of Dionysis
Dionysis
Messenger 3
Ah.. Good Afternoon and Welcome to my theatre here in
Ancient Greece. My name is Dionysis and I am the God of
entertainment. Crowds always gather at the theatre to be
entertained by the stories of Ancient Greece.
I hear that today will be a good one!
Calling all the people of Athens! Today in the theatre of
our God Dionysis we proudly present our search for the
bravest heroes of Ancient Greece.
Come and watch as the myths are performed and decide for
yourself who truly was the bravest hero!
Heroes – I love hearing those stories about brave heroes
taking on quests and defeating the most hideous of
monsters and creatures!
People of Athens, today we will be watching the stories of 2
of Greece’s most famous heroes:
Music – holding out for a hero
Our 2 heroes are Perseus....
Messenger 3
(Prop – CHEER!) Crowd cheers as Perseus comes out onto
the stage and flexes his muscles.
(Prop – STOP!)
And Theseus
Messenger 1
Dionysis
Messenger 2
Messenger 3
Dionysis
(Prop – CHEER!)
Crowd cheers as Theseus comes out onto the stage and
flexes his muscles.
Both heroes show off their muscles as the music plays.
(Prop – STOP!)
Both heroes leave the stage as the music fades.
Both heroes have been preparing for today’s greatest hero
challenge. Let’s have a look at them in training…
(Show training video)
I can hardly wait!!! Let me just check that everything is in
place.
The VIP’s are sitting at the front.
The ordinary folk are sitting at the back.
The chorus are standing in the orchestra ready to tell the
story.
(Chorus wave)
The actors are ready to come onto the stage to perform.
(Actors appear from the side and wave)
So let’s begin!
(Dionysis sits down)
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Messenger 4
We will begin with the story of Perseus
Chorus
Freddie/Logan
Katie/RubyL
Perseus’ mother Danae
Was very important to him
An evil king wanted to marry her
But Danae say “no” to him
Zack/Aurora
RubyLS/EvanS
She kept saying no for many years
The evil king was not happy
He lost his patience and told his guards
“Go fetch her and make it snappy”.
Freddie/Logan
Katie/RubyL
The guards came to get Danae
But Perseus would not let them in
“Tell the King I will protect my mum”
“And that this wedding will not happen”.
Zack/Aurora
RubyLS/EvanS
The evil king was furious
As he realised that Perseus was strong
“I shall have to think of something clever”
“So that he will do something wrong!”
Freddie/Logan
Katie/RubyL
So he set Perseus a great challenge
“If he wins I’ll leave Danae alone”
“Bring me the head of Medusa”
Though I’m sure you’ll just turn into stone.
Zack/Aurora
RubyLS/EvanS
Brave Perseus said yes to the challenge
The gods looking down were impressed
So they sent down some gifts to help him
As he set off on his quest.
Freddie/Logan
Katie/RubyL
Athena the goddess of war
Sent down a mirror bright shield
Hermes the messenger god
Sent help with his winged heels
Zack/Aurora
RubyLS/EvanS
Pluto sent down a helmet
To make Perseus invisible
And a thick bag to place the head
To be sure that Perseus is invincible.
Freddie/Logan
Katie/RubyL
Perseus took the gods gifts
And set off in search of 3 sisters
Who between them only have 1 eye
But would tell him where Medusa is.
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Zack/Aurora
RubyLS/EvanS
The sisters were arguing about the eye
As an invisible Perseus came by
Perseus took the eye from the sisters
‘Til they told him where Medusa did lie.
Freddie/Logan
Katie/RubyL
The sisters told Perseus where to find her
And sent him to Medusa’s lair
Perseus will never succeed
She will turn him to stone with her stare.
Zack/Aurora
RubyLS/EvanS
Perseus flew across to Medusa’s lair
Taking great care not to look
Directly into her stone making eyes
As the snakes in her hair shook.
Freddie/Logan
Katie/RubyL
Perseus took a clever approach
And walked backwards towards Medusa
He used the shield from the Goddess Athena
In order to be able to get closer.
Zack/Aurora
RubyLS/EvanS
Perseus then drew his sword
And chopped her head clean off
Placed it carefully in the bag from the Gods
Before he could be stopped.
Freddie/Logan
Katie/RubyL
Back he went to the evil king
Who really didn’t believe
That Medusa’s head was in the bag
Surely his eyes wouldn’t deceive?
Zack/Aurora
RubyLS/EvanS
Danae was wondering
Would she now be free?
As the evil king reached into the bag
To pull out the prize to see.
Freddie/Logan
Katie/RubyL
The head of Medusa he held up high
As everyone gasped and shook
For the evil king had turned to stone
As he couldn’t help but look.
Zack/Aurora
RubyLS/EvanS
Perseus the brave hero
Had rescued his mother Danae
The evil king was now dead
And Perseus had saved the day!
Everyone takes a bow as the audience clap
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Dionysis
Messenger 5
Wow, I really enjoyed that did you? Did you know that
people in Ancient Greece often spent hours at the theatre
watching play after play. They often brought a picnic
along. Luckily I have some grapes and olives to keep me
going, not enough to share though.
The next play must be about to start, so time to take my
seat again.
And now for the story of our next brave hero Theseus
Chorus
Harry/Matilda
Harrison/Kaydi
Aurelie
King Minos of Crete was so mean
He liked to start wars and battles
To stop him from getting far
Kingdoms sent people as cattle.
Immy/Leon
Grace/Rory
RubyM/EvanH
The people were to feed his monster
The horrid sounding Minotaur
Who lived in a labyrinth under the castle
Half man, half bull that could roar
Harry/Matilda King Aegeus was about to send
Harrison/Kaydi Seven women and seven men
“This must stop” said his son
Aurelie
“And I will go as one of them”.
Immy/Leon
Grace/Rory
RubyM/EvanH
Prince Theseus was his name
He was handsome and very brave
“I will defeat the Minotaur”
“And send no more to be slain!”
Harry/Matilda King Aegeus tried to change his mind
Harrison/Kaydi As Theseus was his only son
In the end he agreed he could go
Aurelie
If he raised the white sail when he won.
Immy/Leon
Grace/Rory
RubyM/EvanH
“I shall watch from the docks everyday
To look out for your ship and white sail
Should you not succeed
Then return bearing the black sail.”
Harry/Matilda King Minos laughed when he saw
Harrison/Kaydi The next load of ships arrive
“Who will be first for my Minotaur?”
Aurelie
“Who will not survive?”
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Immy/Leon
Grace/Rory
RubyM/EvanH
“I shall go first” said Theseus
“Show me the way to the den”
“An eager young thing you are”
“Take him away, MEN”.
Harry/Matilda Just as Theseus was about to enter
Harrison/Kaydi The complex labyrinth of doom
A young girl called Ariadne
Aurelie
Was hiding in the shadows of gloom.
Immy/Leon
Grace/Rory
RubyM/EvanH
“I do not agree with my father”
“So take this ball of string”
“For if you defeat the monster”
“To get out, you won’t see a thing”
Harry/Matilda Theseus took the string
Harrison/Kaydi And carefully unravelled his path
Eventually he came across 2 horns
Aurelie
Part man and bull made the other half.
Immy/Leon
Grace/Rory
RubyM/EvanH
They battled for what seemed like hours
Pulling this way and that
Eventually the beast gave a great heave
And fell on the floor – SPLAT.
Harry/Matilda Theseus gathered the string
Harrison/Kaydi And quickly felt his way out
To free the prisoners and Ariadne
Aurelie
Before King Minos could shout.
Immy/Leon
Grace/Rory
RubyM/EvanH
In their great rush and haste
They set sail towards home to be back
But, with all the distractions
They forgot that the sail was still black.
Harry/Matilda King Aegeus who watched from the docks
Harrison/Kaydi Saw the ship come into view
“A black sail!” he gasped and he cried
Aurelie
As he clutched his heart he had no clue.
Immy/Leon
Grace/Rory
RubyM/EvanH
In despair he then fell
Into the sea below
Thinking his son was dead
When in fact he was a hero.
Actors bow on stage as the audience gives their applause.
5
Dionysis
Messenger 6
Messenger 6
Dionysis
Messenger 7
(Wiping his eyes) –
That one always gets me going! It’s such a sad story. Let’s
see who the people thought was the bravest hero. Get
ready for your vote – by the way we Ancient Greeks
invented voting too!
People of Greece, here are your heroes, Perseus and Theseus
Perseus and Theseus come on flexing their muscles to the
music – Class song
People of Greece it is now up to you to choose your hero.
Will it be Perseus who was clever enough to defeat Medusa
without looking at her?
Or will it be Theseus who defeated the Minotaur?
Remember you can only vote for 1.
Hold up your hand for Perseus. (Prop – vote for Perseus)
Hold up your hand for Theseus. (Prop – vote for Theseus)
I declare that today’s hero is ...............
Crowd cheer as hero takes a bow
A very difficult decision. I do agree with you though.
Nearly time to go home!
People of Greece, thank you for attending today’s theatre.
We hope that you have enjoyed the plays that have been
performed for your enjoyment. Thank you and Goodbye!
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