Zachary Hamby - Mythology for Teens: Classic Myths in Todays World

PRUFROCK PRESS INC. WACO, TEXAS

Copyright 2009 Prufrock Press Inc.

Edited by Lacy Compton

Cover and Layout Design by Marjorie Parker

ISBN-13: 978-1-59363-457-5

ISBN-10: 1-59363-457-9

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DEDICATION

To Homer, Ovid, Virgil, and Zorn

Give me the voice

to tell the shifting story of the world

from its beginning to the present hour.

Ovid, Metamorphoses

Welcome to Mythology for Teens, a textbook that presents ancient myths in the form of readers theater plays. Additional materials explain the myths relevance to teenagers (and others) who live in our modern world. The focus of this book is Greek and Roman mythology. Unfortunately, not every Greek and Roman myth can be explored. This isnt (and doesnt claim to be) a complete collection of myth. Its a samplinga sampling that hopefully will leave the reader hungry for more. I hope you enjoy reading, learning, and acting from this book. I have designed it for education, as well as entertainment. Please feel free to contact me with comments and suggestions.

Zachary Hamby ()

This project began out of desperationa desperate mythology teacher struggling with a difficult curriculum. The problem was one of interest: How do you capture the interest of teenage learners day after day? The plays collected into this book are my answer to that question. It has been a successful answer, one that turned a class once dreaded into one I love to teach.

Now these plays are presented to you for use in your own classroom. If your students are anything like mine, you will see the same results. I would like to thank all of the people who have been instrumental to this books creation.

I give special thanks to: Edith Hamilton, without whose dry prose I would have never been inspired; a former teacher named Zorn, who gave me an outlet; Keri Franklin and Carolyn Hembree, who encouraged me to pursue publication; the Ozarks Writing Project; Don and Carolyn Hamby, my father and mother, for their encouragement; Rachel Hamby, my wife, for her patience, support, and quote-checking skills; and the many, many students who have come through my door.

This book presents myth in ancient and modern contexts. As I mentioned before, it is not intended to be a comprehensive textbook of mythology. Out of many Greco-Roman myths, only six are present. I selected these six for their ancient importance (why they were important to the Greeks and Romans) and their modern applicability (why they should matter now). After being exposed to these selections, students should leave the book with a healthy understanding of Greco-Roman myth.

Each chapter is geared toward a theme or issue that will be its focus. The readers theater play makes up the main part of each chapter. When read aloud, these plays run between 25-40 minutes. Some of the myths are so long that here they are broken up into two plays to accommodate their length. In addition, there are several other follow-up sections that add to the readers sphere of reference. Most sections include discussion questions, asking the students to analyze what they have read. Every chapter includes additional activities, some of which ask the students to draw, research, write, act, present, read, or watch outside material. These activities, designed with the intent of stimulating creativity, help to further the students understanding and enjoyment of the myth. My goal has been to breathe life into the old bones of myth through interactive learning.

Even though they can be read and enjoyed individually, the readers theater plays should be read with a group or full cast to utilize their maximum potential. The variety of voice and interpretation adds a whole new dimension to the written word and links the learners together in a common experience. During this process, students become active participants as they are asked to interpret the text before them. Linguistic processing and audio processing combine, resulting in maximum comprehension. The group-learning atmosphere also makes the reading more enjoyable.

Let me stress that these plays can never replace the original works. As hard as I try to maintain the themes and tone of the poets, I will never be as good at telling Homers story as Homer. If your students enjoy the version read here, please encourage them to seek out the original source.

That being said, these plays are as faithful as they can be. As you might imagine, fitting a complex story into a 30-minute play is a challenging task. Needless to say, a few of the stories peripheral details have been lost, but the core is intact. At times I have condensed events; at others I have combined or eliminated characters. For that I personally apologize to all of the dead poets who brought us these stories. If you truly wish to have the full flavor of the original, read the original. If you wish to have the condensed, but not-skimping-on-the-feel-and-emotion-of-the-story version, you cant beat these plays.

Writing these plays has been a process of translation, and during this process, Im sure a little bit of my own voice has snuck in. Ive tried to make the plays dialogue as engaging as possible for modern teenage audiences, while leaving it archaic enough to still be challenging. Ive avoided phrases such as Sup, fool! (I know that would register with teenagers), but also shied away from lofty language that would trip up the tongue, such as Begone, thou ill-tempered harlot! Its a balancing act to challenge the students intellect without insulting it.

As for the actual reading of the play, you, the teacher, should act as the casting director. You know which student will fit best with each part. I strongly encourage you to participate in the play as well. This is helpful in breaking down a learning barrier. Instead of leaving students to learn on their own, you are becoming a participant and experiencing with them. In my own classroom, I commonly choose to be the narrator.

Emotion cues in parentheses such as (frightened) or (angrily) come at the beginning of important lines. Even those students who are not strong readers can still participate (and should be encouraged to do so). Sound effects are indicated (