One-Act Play to Be Cast by Teacher Or Student Director and Read Or Acted by Students

ONE-ACT PLAY TO BE CAST BY TEACHER OR STUDENT DIRECTOR AND READ OR ACTED BY STUDENTS

The Trojan War

Cast (Using Greek Names), possibly using sheets as togas:

Eris, Goddess of Discord

Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Beauty

Athena, Goddess of Wisdom

Hera, Goddess of Marriage and Protector of Women

Zeus, Ruler of all Gods and Goddesses

Handsome Prince: Paris of Troy (also a shepherd)

Eros, Son of Aphrodite

Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world

King of Sparta

Odysseus, King of Itheca

Various Gods and Goddesses at Party

Spartan and Greek Men for Battle (using cardboard swords?)

Scene: Gods and Goddesses at a Party

Eris (looking in from outside): IT LOOKS LIKE A PARTY IS GOING ON…AND I WASN’T INVITED! NOW I’M ANGRY. WHAT TROUBLE CAN I CAUSE?

I KNOW, I’LL THROW THIS APPLE IN TO THE BANQUET HALL. ON IT IS WRITTEN, “FOR THE FAIREST.” I BET THE GODDESSES FIGHT OVER WHO SHOULD HAVE IT.

(Throws apple.)

Aphrodite: A GOLDEN APPLE! (Picks up apple.) AND LOOK, IT SAYS “FOR THE FAIREST.” OBVIOUSLY IT’S FOR ME, THE GODDESS OF LOVE AND BEAUTY.

Athena: NO APHRODITE, OBVIOUSLY IT’S FOR ME BECAUSE AS THE GODDESS OF WISDOM, I HAVE BOTH BEAUTY AND BRAINS.

Hera: YOU’RE BOTH WRONG. I AM MARRIED TO THE MOST POWERFUL MAN ON MOUNTOLYMPUS SO I SHOULD HAVE THE APPLE BECAUSE I HAVE BEAUTY, BRAINS AND POWER.

Eris: (Laughs) I KNEW THIS WOULD START AN ARGUMENT.

Hera: LET’S ASK MY HUSBAND WHAT HE THINKS.

(Walk over to Zeus)

Aphrodite: OH ZEUS, LOOK AT THIS GORGEOUS GOLDEN APPLE. IT SAYS ON IT “FOR THE FAIREST.” OF COURSE IT WAS MEANT FOR ME.

Athena: HA! YOU KNOW THAT APPLE IS FOR ME. (Looking around.) THE ADDRESS LABEL MUST BE SOMEWHERE.

Hera: THEY’RE BOTH WRONG. AS MY HUSBAND, I KNOW YOU WANT APHRODITE TO GIVE THAT APPLE TO ME. (Bats her eyelashes) REMEMBER THAT GOLDEN GOBLET FILLED WITH YOUR FAVORITE DRINK I BROUGHT OVER EARLIER…AND THE GRAPES I PEELED FOR YOU?

Zeus (turn to the other Gods): I DON’T WANT TO DECIDE THIS. NO MATTER WHICH ONE WE PICK, THE OTHER TWO WILL BE ANGRY. I’D LIKE TO THROW A LIGHTNING BOLT AT THAT APPLE AND DESTROY IT!

(The Gods agree.)

I HAVE AN IDEA…

(Turns to the Goddesses)

YOU THREE GODDESSES ARE ALL SO SMART AND BEAUTIFUL AND POWERFUL, WE CAN’T POSSIBLY DECIDE WHO SHOULD HAVE THE APPLE. INSTEAD WE WILL HAVE THE MOST HANDSOME HUMAN BE THE JUDGE. HIS NAME IS PARIS AND HE IS THE SON OF THE KING OF TROY. GO TO MOUNT IDA, WHERE HE IS A SHEPHERD. HE WILL DECIDE WHO SHOULD HAVE THE GOLDEN APPLE.

(The Goddesses move to another part of the classroom, where Paris is tending his sheep.)

Aphrodite: HELLO PARIS. WE’RE TRYING TO DECIDE WHICH ONE OF US DESERVES THIS GOLDEN APPLE. IT SAYS “FOR THE FAIREST.” (Whispers in his ear.) IF YOU PICK ME, I WILL FIX YOU UP WITH THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN THE WORLD.

Hera: IF YOU PICK ME, I CAN MAKE YOU THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE WORLD.

Athena: WHAT IS POWER WITHOUT INTELLIGENCE? PICK ME AND WITH MY WISDOM I WILL GUIDE YOU TO GLORY AND FAME IN BATTLE.

Paris: THE GOLDEN APPLE SHALL GO TO APHRODITE.

Aphrodite: I KNEW IT!

Hera: MEN!!! (Hera and Athena storm away.)

Paris: BY THE WAY, WHO IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN THE WORLD?

Aphrodite: HELEN OF COURSE…THE DAUGHTER OF ZEUS AND LEDA.

Paris: ISN’T SHE MARRIED TO THE KING OF SPARTA?

Aphrodite: YES, BUT I SHALL MAKE HER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU! (Enter Eros) HAVE YOU MET MY SON, EROS?

Paris: HELLO EROS.

(Helen walks nearby.)

Eros: THERE’S HELEN. WATCH THIS.

(Shoots a pretend arrow in to the heart of Helen.)

I SHOT HER WITH MY ARROW OF LOVE. SHE WILL FALL MADLY IN LOVE WITH THE FIRST PERSON SHE SEES. (Nudges Paris) SO GET OVER THERE!

Paris walks over to Helen.

Helen: I KNOW THIS MIGHT SOUND STRANGE…BUT…BUT I… I LOVE YOU!

Paris: I AM PARIS, THE PRINCE OF TROY. YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL. LET’S RUN AWAY TOGETHER.

They run to another area of the classroom. Enter King of Sparta.

King of Sparta: HELEN, HELEN! I CAN’T SEEM TO FIND MY WIFE. HELEN, HELEN!

Group of males walk in.

King of Sparta: QUEEN HELEN IS NOT HERE. I FEAR SHE HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED. WE HAVE ALL TAKEN AN OATH TO PROTECT HER. WE MUST FIND HER AND BRING HER HOME TO SPARTA.

The men agree.

King of Sparta: WE WILL TRAVEL ON A THOUSAND SHIPS TO SEARCH FOR HELEN. WE WILL BATTLE HER CAPTORS. MY QUEEN WILL RETURN!

There could be a sword fight between the Greeks and Trojans (Greeks win!) …or…

Next Scene: King of Sparta and tired men.

King of Sparta: THIS WAR HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR TEN, LONG YEARS. WE CAN’T SEEM TO GET THROUGH THAT HUGE WALL SURROUNDING TROY.

Odysseus, King of Itheca: I HAVE AN IDEA. WE CAN TRICK THE TROJANS INTO OPENING THE GATES. HERE’S HOW: WE’LL BUILD A GIANT WOODEN HORSE. IT WILL BE HOLLOW WITH A TRAP DOOR UNDER ITS BELLY. THE BRAVEST GREEK SOLDIERS WILL CLIMB A ROPE LADDER, GO THROUGH THE TRAP DOOR AND HIDE IN THE HOLLOW HORSE. THE HORSE WILL HAVE A SIGN ON IT DEDICATING IT TO THE GODDESS ATHENA. THEN WE WILL PRETEND TO SAIL AWAY…DEFEATED.

ONE MAN SHOULD STAY BEHIND TO CONVINCE THE TROJANS THE HORSE IS A GIFT FOR ATHENA.

WHEN THE TROJANS DRAG AND PUSH THE GIGANTIC WOODEN HORSE THROUGH THE GATES…OUR SOLDIERS WILL COME OUT OF ITS BELLY, DEFEAT THE ENEMY AND SAVE QUEEN HELEN.

Aphrodite: AND THAT’S HOW THE GREEKS WON THE TROJAN WAR. I STILL HAVE MY GOLDEN APPLE…BUT IT WASN’T WORTH IT. MOST OF THE TROJAN LEADERS LOST THEIR LIVES AFTER THE SURPRISE ATTACK FROM INSIDE THE WOODEN HORSE. I DID SAVE QUEEN HELEN DURING THE TERRIBLE BATTLE. SHE WAS REUNITED WITH HER HUSBAND, THE KING OF SPARTA. THEY SAILED BACK TO GREECE…TO LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

The End

Teacher Note:

This play is a combination of myths and legends. Myths were stories about divine beings or ways to explain things before we discovered scientific facts about nature. Legends are based on history. We know there really was a Troy, a city in what we now call northwest Turkey. This city was destroyed in about 1200 BC. The story of the Trojan War is from the ancient Greek poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Bibliography

D’Aulaire, Ingri and Edgar. Book of Greek Myths, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc.,

1962.

Hamilton, Edith. Mythology, Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes, New York: the Penguin

Group, an authorized reprint of a hardcover edition published by Little, Brown and

Company, first printed by Meridian, 1989.

Larousse World Mythology, edited by Pierre Grimal, New York: Prometheus Press, 1965.

Translated by Patricia Beardsworth from Mythologies de la Méditerranée au Gange and Mythologies des Steppes, des Iles et des Forệts.

Low, Alice. The Macmillan Book of Greek Gods and Heroes, New York: Macmillan Publishing

Company, 1985.

Aasen, Joanne L.; Jeff Payne; Jana Seely, HearstCastleTour II Training Manual, Revised

in 2008. (Original 1998 version by Sandra Heinemann and Vicki Kastner.)

Heinemann, Sandra; Kastner, Vicki. HearstCastleBasic Training Manual for Tour I,

Revised January 15, 1998.