Part Sixty--Heroes Quest: Mount Olympus and the Guardians of the Flame, part 4

THE EUMENIDES and CLOSING DAY

It has been said that Athens left the world two masterpieces of surpassing beauty: the Parthenon and the Oresteia, (Aeschylus' trilogy which concludes with The Eumenides).

THE EUMENIDES 
or The Kindly Ones

Our Latin class performed an abridged version of The Eumenides, which is the most consequential of all Greek plays. Why? because it lays out Western civilization's court system for determining the innocence or guilt of someone charged with a crime.

Our class learned the story ofThe Oresteia trilogy. The first two plays are Agamemnon and The Libation Bearers. J.K. Rowling quotes The Libation Bearers in the preface to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

We chose parts and practiced our play after Latin class every week. 

I worked a lot with the students, most of whom had never acted on stage. 

MURDER TRIAL

I thought it might be a good preparation for our play to attend a real murder trial. It was sad and educational. This was the first time any of them had been in a courthouse.

OUR PERFORMANCE

One of my students put together our program. 

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Priestess at Delphi............................................................Katy 

Apollo...............................................................................Bradley

Orestes, son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra............Michelangelo 

Clytemnestra as a ghost................................................Katy 

Hellish Fury......................................................................Giselle 

Horrid Fury.......................................................................Lorenzo and Katy

Hideous Fury....................................................................Zech

Athena..............................................................................Larissa

Athenian citizens............................................................Lorenzo

In the Eumenides, Orestes is tormented by the Furies as punishment for killing his mother Clytemnestra, which he did to avenge her murder of his father, Agamemnon, leader of the Achaean forces against Troy. The furies want to enact the ancient punishment of retribution.

The Hellish Fury, the Horrid Fury, and the Hideous Fury. Giselle was the Hellish Fury! 

Hounded by the furies, Orestes makes his way to Athena's temple to beg asylum.

Athena presents a new form of justice, a trial by peers. Orestes receives a trial on the Areopagus (the Mars Hill in Acts 17), with Athena as judge and twelve Athenian men as jury.

The prosecution, the Furies, speak first. Fury Giselle tells why Orestes should be punished. 

Apollo explains that Orestes deserves to be purged of guilt since Orestes killed Clytemnestra at his command to avenge his father's death. 

 After the arguments are heard, Athena tells the jury that they preside over the first ever murder trial in Athens. She urges them to be honest. She says that ever after this, Athens will be a beacon of civilization and justice, obliterating the eye for an eye system.

The votes are counted while Orestes awaits the verdict.

Orestes is acquitted. But the furies complain that the ancient justice system has been thwarted. They threaten to take revenge upon the city. Athena urges them to join her as patron goddesses of Athens, whom the people will worship and adore for their clemency. The Furies accept and bless the city, and thus become the Eumenides, the Kindly Ones.

 The students gave an entertaining performance, and they had a great time.

Afterwards the students enjoyed a Krispies treat temple I made for them.

CLOSING NIGHT

We ended school the same way we began, at our Greek temple. It was beautiful and balmy.
Our lovely moms all contributed much to our great year.

 A few parents and I performed a shortened version of the Greek tragedy, Antigone, doomed daughter of Oedipus. Antigone esteems her duty to God more than duty to a tyrant who disregards God's laws. I played Antigone and roped these parents into performing with me:

In my experience students like to watch their parents perform for them sometimes!

We sang our school song one last time.

Several dads dressed up for parts they were playing at various times that night. One of them asked Hal why he wasn't in costume, and he said that he had paid his dues many times. He should have had this photo to show them (John and Abigail Adams).

Giselle and the other students fulfilled the requirements to receive the American Heritage Award. Each mother customized the award for her children. Giselle memorized the first major section of the Declaration of Independence, etc., and earned a sword from me...

...as if she didn't have enough weapons. Her smile says it all!

I presented tee shirts to my Latin students which read: "Sure I could translate this for you, but then I'd have to kill you."

Later we wore these to Scandia for an end of year party.

Our Guardians of the Flame. An ancient "Greek" came forward to hand a torch with the flame of liberty to the "Roman," on the right. He passed it to the "Founding Father" on the left, who lighted all the students' torches (their own small flashlights), and gave them the charge to guard the flame of liberty! 

This was an amazing year! Giselle said it was her favorite year so far!

We learned the truth of the words of William Faulkner, 

"The past is not dead., it's not even past."