Olympian Plays: A Comprehensive Introduction to Greek Mythology Written in Television Script Form - Hardcover

Raguso, Viola M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0961967404 ISBN 13: 9780961967406

Publisher: Olympian Plays, 1989

Synopsis

Most people think of the immortals nd mortals in Mythology as staid and remote individuals, as remote from them in character as they are in time. But if one reads Mythology as a panarama of life, then the personages become very personal.

For example, Zeus is the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, but he is also a father who loses his very own son and is helpless to do anything about it. Aphrodite is the Goddess of Love, but she is also a victim of love in her tragic liaison with Adonis. Hermes is the con artist of Olympus, yet he is helplessly entrapped by Aphrodite's charms. Apollo is the most beautiful of the gods, but he has great difficulty in winning the hearts of young virgins. Mythology is replete with these kinds of ironies, which in most books are lost in the tapestry of people, places and events.

For this reason I have chosen drama as the format to present a comprehensive introduction to Mythology. I believe drama is the perfect vehicle to draw the parallels and to focus on the ironies of life that are present in Mythology. I have further used a simplified television script format to bring Mythology closer to the modern reader.

If in some particular life situation, a reader recalls a similar event in Mythology and identifies with it, my plays will have served a useful purpose.

About this title

About the Author

I am a retired high school English teacher and taught Greek Mythology. I am currently working with an agent to pitch a television series called WOMAM IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

From the Inside Flap

Once upon a time in ancient Greece there was a heaven called Mt. Olympus and a hell called Hades. In between was a place called earth. Surrounding them was a mighty Ocean. The immortal god Zeus had sovereignty over all, but his eminent domain was Mt. Olympus. Hades, Zeus' brother, ruled over his namesake, and his other brother Poseidon had dominance over the Ocean. The mortals inhabited the earth.

Both the immortal kingdom of Zeus and the mortal habitation of earth lay on cornerstones of betrayal. Zeus betrayed his father, the Titan god Cronus. Cronus likewise had betrayed his father Uranus. Cronus got the throne from his father without a struggle, but Zeus had to do battle with Cronus for his throne.

It was a mighty battle, and the tide did not turn in Zeus' favor until a fellow Titan of Cronus betrayed him. That fellow Titan was Prometheus who went over to Zeus because Cronus would not follow his advice in battle. It was sound advice and had Cronus listened, he might have defeated Zeus. But he didn't listen, and Zeus defeated his father. Zeus confined his father and the other immortal Titans to Tartarus, the lowest reaches of Hades, where they no doubt are bound to this very day. Prometheus later left Mt. Olympus ;to found his own race on earth. He needed the fire of Olympus to do it. Zeus would not give the fire to him, so Prometheus stole it.

Upon such shaky cornerstones rested the immortal race on Mt. Olympus and the mortal race on earth. OLYMPIAN PLAYS uncovers some of the consequences.

Edition details

• Publisher: Olympian Plays
• Publication date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0961967404
• ISBN 13: 9780961967406
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 636