Greek Tragedies
Greek Tragedies Teaching Unit

Greek Tragedies

Drama Teaching Unit for Year 9 (6 Lesson Plans)

This teaching unit introduces three women in Greek Tragedies - Hecuba, Medea and Electra. It examines the form of the Greek Tragedy and the key elements of Greek Theatre as well as exploring the strengths of the female characters. It includes three monologues for each of the women, with the students developing scenes based on their relationships with other characters.

Each lesson plan has clearly stated objectives and learning outcomes. They are structured to include introductory warm up, development and plenary sessions. A homework task is also included.

Greek TragediesTooltip

The teaching unit contains 6 drama lesson plans.

  • Lesson 1: Electra
    Introduction to the first tragic character, through readings of a monologue and improvisation based on this.

  • Lesson 2: Greek Chorus
    A key element of Greek Theatre, the chorus is assembled with the students creating and using their own verse.

  • Lesson 3: Introducing Medea
    Medea’s actions are scrutinised in a spontaneously improvised court room scene, helping the students empathise with her plight.

  • Lesson 4: Introducing Jason
    Exploration of the relationship between Jason and Medea with and without speech and neutral masks, followed by chorus development.

  • Lesson 5: Hecuba from The Trojan Women
    Mime and thought tapping of students as they imagine themselves as Hecuba, with groups tasked with capturing this in a written lament.

  • Lesson 6: Assessment Lesson – Helen and Hecuba
    Performance and evaluation of a scene between the Torjan women, using mime, narration, a neutral mask and thoughts aloud.

Supporting materials include

  • Electra Monologue
  • Medea Monologue
  • Medea Plot Ooutline
  • Hecuba Monologue
  • Neutral Mask

Additional resources are included in the appendices

  • End Of Unit Self-Assessment Form

The teaching unit is supplied as a PDF file, readable on most computers.