Characters
Choose the character you will play.
For another Greek myth, read “Pandora’s Box,” about the famous box that was opened—and changed the world forever.
Art by Allan Davey
Play,
The Snake-Haired Monster
Everyone she looks at turns to stone. Can Perseus defeat this terrible monster?
By Spencer Kayden
From the May/June 2023 Issue
Learning Objective: Students will read an adaptation of a classic Greek myth and identify the character traits of a hero.
Complexity Factors
Guided Reading Level: P
DRA Level: 34-38
Featured Skill:
Character,
Other Key Skills: genre, setting, vocabulary, cause and effect, plot, sequence of events, problem and solution, visual literacy, text features, inference, interpreting text, connecting to the text, explanatory writing
Standards
Storytellers 1 and 2 (S1, S2)
King
Danae (dih-NAY), mother of Perseus
Perseus (PER-see-us), a brave young man
Advisers 1 and 2
Crowd, to be read by everyone
Hermes (HER-meez), a Greek god
Athena (uh-THEE-nuh), a Greek goddess
Gray Sisters 1 and 2
Medusa (muh-DOO-suh), a Gorgon, a type of monster
Scene 1
S1: Our story takes place in ancient Greece.
S2: A good woman named Danae and her brave son, Perseus, live a quiet life.
S1: One day, the king finds Danae in her garden.
King: Danae, I could choose anyone to marry me. But I choose you.
Danae: Well, I do not choose you.
King: How dare you refuse me!
S2: He draws his sword. Perseus runs out.
Perseus: Do not threaten my mother!
S1: The king lowers his sword.
King: You will be sorry . . . both of you.
Scene 2
S2: At the palace, the king talks to his advisers.
King: If Perseus were gone, I could convince Danae to be my wife.
Adviser 1: He is eager to prove he is brave.
Adviser 2: Send him on a quest! One that he cannot come back from.
King: I have an idea!
S1: The king announces he is marrying a different woman.
S2: He throws a party to celebrate.
S1: The guests bring fancy presents.
King: Perseus, what gift have you brought me?
Perseus: Gift?
King: Are you so lazy that you couldn’t find a gift to give your king?
Perseus (angrily): I am not lazy. I will bring you whatever you want!
King: Then the gift I want is . . . the head of the Gorgon Medusa.
Crowd: No! Medusa is a terrible monster!
Adviser 1: Instead of hair, she has live snakes on her head.
Adviser 2: Anyone who looks into her eyes turns to stone!
S2: Perseus glares at the king.
Perseus: As you wish.
Danae: My son, it is too dangerous! Everyone who has tried to kill Medusa has failed.
Perseus: Then killing her will make me a hero. My name will be remembered forever.
King (to himself, smiling): No, fool. You will die and be forgotten.
Scene 3
S1: Perseus searches over land and sea for Medusa, but she is impossible to find.
S2: One night, a god and a goddess come to help Perseus.
S1: It’s Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war!
S2: And Hermes, the messenger of the gods!
Perseus (bowing): I am honored.
Hermes: We come with gifts to help you on your quest.
Athena: Take my metal shield for protection and my magic blade to cut off Medusa’s head.
Hermes: But don’t look at Medusa’s eyes, even after she’s dead.
Athena: Her eyes can still turn you to stone!
Hermes: Take my winged sandals too. Use them to fly home after your quest.
Perseus: Thank you! Where can I find Medusa?
Athena: You must ask the mysterious Gray Sisters.
Hermes: Follow us.
S1: They lead Perseus to a cliff by the edge of the sea.
Athena: We have brought you to the entrance of their cave. Now you must go alone.
Gods and Goddesses
In ancient Greece, people believed there were many different gods and goddesses. Each god and goddess had a special power and purpose. Athena (drawn here) was the goddess of wisdom and war. She often helped heroes like Perseus.
Scene 4
S2: Perseus enters the Gray Sisters’ cave.
S1: The two sisters are old and hunched, with wrinkled, gray skin.
S2: They are blind except for a single eye, which they share by handing it back and forth to each other.
Gray Sister 1: Give me the eye.
Gray Sister 2: You just had it!
Gray Sister 1: Well, I want it again.
S1: Sister 2 removes the eye and hands it to Sister 1.
S2: Perseus creeps closer.
Gray Sister 2: I heard something.
Gray Sister 1: It’s only the wind.
Gray Sister 2: I want to see for myself. Give me back the eye!
Gray Sister 1: Fine, here.
S1: Sister 1 plucks out the eye. As she turns to hand it to her sister, Perseus grabs it.
Gray Sister 2: Where is it?
Gray Sister 1: I just gave it to you.
Gray Sister 2: But my hand is empty!
Gray Sister 1: Then who has it?
Perseus: I, Perseus, have the eye!
Both Gray Sisters: Give it back!
Perseus: Tell me where to find the Gorgon Medusa.
Gray Sister 2: Never!
Perseus: Then I will throw your eye into the sea.
Both Gray Sisters: Nooooo! We’ll tell you where to find Medusa.
S2: The sisters whisper in his ear.
S1: Perseus returns their eye and leaves the cave.
Scene 5
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Medusa The Monster
This is a statue of a Gorgon, a creature in some Greek myths. Gorgons have snakes for hair and turn anyone who looks at them to stone.
S2: Perseus arrives at Medusa’s cave.
S1: There are statues everywhere—statues that used to be humans.
Perseus (to himself): How can I cut off Medusa’s head if I can’t even look at her?
S2: Perseus sees his reflection in Athena’s shield. It gives him an idea.
Perseus: I can use the shield as a mirror!
S1: Perseus creeps backward into the cave. He uses the shield as a mirror to see behind him.
S2: Medusa is sleeping. As Perseus nears, the snakes on Medusa’s head begin hissing and twisting.
S1: Medusa’s eyes fly open.
Medusa: Aaaaah!
S2: Still looking at the reflection, Perseus raises the blade and swings it behind him.
Medusa: Nooooo!
S1: Medusa’s head rolls away from her body.
S2: With his eyes closed, Perseus shoves the head into a sack and flies away with the winged sandals from Hermes.
Amazing Heroes
Greek myths often tell the story of a hero. The hero must go on a quest, a difficult journey to achieve something great. This drawing shows Perseus, near the end of his quest, as he walks backward into Medusa’s cave.
Scene 6
S1: Perseus flies home where he finds his mother scrubbing floors in the palace.
Perseus: Mother, what are you doing here?
Danae: You’re alive! The king is making me clean because I still won’t marry him.
Perseus: I thought he was marrying someone else.
Danae: It was all a lie to get rid of you.
S2: The king enters.
King (shocked): Perseus? How is this possible?
Perseus: I have a gift for you.
S1: Perseus holds out the sack.
King (laughing): You have Medusa’s head?
Perseus: Yes. Would you like to see it?
King: Of course I would.
Perseus (whispering): Mother, don’t look!
S2: Perseus looks away as he lifts Medusa’s head from the sack.
S1: The king’s eyes widen in shock. At once, he turns to stone—his face frozen in horror forever.
S2: Perseus puts the head back in the sack.
Perseus: You’re safe now, Mother.
Danae: My son, you have destroyed a monster with a monster. Your name will be remembered forever!
Think and Write
In what ways is Perseus a hero in this play? What traits help him complete his heroic quest? Answer in a paragraph, using details from the play and text features.
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Can't Miss Teaching Extras
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Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Table of Contents
4. Differentiate and Customize
Striving Readers, Multilingual Learners, Advanced Readers
1. Preparing to Read
Set a Purpose for Reading/Preview Text Features
- Instruct students to study the title, subtitle, and illustration on pages 24-25. Ask them to describe the illustration and predict what the play will be about.
- Call on volunteers to read aloud the Think and Read box on page 25 and the Think and Write box on page 29.
Introduce Vocabulary
- The play does not include definitions of vocabulary words with the text, but a Vocabulary Skill Builder online previews seven challenging words (threaten, convince, glares, quest, hunched, plucks, and horror). You may also play our Vocabulary Slideshow.
2. Close Reading
- Storyworks 3 plays provide a perfect opportunity for students to build fluency.
- Remind students that the stage directions tell a reader or actor how to say a line or perform an action in the play. Point out the words angrily and to himself, smiling on page 26. Read the dialogue aloud with appropriate expressions or actions. Ask students to repeat after you.
- Project or assign the Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking Questions. (Alternatively, assign all or part of the Learning Journey Slide Deck.)
Close-Reading Questions
- Read Scene 1. Why does the king threaten Danae? The king threatens Danae because she refuses to marry him. (cause and effect)
- Read Scene 2. How does Perseus act like a hero when the king asks him to kill Medusa? Perseus acts like a hero by showing he is not afraid. He decides to risk his life and kill the terrible monster, even though everyone else who has tried to kill Medusa has died. (character traits)
- Read Scene 3. How do Athena and Hermes help Perseus on his quest to kill Medusa? Athena gives Perseus a magic blade to cut off Medusa’s head and a metal shield for protection. Hermes gives Perseus winged sandals so he can fly home. Then they lead him to the entrance of the cave where the Gray Sisters live. (plot)
- Read Scene 4. What happens after Perseus threatens to throw the Gray Sisters’ eye into the sea? The Gray Sisters tell Perseus where to find Medusa. (sequence of events)
- Read Scene 5. What problem does Perseus face when he arrives at Medusa’s cave? How does he solve it? Perseus must cut off Medusa’s head without looking at her. To solve this problem, he uses Athena’s shield as a mirror so he can see behind him. This enables him to kill Medusa without being turned to stone. (problem and solution)
- How does the drawing on page 29 show what happens in this part of the play? The drawing shows Perseus walking backward into Medusa’s cave. He is holding Athena’s shield and using it as a mirror to avoid looking directly at the monster’s face. (visual literacy, text features)
- Read Scene 6. Why does the king agree to look at Medusa’s head when Perseus lifts it from his sack? The king agrees to look at Medusa’s head because he thinks Perseus failed in his quest to kill Medusa. (inference)
Critical-Thinking Questions
- At the end of Act 6, Danae tells Perseus that “you have destroyed a monster with a monster.” Why does she believe that the king was a monster? Danae believes the king was a monster because he treated her and Perseus so cruelly. When she refused to marry him, he lied and said he was marrying someone else. This was part of his plan to send Perseus on a quest to destroy Medusa because he thought the horrible monster would kill him. When Danae still refused to marry him, the king made her clean the palace to punish her. (interpreting text)
- Look at the illustration on page 26 and read the caption. Would you like to read other Greek myths in which Athena helps heroes like Perseus? Explain your answer. Answers will vary. (connecting to the text, text features)
Class Discussion: Beyond Appearances
- In the play, Tala does something unexpected: She treats the Chenoo with kindness and respect, even though he looks frightening. Have a discussion with your students about how appearances can be misleading. Ask them to think of a time when they expected something (or someone) to be a certain way because of how it looked. Was their first impression accurate? Invite them to think about why it can be important to look beyond appearances.
3. Skill Building and Writing
Featured Skill: Character Traits
- Distribute or digitally assign the Character Traits Skill Builder.
- Ask students to write a response to the Think and Write prompt on page 29.
Differentiate and Customize
For Striving Readers
To help striving readers understand the plot, play the audio of the story as students follow along in their magazines. Pause at the end of each section to discuss what happened, and together write a one- or two-sentence summary. As a bonus, you could also ask students to think of one word to describe Perseus after each scene.
For Multilingual Learners
Many of the words related to Greek mythology may be unfamiliar to your multilingual learners. Start by reviewing the vocabulary slideshow. Then read through each scene of the play and ask students to circle any of these words that are unfamiliar. Together, look up images of these words. Ask students to guess their meanings. Then review the definitions together.
For Advanced Readers
Ask students to look up and read a myth about another Greek hero, such as Jason, Hercules, or Theseus. Ask them to compare that hero with Perseus. What traits do the two heroes have in common? How are they different? (Instead of asking students to look up another myth, you can direct them to The Monster in the Cave, a play that tells the story of the Greek hero Odysseus.)
Text-to-Speech