The Odyssey - Grades 8-12 - Digital Assembly Learning Guide

Sep 28, 2026

BOXTALES THEATRE COMPANY Digital Assembly Learning Guide focuses on Homer’s Odyssey for students in grades 8-12. It introduces the company’s mask, movement, storytelling, and live-music approach and explains how the program uses theatrical techniques to deepen understanding of Western literature. Program goals emphasize plot mastery, character and location knowledge, analysis of traits and socio-political situations, and familiarity with “The Hero’s Journey.” It also connects ancient Greek culture to democracy, war and peace, and encourages further mythology reading and arts engagement.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

About the Artists

About the Program

Program Goals

Preparation for the Program

BOXTALES THEATRE COMPANY DIGITAL ASSEMBLY LEARNING GUIDE The Odyssey Grades 8-12 About the Artists BOXTALES THEATRE COMPANY uses masks, movement, storytelling and live music to present myths and folklore from around the world. Performers Matt Tavianini, Jeff Mills, Joanne Lubeck, Jenny Sauer-Klein and Michael Andrews combine their diverse talents to create a professional, high energy, highly interactive theatrical experience for youth and family audiences. About the Program Homer’s Odyssey has been called one of the most important stories of Western civilization: over and over the Western imagination has returned to the story of Odysseus, the sea-bound warrior, and his ten-year journey from the terrible Trojan war to his home in Ithaca. The Odyssey has influenced some of the greatest artists in Western history: Dante, Goethe, James Joyce, the Coen Brothers in our day, have all used the Odyssey and its characters to build their own works of art, finding the story a fruitful vessel to explore their own cultural milieu. Boxtales’ The Odyssey, directed by renowned director Peter Lackner, with masks and puppets designed by Ann Chevrefils, costumes designed by Lesley Finlayson, and lights designed by Jon Retsky, brings this marvelous and vital story to life on stage with a vast array of theatrical techniques and spectacular visual elements, in the belief that our understanding of our own times can be enriched through this ancient and timeless story. Boxtales’ The Odyssey combines a wide variety of performance methods, blending acrobatics, circus arts, shadow-puppetry, stilt-walking, movement arts and ritual forms, and a wide variety of instrumentation, to create a work full of spectacle and surprises. At the same time, it effectively tells the eternal story of a man coming home from a world of war to a world of peace, and the journey that transforms him, as well as the story of those left behind: his son who must grow up without a father and his wife who tries to protect their kingdom and who longingly awaits his return. Program Goals The overall goal of our program for the Odyssey is to give students a deeper understanding of this classic work of Western literature and how it illuminates the human journey. Specifically, by the end of their time with us, the students will: 􀁸 Have a firm grasp of the plot and be able to tell the basic story from memory. 􀁸 Know the names of the main characters and locations. 􀁸 Be able to identify character traits, attitudes, and socio-political situations that are true both in the story and in our present-day society. 􀁸 Become familiar with the concept of “The Hero’s Journey,” Joseph Campbell’s term for the basis of hero tales from antiquity to our times. 􀁸 Identify with the character of Telemachus (the archetypal teenager who is initiated into adulthood) and be able to express how their own lives are like or unlike his. 􀁸 Have an overall impression of ancient Greek culture and how our current notion of democracy and individual freedom was invented by the Greeks. 􀁸 Be able to link the idea of war and peace in Homer to our own notions of war and peace in the world today. 􀁸 Be inspired to seek out and read more mythology from all over the world. 􀁸 Be inspired to become active in attending performing arts events. 􀁸 Become advocates for the arts. Preparation for the Program When we think of Greek culture today, we think most commonly of the Greece of the Hellenistic period, which was at its height in the 5th century b.c. This is the period in which the philosopher Plato wrote his works on love and the soul, the sculptor Praxiteles carved his miraculous marble figures, and the great playwrights of the tragedies competed for honors at the Festivals for Dionysus. The Hellenistic period saw the birth of democracy as the most reasonable form of government, and the development of the legal system, with the new idea of trial by a jury of peers rather than blood revenge a

FAQs

What teaching outcomes does the Odyssey program target for grades 8-12?

Students learn the Odyssey’s plot and characters, can identify character traits and relevant socio-political situations, and gain familiarity with “The Hero’s Journey.” They also connect themes like war and peace to contemporary life.

How does Boxtales The Odyssey bring the story to life on stage?

It blends multiple performance methods—masks, movement, storytelling, live music, and techniques such as shadow-puppetry, acrobatics, and stilt-walking—along with specially designed elements like puppets, costumes, and lights.

What background topics does the guide include before the program begins?

It reviews Greek cultural ideas across historical periods, discusses Homer and the Odyssey as an epic poem, and outlines the Mycenaean Age and connections to later stories such as the Trojan War.

Sep 28, 2026

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