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Overall first place is awarded to Ishmal from Ark Boulton. Ishmal submitted a 6 page reimaging of the Orpheus & Eurydice myth, recast as the ‘tale of two devoted sisters who dedicated their time and life for each other’, Evanthia & Gianna. The judges were incredibly impressed the effort put into this work & its quality, praising Ishmal for adapting this myth into a different kind of love story. Seeing a woman enter the underworld was another brilliant adaptation to the myth.
The award for Most Innovative Response goes to Lucy & Izzy from Haybridge High School. The girls created their own board game, following the life of Prometheus’s creatures complete with detailed rules & cards. The judges awarded this entry for two reasons – first, it's the first time a board game has been submitted, also because it's the first response to think about the life of the creatures!
3rd Place is awarded to Ibrahim from Ark Boulton Academy for his response to the myth of Prometheus. The judges praised the descriptive language of this piece of writing, particularly the opening line – ‘In the snow-capped jagged mountains lived a man known as Prometheus’. It’s easy to imagine a bard singing a line like this 2,000 years ago to his ancient audience.
1st Place is awarded to Kesavan and Daksh for their depiction of the myth of Prometheus. This pair created a comic strip for the myth, which the judges praised for its detail and effort. The judges particularly liked that an accompanying poster had been created and put up around the school, with a QR code to allow everyone to access their work. We felt that this really got to the heart of this competition, the belief that Greek mythology should be learnt and enjoyed by everyone.
3rd Place is awarded to Lucy and Noella from Hadley Learning community for their creation of a Trojan horse! The judges really enjoyed this entry. Everyone has a different idea of what the mythological horse may have looked like, and it was lovely to see how these students imagined it. The judges praised the use of household materials to make this entry – noting that it was a modern version of the ancient story, where the Greeks had to re-use parts of their own ships to build their ‘gift’.
First place goes to Florence from Camp Hill Girls. Florence produced a cardboard lyre, covered in a cartoon storybook written in Latin. The judges praised how the viewer left in no doubt as to what has happened, even if they don’t understand Latin! The sides were made to look like a staircase, depicting the path Orpheus took on his journey. The back of the lyre shows the death of Orpheus & his eventual – & thankfully permanent – reunion with his beloved wife.
Sarah from Ark Boulton produced a literary response to the myth of Pandora. The judges praised the build-up of suspense and the descriptive language of this story, particularly ‘the box laying against the misty air. Its intricate carving started to sparkle’.
Literary Response Category: 3rd Place
Seren from Bristnall Hall academy submitted a lovely short story retelling the myth of Persephone’s return to the surface world. The judges admired the descriptive language of this story, and particularly enjoyed her opening line – ‘The hope that comes with Persephone’s arrival is like no other’.
Most Innovative Response
Charlie from Lawrence Sherrif composed and played a three-part percussion movement in response to the myth of Actaeon. The judges were incredibly impressed by this submission – not only for Charlie’s musical talent, but also for the time and effort that producing this work must have taken. Creating three movements really emphasised the different parts of this myth, and the judges loved seeing something that was completely new and innovative.
Winning Response
Imaani from Camp Hill Girls created a rotation wheel depicting the myth of Persephone. There were a number of reasons why the judges loved this entry in particular. We admired the idea of using a rotation wheel to slowly reveal the different seasons of the year, although our favourite detail was designing the wheel to look like a pomegranate. We thought this was a very imaginative way to interpret this myth, and was a fantastic way of clearly demonstrating how essential a pomegranate was to the wheel of the year.
Artistic Response Category: 3rd Place
Megan from Haybridge High School made a clay piece depicting the myth of Persephone. The judges were incredibly impressed by the complexity of this piece, and admired how every surface had been used to depict the different stages of this myth. We were already amazed by the front view, and when Megan turned it around we couldn’t believe that there was even more to discover!
Video Response Category: 3rd Place
Kesavan from Lawrence Sheriff school produced a line drawing video of the Arachne myth. The judges enjoyed the similarity between this entry and the silent films of the early 20th century, and noted how the fast pace of this retelling is particularly effective in taking the viewer on a rollercoaster of emotions.
Video Response Category: 1st Place
Micah from Laurence Sheriff produced a retelling of the myth of Persephone. The judges were incredibly impressed by the time and effort that had been spent on this entry, and really enjoyed the attention to details in this work. A particular favourite was the depiction of the crack in the earth, and the falling pomegranates depicting the passage of time.
Video Response Category: 2nd Place
Akshara and Jaish created a stop-motion animation version of the Gigrantomachy for their entry. The judges loved the combination of the ancient myth with modern figurines and music, and admired the effort that went in to creating this piece. We also noted the thought that had gone into ‘casting’ the characters (if you know enough about children's entertainment there are clear family groupings!), and in particular seeing Zeus played by Olaf.
Entry 3 from Trentham Academy was a video response to the Theseus and the Minotaur myth. The judges noted the innovative use of figurines for this piece, and found it particularly amusing that the beautiful princess Ariadne was portrayed by Miss Piggy.
Sam from Bristnall Hall Academy produced an artistic response to the ancient Greek creation story. The judges loved that Sam had used a grey material to create this piece, which exactly reflects how the Titans are described in this tale – ‘strange grey beings, their skin craggy and furrowed like rock that has been worn away by the weather’. An ingenious way of bringing this myth to life.
Yasmin from St Matthews also created an artistic response to the myth of Lycaon. The judges admired the attention given to the wolf’s fur, and the sense of texture and depth that it gave the image.
Most Innovative Category
Rory, a Year 7 student from Bristnall Hall Academy, created his own website in order to (in the words of the website) ‘show the magic, elegance and beauty of Greek Mythology). It includes sections dedicated to the myths of Daidolos and Ikaros, King Midas, and Theseus and the Minotaur. The judges thought that the inclusion of ‘Inferences and morals’, which encourages the viewer to consider the deeper meaning of these myths, was a particularly interesting idea.
1st Place, Media Response Category
Lizzie, a Year 7 student from Haybridge High School, produced a media response to the Daedalus and Icarus myth. Her stop motion was beautifully done, and the judges were incredibly impressed with the time and effort that must have been involved in creating this piece. The judges thought it was a great example of how words and not always needed to make a story clear, and compared it to ancient depictions of myth through images.
Jasmin from Bristnall Hall Academy created an artistic response to the myth of Medusa, intended to represent the true personality of Medusa. The judges particularly liked what we identified as a feminist interpretation of this myth. Medusa being blindfolded in the painting was a lovely link to Lady Justice.
Aiden and Samarpaul from Bristnall Hall Academy produced an original rap about Icarus. The judges really enjoyed seeing the pupils take something that they are clearly very passionate about, and use this in their response. The judges noted that rap as a form of storytelling is a type of descendent of the oral storytelling’s of the Greek myths, and thought it was lovely to see a modern twist to this ancient tradition.
Freya from The Rawlett School submitted a media response to the Icarus and Daedalus myth. The judges praised Freya’s ability to create an engaging and emotional drama with only a small number of figurines, and thought the extended depiction of Icarus’s fall was particularly moving. The use of music from Ridley Scott’s 2000 film Gladiator was very much enjoyed, and was felt to add another layer of emotion to this tragedy.
Arachne – Esme V – The Bewdley School