THE PLAY OF QUEEN ARTEMESIA
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Females: Narrator
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Males: Captain
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Narrator: The Greek kingdom of Halicarnassus was located on the coast of Asia Minor, now known as present day Turkey. Around 490 B.C. the king died and left his young widow Queen Artemesia to rule the land.
Come with me now as we join the queen who has just begun her reign in Halicarnassus.
Mira: I am so excited. I just know that Queen Artemesia will make a good ruler. She is so intelligent.
Memnos: She also comes from a noble family.
Lara: And she is so kind and beautiful as well.
Doria: You should see how the queen has decorated the palace. It is simply spectacular.
Captain: Bah! This is idle talk. A real test of a ruler is if they can make tough decisions.
General: I agree. How will she deal with the Lemnians for instance. Those barbarians have raided our villages and robbed our travelers for too long. Will Queen Artemesia have the stomach for war with these rascals or not? I bet she'll turn out to be too soft for such duties as the battlefield.
Nike: You shouldn't be so negative, general. You should at least give our queen the chance to prove herself. It is your first duty to serve our kingdom.
General: True. But is my duty to point out that it is lunacy for a woman to rule. Mark my words as soon as our enemies, hear that we have a queen instead of a king, we'll have a full scale war shoved down our throats that this little lady can't handle.
Penelope: Quiet, here comes the Queen now.
Artemesia: My general and my captain, I have looked over your plans for a siege of Lemna. But I have decided to reject it. The walls of their city are quite sturdy and they have huge supplies. It would be too costly of an undertaking to try and risk.
Captain: But my queen, we must lay seige to these scoundrels. They will not come out for an open battle, and we can not tolerate their piracy of our ships any longer.
Hoplite: And their thievery on the overland trade routes is costing us a fortune.
General: The Persian Emperor Xerxes has refused to deal with these barbarians. A seige is our only choice.
Artemesia: I'm afraid my decision is final. We will not waste our resources on a seige. But I do have an unexpected plan for dealing with the Lemnians.
Creon: What do you propose, noble Queen?
Artemesia: General, I want you to bring all your officers to the palace this afternoon. My royal dancers will begin teaching them some dance steps.
General: You must be joking!
Artemesia: I am quite serious. And you, captain, please bring your top twenty sailors to the palace kitchen. They will start taking cooking lessons this very day.
Captain: Cooking lessons? How on earth does this fit in with your plan Artemesia?
Artemesia: Next week, we will hold a huge feast on the highway just outside of Lemna. There will be music, dancing, games, and all sorts of delictable meats and breads.
General: Good heavens! You want us to throw a party for our worst enemies? Why don't we just invite the Lemnians to come down to our city? Then we can hand over all our money and possessions, too. I refuse to lead my soldiers in any such foolishness.
Artemesia: Then you are dismissed as general and I shall take charge of the army myself. If you wish to have any position in the army of Halicarnassus, then you will learn to dance. Captain, do you or any of your officers wish not to participate in my plan?
(They whisper)
Captain: You are our ruler, and we have all agreed to serve you to the best of our abilities.
Artemesia: Good. Then I will expect you this afternoon at the palace. (exit)
(People Murmur)
Talos: Good grief! This is a terrible turn of events. What the queen plans to do is absurd.
Philippia: This is certainly an unusual way of dealing with the army and navy.
General: Unusual! Why this is total insanity. What do you folks think about our ruler's glorious reign now?
Xenias: I am quite uneasy. I'm not too confident that she can deal with the Lemnian war lord, much less handle the powerful Persian emperor.
Pyrrha: I must admit, I am surprised at the queen's decision. I can't see how this can aid our country's protection at all.
Captain: Cooking lessons for our navy! This is worse than I ever imagined. This queen will be the ruin of our glorious land. We will be the laughing stock of all Greek cities and will soon be total servants to our vilest enemies.
General: At least you still have control of the navy. If I want to be even a common foot soldier, I've got to go dancing. I told you that a woman would have no idea how to rule.
Hippias: Well gripping about it is not going to get us anywhere. I guess there's nothing else we can do but go to the palace and obey the queen's wishes.
Mira: Well we have never stopped the Lemnians from stealing from us despite many battles. I know that what Queen Artemesia suggests may sound strange, but there may be more than meets the eye to her plan. I believe we should trust in her wisdom and do the best we can. (curtains)
Narrator: So Queen Artemesia worked with her army and navy and one week later she held a magnificent feast just outside the fortified city of Lemna.
(DANCE)
(Enter Lemnians)
Lemnian Warlord: Aha, this queen has turned the mighty people of Halicarnassus into a bunch of wimps.
Pylops: Quite true my lord.
Teresea: They're as harmless as pack of lap dogs.
Xeno: Why I believe our old enemy the captain has become a gourmet chef. Maybe we should call him Cookie from now on.
Deimos: And general you are such a cute dancer. I guess we'll have to call you Twinkletoes from now on. (They laugh)
Lemnian Warlord: Well lads, Halicarnassus will soon be ours. The jewels, the food, the clothing, the farmlands all under our control. And these weaklings will make great slaves. Why I think the queen will be my on personal maid. How cute she will be on her hands and knees scrubbing my bathroom floor or wadding through the mud to slop my pigs.
Artemesia: Noble friends show the warlord how we shall serve him. (pull swords)
Soldier 1: Your robbing days are over you fiend.
Soldier 2: We're not the tame lap dogs you thought.
Soldier 3:Your evil days have come to an end you scoundrels.
Archer: You'll notice you are surrounded.
Captain: (knife to Lemna's throat) If you don't surrender, you'll find out that I can butcher lots better than I can cook.
General: And I will be glad to dance on your grave.
Lemnian warlord: Drop your weapons lads or we'll all be dead.
Artemesian (points): You will notice that your soldiers on the road have been completely surrounded by my army that was hiding in ambush. And the gates of your city have been seized. If you don't agree to my surrender terms, then in just a few minutes your army will be slaughtered and your city will be burned to the ground.
Lemnian warlord: What terms do you for our surrender Queen Artemesia?
Artemesia: First of all your city will pay 300 talents of silver to make up for all that you have stolen from us. Next every citizen in Lemna will give up their weapons. Finally you agree to allow one of my generals and a garrison of soldiers to be placed in charge of your city.
Lemnian warlord: We will agree to all of your terms, great Queen, if you will spare our lives.
Artemesia: I will grant you that. Now guards take away the former ruler of Lemna and his henchmen. We will decide what sort of jobs for them to do later. (exit guard & prisoners)
Mira: Dear queen, your parents rightly named you after Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. For years we have fought with the Lemnians without much success. By your craft we have captured our enemies without the loss of a single life.
Artemesia: Thank you for speaking so kindly.
Captain: I am ashamed to have ever doubted you Queen Artemesia. You are indeed a wise and noble ruler. (he bows)
General (kneels): And I beg for forgiveness, for speaking out against. You are truly a worthy leader. I pledge to serve you in whatever way you choose. Dear Queen I believe you will be one of the greatest rulers in all Greece.
Artemesia:I believe you would best serve our kingdom by taking your place as a general again. No one would do better than you as general and governor in charge of the garrison here at Lemna.
Thera: Citizens of Halicarnassus, raise your swords in salute to our Queen.
All: Hail to thee, Queen Artemesia!!!
(curtains)
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