Olympus
Director / Writer Notes & Longer Synopsis

For those who have seen Olympus and want to know more about the nitty-gritty, we offer these director notes. Here we look at

—why the scene is in the play, and what it serves
—the character development going on,
—song notes,
—Easter egg-esque esoteric parts of the show that might escape an audience member on first viewing, and
—an addendum section looking at the different verse / speaking pattern each god has, and why it’s there.

We recommend -not- reading this before you see the Olympus. A show’s first viewing should stand on its own, and I believe the experience is richest for those first-time viewings when audience members know little to nothing about what is to come. That said, feel free to peruse at will.

— Torsti Rovainen, Writer/Composer/Director of Olympus

Preview

The main arc of Olympus came to me while camping in the Wallowa Mountains. I asked myself, what would living on Olympus feel like from Aphrodite's perspective, if most gods assumed she was shallow, dumb, or flowery because she was the Goddess of Love? That night I wrote Aphrodite’s main song The Me Inside, and the musical unfolded from there.

The play has three main sections:

- In the beginning third we meet the major players in the story via the demigod students having sessions with each god. We also get a picture of Aphrodite's relationship with the other gods: most does not respect her, and especially not Zeus. Aphrodite is not entirely shut down, but does not speak up against her treatment.
- The second section begins and propels the main action of the play: a demigod student Hero steals Poseidon’s trident, it in turn stolen by titans, and a war seems to be coming between the Olympians and the titans. Aphrodite is commanded to go to the titans as a bride to stop this war, but she refuses, and leaves Olympus. The gods send another god instead, Zeus threatens to kill Aphrodite for her actions, but some force inside her breaks his resolve. He still vows war on the titans.
- The final section follows Aphrodite and Hero's dangerous quest to avert the war. They sneak into the titans' land in disguise, but when that proves fruitless, they brave the journey to Hades (from which none have returned) to in attempts to free a fallen titan. Aphrodite's success and new-found presence and self-confidence result in her returning to Olympus, and becoming a valued member of the council.

First Section—getting to know the gods

Opening Scene—Museum

The museum scenes (opening and closing of the play) gives audiences two snapshots of the gods, the difference at the end that they have seen Aphrodite and Zeus' evolution, and (we're guessing) now feel differently about them and the other characters in the play. We have two teenagers in the museum to spark sympathy and antipathy towards the greek characters. Having these teenagers commenting on the gods give the audience a reference point—does it feel differently to them when the teens make fun of Aphrodite after they've gotten to know her during the play?
The two teens (and their mother in the final scene) also speak in a manner different from all the characters throughout the rest of the play: while the teens speak in normal modern speech, every single line in the rest of Olympus save one is in verse. The effect we're shooting for is that while the main section of the play feels a bit dreamlike, the museum bookends bring the audience back to today's more real if unromantic reality.
Repeat viewers might note that when looking at the ‘statue’ of Hero, flanked by two of Hades’ servants, the teens say ‘Hero—who the heck was Hero?’ ‘Sorry buddy, no one remembers you,’ a theme Hero explores throughout the play: she wants her name to be known by the gods and remembered for all time, and her actions stem from this wish.

The museum also serves as an opportunity for a ~90 second prologue: once the characters 'awaken,' we show action that happened prior to the play’s beginning: Zeus' breach with the titans, Hades' departure from Olympus (he takes Persephone, Demeter then also leaving), Poseidon's departure, and Aphrodite relegated to a place of lowest honor on the council.
It isn’t happening in this production, but in the archetypal vision for this musical, each of the 12 major deities has a different-colored banner / flag representing them on the Olympic council, forming a semi-circle around the gods and behind them. When Hades and Poseidon leave / are cast out, they take their flag with them, signaling their departure, leaving only 10 banners and two notable empty places. Demeter also has left Olympus, but for her it’s from mourning for her daughter, not a breach with Olympus itself.
This flag / banner motif comes forward again at the end of Act I, where Aphrodite has finally had enough of Olympus mistreating her: she vows to leave Olympus, and removes the banner to signify this departure. We also note that at the end of Act II, both Aphrodite and Poseidon have their banners back on Olympus, but similar to those newspaper what’s-the-difference pictures, while Hades’ banner was there in the first museum scene, it is absent in the final one, showing that he still rules in Hades, and is done with Olympus.

Olympus—song

In the song Olympus we meet all 12 major greek gods, and find out the gods and the titans are in high conflict, each group blaming the other for the rift. We also briefly visit Hades' underworld, a taste for when we return there near the end of the play, Hades' dark spooky lair a stark contract to the brightness of Olympus, however troubled it might be. In that scene all cast members double as servants of Hades, a symbol that all of us will have an eventual meeting with death, whoever we might be; Hades might be talking to the audience when he finishes his section with ‘See you soon—here on the Other Side’
Musically we are introduced to Aphrodite, Demeter, and Hades’ themes as counterpoints to the main tune of Olympus. Hades’ song (two lines of which are song by his servants) has a rhymescheme that repeats eight times: each couplet rhyming with the first

‘In your life you might have been king;
but see now you tremble inside;
The vanquished dreams that you cling to;
will soon be cast aside’ etc.

Without having to think about new rhymes during the song, the effect we’re shooting for is slightly hypnotic.

Also in Olympus Zeus and Poseidon have a short duet. Inspirations Theater veterans might recognize a musical motif from Oberon’s part in Quartet from our musical version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This similarity was accidental rather than intentional; but once I consciously noticed they were in the two plays, they both felt rooted / part of the show, and I’ve decided (at least for now) to leave them as they stand.

Opening Council

This scene establishes that the gods have business they need to work on together, some dry (the naiad-dryad conflict) and some serious (the titan menace). We find that the Olympians (as with many groups) don't always agree, and can be impatient with each other. Aphrodite's contributions are usually ignored or shunned, especially by Zeus and Ares, and her few allies on the council rarely speak up for her; and while Zeus values some input from the council, more often than not he hurries things along and believes he makes the final right call on issues.
We also find that the titans blame the Olympians for the dying of their lands, that no food is growing. This stems from Demeter's departure, and not doing her duties as goddess of agriculture. Aphrodite volunteers to go treat with Demeter, but Zeus forbids it, saying she would just make things worse.
In this scene we build the intensity but also ambiguity of the Olympus-Titan conflict: who is to blame? How did it start? How much of this ire is based on fact, how much surmise, how much bitterness, and how much racism, and how much sheer habit (“Of course we hate the [Olympians/Titans); we’ve always hated the [Olympians/Titans!])? As we explore the this conflict in later scenes, audience members will make their own call. We consider this analogous to people, clans, and nations who have come to hate each other (rightly or wrongly) because of the perspective and viewpoint they themselves carry, and not necessarily who the supposed antagonists are or what they’ve actually done.
Those familiar with Olympic stories of Zeus’ prowess as a Don Juan might note Athena’s admonishment to all the gods (but aimed at Zeus) ‘No fights—and no seductions.’

To Be A God—song

We then meet the student demigods, who we'll follow for some time. They are tasked with learning what a god is supposed to be, and most of the gods get one or two lines emphasizing what they think is important. Since the gods don't agree on what is best to teach the demigods, they split their instruction time, leading us to individual classes with some of the major gods. We note that the gods do agree that the titans are the enemy and share this with the young impressionable demigods, all but insuring another generation of separation, xenophobia, and war.
Musically the To Be A God theme comes back in Act II in the song We Need A Bride, and its words are echoed briefly in Zeus’ song The Pain You Hide.

School Songs—songs
Each god now gets a short time with the students, and the audiences gets a better feel for Athena (wisdom), Artemis (hunting), Hypnos and Morpheus (sleep and dreams), Hephaestus (blacksmithing), Hermes (speed and courier) and Hera (lore of the gods, though she is officially the goddess of marriage). Some of them sing, and the mood of each song is meant to evoke the feel for that god / goddess.
The school scenes might remind us of our own school days—each teacher having their own rules; some classes interesting, some boring, some intimidating; and a sense of rushing from one place to another without always understanding the overall point of being in school, or feeling you're never quite good enough to live up to your teacher's (or your own) expectation. The students then begin to imagine what they will do when they're older, and we meet Hero, a student with some ambition to make a name for herself.
Just before the Daedalus / Apollo class, all the students sing a sort of prologue song to Hero’s main theme Remember Me. This song ends up having four versions, and studious audience members will note that each time Hero sings the line ‘they’ll all remember me when I’m gone’ the emphasis / mood is different: here in the prologue version, she’s trying on the idea for size; in Remember Me proper, she’s decided on it, but not yet overly ambitious; in the 1st reprise, she is triumphant and energized, and in the final reprise (once she’s been condemned to an eternity in the underworld) it’s a mixture of melancholy and acceptance as she reflects on her actions throughout the play.
In addition, the students serve a role of exposition for the audience: we’re reminded why certain gods left Olympus, the backstory on Poseidon and the Kraken, and Demeter’s departure and how that has affected both Olympus and the titans. The students also acknowledge that there are different versions / rumors floating around Olympus regarding the splits between the Olympians, the titans, Hades, and Poseidon.

Son Don't Fly So High—song

Here we meet Apollo (god of the sun) and Daedalus, father to Icarus; after overhearing the students talk about glory, they give them their cautionary tale of reaching too high too fast. Meant to be heartfelt and moving, this song is probably closest to a country song feel of any song in the ~five musicals I’ve written. Audience members might note that after seeing Apollo in the opening number Olympus (and the museum scene prior), this is the first time we meet him in the play—during the first council he was still in mourning for his son’s death, for which he blames himself.
The moral of this song is meant to be a subject of dispute: do we encourage or curtail our children’s ambitious dreams and ideas? This song seems to emphasize caution, yet taken too far, that strategy would (my two cents here) lead to stagnation.

School Song—Aphrodite

We then shift the focus to Aphrodite. Not for the last time in the play, someone on stage makes fun of her, in this case some of the students, with her overhearing it, and the audience getting to see how she chooses to react (and in this case, not confront the people who are speaking badly of her). Her school session with the students is interrupted by Zeus and Ares, the students taken away from her by force. Aphrodite stands up for herself briefly, but is shut down immediately by Zeus: we sense this dynamic has been going on for some time. Hera then comes to comfort Aphrodite, and we see Aphrodite (after some encouragement from Hera) express her outrage, a first step towards her eventual self-liberation. She vents about Zeus, and asks Hera how she puts up with it (Hera being married to Zeus).
After using Hera’s speech pattern, we note Aphrodite’s speech pattern changes here to her archetypal speech / verse (longer flowing verse, sometimes with double rhymes), rather than the times she is either echoing those around her (submission) or mirroring those around her through empathy.
Musically we echo Aphrodite’s theme from the opening number Olympus, a flowing counterpoint to Zeus’ brusque interruption tune. We’ll hear these two tunes come together again during the chief Zeus-Aphrodite conflict in Act II.

How I Still Love Him—song

Hera in this play is characterized as someone who cares about everyone, but doesn't always have the strength of her convictions or the courage to speak up. She has been silencing herself for so long that she doesn't always notice that is what is what she is doing.
This song gives the audience members a window into Hera's inner life—otherwise, she can appear as meek onstage (which she often is), and audiences might wonder why she puts up with Zeus’ sternness, bossiness, and bullying of those around him. In this song we hear why she married him, what she sees in him, and eventually why she stays with him even with all his faults. Uncomfortably, this song does hearken of domestic abuse, be that mild or strong, emotional or possibly physical—Hera never actually reveals the secrets of their marriage, though we see her reliving some form of pain.
When writing this song, I strove for the audience to be able to live into their own true feeling for Hera and her situation, be that sympathy for someone in pain, exasperation for her recognizing that she's in an unhealthy relationship but not leaving it, pity for the side of Hera that isn't strong enough to stand up for herself, and/or admiration for someone who stays in a committed relationship despite the challenges—other interpretations certainly valid as well.

Shorts before The Me Inside

We now see several interactions between Aphrodite and members of Olympus. One person avoids her, perhaps because he might feel talking with her would bring him down in the estimation of other Olympians. Another seemed to have had a brief relationship with her, but after promising her he'd figuratively call her back, never did. A child and Aphrodite are about to greet each other, but the child's mother pulls her away, as if Aphrodite is a dangerous influence; and finally, we see two Olympians who (we believe) might treat Aphrodite fine when they're in public, behind her back make fun of her, and assume she's a loose woman.
Different production companies / actors will have Aphrodite react to these in different ways based on what feels true to them, but the underlying picture we want to build is that
— this kind of thing frequently happens to Aphrodite from gods and Olympian commoners alike
— it’s been happening for a while
— Aphrodite is hurt and affected by this, but asides from her resilience, hasn’t found an effective way to either live with it or confront it (not a criticism of Aphrodite: perhaps many of us never do).

The Me Inside—song

How does it feel when you're objectified, or misunderstood? Primarily as someone presenting female (and sometimes for other genders), how does it affect your life when you’re constantly subjected by others to an unmeetable, ever-changing standard of prettiness / plainness: that if you wear clothes you enjoy, or put attention to your appearance (or even if you don't, and look a certain way), people will think you're loose, superficial, or stuck-up; and that if you don't, you can be accused of being dry, uninteresting, or invisible? Worse, that if people find you attractive, that is all they focus on, or think that because of your looks that you’re dumb or incompetent? Aphrodite feels she can't win—people make assumptions about her no matter what she does, and in this song we get a feel for her sense of overwhelm, loneliness, and heartache.
We also see that at this point in the play, she is still letting her opinion of herself be influenced by others. Sympathetic as we might be to her pain, and while we might wish others would treat her better and respect her for the gifts she has, we also might hope that she finds her own sense of self-worth, untouchable by those around her.
The main Aphrodite theme from this song will be echoed in a few reprises later in the play. Compare her emphasis on the repeated line ‘what do I try for?’ in this song and the later reprises: here (in my mind) it’s sad, beaten down, even weak; later, it’s disgusted, angry, and ready for change.
This is especially apparent in the mood of her final line in this and the other reprises, all of which end on the phrase ‘the me inside.’ Here, she ends with

‘Could someone, somewhere, someday see the me inside?’

almost begging to be seen and understood. In the 1st reprise she shifts to

‘Some day I’ll stand here strong and free, the me inside’

There, she is near to finding her own strength but not yet there, and although she appears determined at the start of that song, she loses her steam by the end—we’ll also note she uses the future tense: it’s not right now, but ‘some day.’ However, by the end of the first act, in the second reprise she makes the consequential decision to leave Olympus rather than be mistreated any longer. She echoes what she said in the first reprise, but there’s a shift from ‘some day’ to ‘From now on':’

‘From now on I’ll stand here strong and free, the me inside;
From now on I’ll always be / the me inside’


This echoes her new-found commitment not to take bullying from those around her; though since this song closes Act I, the audience doesn’t get to see her put to the test of this just yet.

Although neither are official reprises of The Me Inside, we hear this theme sung two more times. During the Aphrodite / Zeus conflict scene in act II, Aphrodite again sings

‘From now on I swear I’ll always be / the me inside

But we barely hear the final note as Zeus interrupts her. The final time we hear this theme is actually not Aphrodite but, surprisingly, Zeus—in his self-exploration song The Pain You Hide, he briefly considers how it would feel to be vulnerable and empathetic, and also reveals the great pain he has been carrying in his life. For three or four lines of his song, we hear the Aphrodite theme echoed, but as we will see, his tyrant side wins out, at least for now (fuller notes on Zeus’ song can be found later on, below)


Maidens from Athens

Heracles and Ares are speaking rudely, harassing, and without consent touching several (mortal) maidens from Athens. We don't know whether these women are here by choice, but we see Ares and Heracles treat them like objects, and assume that they'll be able to do whatever they want with them in bed, the maidens feeling they have no choice but to comply.
The scene is interrupted by the entrance of a group of other Olympic gods, and we see a range of reactions—Artemis and Athena's fiery condemnations, Aphrodite's consoling of the maidens, Apollo (presenting as a male) speaking up for women, and Hera's ambivalence—sympathy to the maidens, but also pointing out that if these women -want- to be with a man like Ares, however chauvinistic, that is their choice.
Later in the play there’s a parallel scene, this time in the Titans’ lands, but Ares and Heracles (disguised as bride / bridal attendant) are now the subject of harassment, though there amped up to more dangerous levels. While I don’t personally condone offenders / criminals having to experience what they themselves dished out, audience members are free to wonder whether these two might have any wake-ups / revelations once they’re on the receiving end of sexual harassment, bullying, and (speaking bluntly here) implied rape.

Ares & Heracles' class

We now resume the school scenes, this time swordfighting with Ares and Heracles. Ares pokes fun at Heracles at some of his 'great labors' (one of which was shoveling thirty years of manure, though we hear all twelve from the students in a bit of a tongue-twister), and they end asking the students what they'll be remembered for. For Ares and Heracles, this of course is conquests, war, and the like, and they go off arm-in-arm singing about war.

Those who have seen other Inspirations Theater productions might recognize the war tune. In each of our shows, we highlight / pay homage to / make fun of / sneak in a brief allusion to one of our other musicals—here, it’s the War Song sung by the Sultan and their gang in The Sultan, The Secret, and the Witch. If you watch our musical version of Midsummer Night’s Dream, you’ll hear a two line echo of ‘Slap On A Sash’ when the Athenian Mechanicals are debating how to make Flute (presenting male) appear as Thisbe.

Second Section—Hero arc, conflict with titans and within Olympus

Remember Me—song

We now enter the Hero arc of Olympus, with the action spurred by Hero and her desire to make a name for herself. After Ares and Heracles' class, Hero remains back with another student Cymone, and Hero decides the best way to impress the gods is by stealing Poseidon's trident. This, Hero reasons, will force Poseidon to come back to Olympus, and though Hero hasn't thought this through, she imagines then the Olympians will again make peace with Poseidon, and give the credit to her.
Cymone thinks this is a bad idea. How would Hero get the trident from Poseidon? How would Hero even make it under the ocean, seeing as she can't breathe underwater? And even if those work, the trident is guarded by the Kraken, the most powerful beast on the planet, and Hero would be no match. Cymone leaves; now on her own, Hero decides to get counsel from the Graeae, the three wise blind sisters of greek lore.

The Graeae—scene and song

We meet the Graeae, wise women who can tell the future and have some magic powers. They are blind, but have one eye they share between them to see (and one shared tooth to eat with, if we believe the myths; though we don’t usually stage that in our version of Olympus). We sense that while these three might appear strange, they aren't malevolent. It’s more like they are amused by what is going on and what will befall Hero should she try to steal the trident.
Hero is given a potion that will allow her to breathe underwater, a lyre that will put the Kraken to sleep, and two further gifts that she doesn't know the use of—a horn, and two obol coins. For audience members going to repeat performances, you might note that the Graeae were about to give Hero three coins, but correct each other to make it two. This concerns Cymone, who initially was part of the group (of three) going down to Hades, but gets captured by the titans on the way (leaving only two.

What In the World—song

While Olympus has some humor in it, the show does mainly focus on conflict and social issues. This song fits the story, but is 90% for fun. Hero is on her way through the ocean towards the trident, but wants to try to move like any other undersea creature. However, she sticks out; and a group of fish, crabs, starfish etc. attempt to figure out what this creature is.
For those doing productions of this play involving a large group of actors, multi-age cast members, or school groups, this song is a great way to weave in younger actors: they get to be in the spotlight for a significant but not overwhelming amount of time; the song works whether you have four undersea creatures or sixty, and it gives your costume creators / directors fun license to either encourage the students to move like a variety of sea creatures, make a few suggestive costumes, or go all-out with ornate seahorses, eels, starfish, and whatever else you want to conjure. There’s a basic simple version of the song, but also one with complex chorus parts for layering and complexity.
Audience members might find humor in the aged sea creatures’ speculation about what life it like out of the water, and the sea creatures’ reactions to this.

Poseidon and Amphitrite

This scene shows Poseidon and his wife Amphitrite in discussion. While thoughtful and reasoned, Poseidon blames Zeus for their rift. Amphitrite points out that Zeus might feel the same, and essentially tells Poseidon fine, stew in your own juices, but don't bore me with that repeated mood {some long term couples in our audience might recognize this dynamic}. Poseidon adopts a wait-and-see, but at least seems open to reconciliation with Olympus.
Poseidon was initially written to be a more logical counterpoint to Zeus’ emotion: while they both believe they’re right and can be intractable, Poseidon expresses this more with more outward calm and reason, while Zeus sputters or explodes. We see the foibles of both approaches: though Poseidon appears more mature in some ways, he is also perhaps more blind to his faults.

The Trident and the Kraken

It seems Poseidon has his trident while waking, but when he goes to sleep, he gives the trident to the Kraken for safekeeping. The Kraken is in a large cage, awake; but when Poseidon plays a particular song, the Kraken goes to sleep. It is then safe for Poseidon to enter and place the trident near the Kraken, and once safely away and the gate closed, Poseidon reawakens the Kraken.
Hero has watched all this from a safe distance, and now does the same routine in reverse to get the trident from the Kraken.

The Titans and Hero

Hero is on her way back to Olympus with the trident, feeling triumphant, We come across a small titan scouting party, and find out that the titans blame Demeter and the Olympians for their lands' crops not growing, adding to their rage. They discover Hero and take the trident from her, but she escapes before they can catch her. The titans hurry back towards their homeland with the trident.
While the titans are meant to be fierce here, and in some ways viewed as the antagonists, the hope is to present them as in a way neutral: they, just like the Olympians, believe that they were wronged by the other party, and are acting in their own best interests. They too have a variety of personalities—Menoetius and Perses mirror Ares and Heracles’ warmongering, Pallas is ambivalent like Artemis, and Metis serves as the titans’ sometimes overlooked peacemaker, corresponding to Aphrodite.

Hero pre-council and Olympic Council II; Me Inside 1st Reprise—song

Hero is now in a dilemma: does she tell the gods about the titan theft of the trident, which means revealing her part in it, and risk Zeus' wrath; or not say anything, at risk of the titans making war on the Olympians, and the greeks unaware of their new-found power?
Before she can decide, another witness has seen the titans with the trident, and we now fuse Hero’s arc back with the main group of Greek deities. In their council, Aphrodite makes motions for them to work this out diplomatically, but is shut down by Zeus and Ares, who again comment that her contributions are in the world of beauty, not for weighty matters such as this. Zeus decides to send Ares, Heracles, and Artemis out to retrieve the trident from the titans.
Aphrodite is fuming, as not only does she not enjoy being treated this way, she genuinely believes the path Zeus has chosen will lead to war, which will impact everyone. Hera comes to console Aphrodite, a short reprise of How I Still Love Him, but it doesn’t seem to help (if it ever did).
Aphrodite’s The Me Inside 1st reprise has a similar musical theme to the Me Inside, but the audience sees and hears the difference—while in the first song Aphrodite quoted the gods' 'You know your place' with sadness, now she says it with disgust; and while the Me Inside finishes meekly and despondently, here it looks like Aphrodite will finally tell the gods she is done with their treatment of her—however, at the very end she loses her conviction, and we sense her retreating back into submission.

The Titans with Ares, Heracles, and Artemis

The Olympians' war party meets the titans, and a fight ensues. Metis of the titans tries to prevent bloodshed, but a lead titan Menoetius falls at Ares' sword.

It seems the Titans and the Olympians have a joint pact, the honoring of which is deeper to them than any conflict: if either side spills blood other than in a time of declared war, the other side owes them a boon, which they must comply with. The titans say the Olympians must send them a bride in the next three days, and that it must be one of the twelve main Olympic gods, else there will be war. Meanwhile, the titans still have the trident, and gloat that they might just declare war anyway, but now with the power of the ocean and the Kraken at their command.

Third Council

With Menoetius dead, the titans with the trident, and war imminent, the council scene is tense. Zeus' idea is to go ahead and send the titans a bride, but secretly plan for war. When the inevitable question of who to send comes up, Zeus and Ares think it's a no-brainer: they'll send Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Worse, they command this as if she has no choice in the manner. Knowing the titans would treat a bride as a slave, Apollo speaks up for Aphrodite (with sympathy from Athena and Hera), but are themselves shut down by other gods and Zeus.

Aphrodite pleads one last time for diplomacy, but when silenced yet again, she puts her foot down and says she will not go as a bride. This is the first time she has refused a direct command from Zeus, and all are taken aback; but Zeus is so sure of Aphrodite's compliance, he repeats his demand, assuming Aphrodite will obey. He then takes the war party off to prepare, leaving Aphrodite alone on stage.

The Me Inside--2nd reprise

We revisit the Me Inside theme once again, but this time Aphrodite has had enough. Through with the gods not respecting her, she decides to leave Olympus, and from then on be true to herself. While the musical notes for the end of the song are almost the exact same as the earlier versions of the song, this one ends determined, steadfast, and ready for whatever is to come.

INTERMISSION

Zeus' Chambers; The Pain You Hide

We find Zeus brooding over the war situation. He and the other Olympians do not yet know that Aphrodite has left Olympus. Apollo comes to appeal to Zeus to rethink his decision to send Aphrodite to the titans, but Zeus does not relent, and Apollo walks off in disgust.
In the remaining dialogue and the song The Pain You Hide, we get a window into why Zeus acts the way he does—that from an early age, he was taught not to cry, and not to feel; that he believed he had to be decisive and unrelenting to get respect. He believes he has to act authoritarian in his position as ruler of gods, and that doing so will help protect Olympus.
However, by doing so he has built up a lifetime of pain and loneliness, as he feels he can never be seen as weak, indecisive, or vulnerable; that he doesn't have the luxury to play or be happy; and that he has no one he feels he can reveal any of this to or talk to.

In the song we see him consider changing his ways and finding a new path, but he ultimately decides that the only way forward is to be even more unyielding, and to punish those who defy him.
At his moment of greatest vulnerability, we notice Zeus’ song musically mirror Aphrodite’s soul-searching and pain from The Me Inside: both are feeling inner torment, even if they navigate it in very different ways. Zeus’ conclusion to the song echoes the earlier song To Be A God’s lyrics as it stays musically with The Me Inside. Zeus finishes with

’To be a god you can never be / who you are inside’

but rather than end on the tonic (as we do in the 2nd reprise), his final note and the accompanying chord sequence finish in a seemingly unresolvable dissonance.

[For the super-esoteric Inspirations Theater musical fans, you might notice the opening instrumental of The Pain You Hide is reminiscent of the opening to the song When We Were Young, which was in the 2010 musical version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream but not later versions]

4th Council

The titans are coming to claim their bride in two hours, but Aphrodite is nowhere to be found (she also didn't leave any indication as to where she was or why she was leaving Olympus). Given the situation, the gods decide they have no other choice but to send another Olympian in her place—but who to pick?

We Need A Bride—song

This song and the next one further the story but are mostly here for fun—briefly, the gods pick Ares as a bride-in-disguise to go in Aphrodite's stead, with Heracles as an attendant. In We Need A Bride, the gods alternately propose different deities as the bride-to-be. We hear the reasons they'd make good brides, then that god in question telling us why they wouldn't be the best fit, as -none- of them want to go as a bride to the titans. As we see, Olympus presents being a bride as gender-neutral, and anyone is fair game as a pick.

Eventually, Ares gets disgusted with all the banter, and says that he thinks a bride should be strong, brave—a warrior, really, as that bride might need to fight the titans. With all the gods beaming at him, and him being the best pick given his criteria, he realizes his error, but not before Zeus picks him as the bride they’ll be sending, and thanks him for volunteering. Heracles has been smugly watching this, enjoying his buddy getting put in this situation, but Zeus drafts him in as well as an attendant to accompany Ares.
Both We Need A Bride and its reprise are musical echoes of To Be A God; rather than discussing the qualities of a god, they’re exploring what a bride should be from different perspectives.

We Need A Bride Reprise / Slap On A Sash—songs

Now it's up to the gods to transform Ares into a believable bride. Through we hope what is humor and fun, they try to get Ares to be the type of bride that -he- thinks a bride would be—pretty, dainty, and submissive, while having before acknowledged among themselves that brides can really be anything they want to be.
After being visibly uncomfortable with all the lace, pearls, scarves etc. being draped around him, Ares, after seeing himself in the mirror, finds his own inner drag queen, and realizes he -likes- the glamour, ending the song in a splashy 1950’s Broadway-esque tribute to bling, with him announcing at the end with a flourish

‘Here, titans! Is your smashing bride!’

while the Olympians crow around him in amusement and a mix of mock and real celebration.

Sub-Council

Getting serious again, the council (now down to 7 deities, with Ares off to the titans and Aphrodite having left) is discussing what to do about Aphrodite's departure. Zeus has decided she must return and repent, or will be punished. After he leaves, Hera sends a god or two off to catch Zeus and hopefully calm him down.
Poseidon has by this time discovered his trident missing. He comes to Olympus vowing to fight with Zeus, as he believes Zeus stole his trident, and goes off to find Zeus, Hera again sending a god or two to try to avert the Zeus-Poseidon explosion.
Enter Hero, who finally confesses that she stole the trident in the first place—she is looking to tell Zeus, who is gone, so she goes to find him. Hera sends yet more gods to help prevent Zeus and now Poseidon from being too hard on Hero.
The scene ends with only Hera and Hermes left in the council, realizing everyone is now involved in the fighting, and that Aphrodite's skills for peacemaking would actually come in pretty handy right now.

By The Sea; You Never Saw Me—song

Aphrodite has chosen not to be on Olympus until the gods (and Zeus in particular) change their ways. They argue with each other both in dialogue and song, with specifically timed interruptions, the song You Never Saw Me and Zeus' interruption of that echoing the earlier Aphrodite student song and Zeus' taking of the students in Act I. This time, Zeus' anger has escalated to physical violence, and lets Aphrodite know she either obeys or dies. When she shows that she will not bow down to him, he is ready to end her life, which she decides to stand up to: she would rather die than continue the way things had been.
Something in her presence causes Zeus to halt, and despite his will, at that moment realize all the pain he's caused her and others through his words and actions. He breaks down in tears; and while Aphrodite's first instinct is to run, or to be angry at Zeus for all he's done to her, her highest self finds the strength to comfort him. Her silently handing him back his ruling staff is both a sign of forgiveness and that she still values him as a leader, but with a caveat: in the dialogue afterwards she lets him know what changes he needs to make, feedback Zeus is now open to hearing, even if it’s not going to be easy.
This conflict echoes the tension between the divine feminine and the patriarchy—that with enough love and tenacity, the grip of tyrants will cease, even though it might bring forth great pain along the way to get there.
Back in the story itself, in then come Poseidon and soon after Hero, and Zeus instinctually goes back into his temper and rage, Zeus and Poseidon restrained by the quickly-growing group around them, including Apollo, Hephaestus, Artemis, and Athena. Zeus’ anger is now tempered by well-timed looks from Aphrodite, reminding him of his new path. Zeus and Poseidon agree to work together to regain the trident, though still by means of war.
After the main group of gods leave to deal with war matters, Hero confides in Aphrodite that she stole the trident, and wants to make things right. Aphrodite, who is still convinced that they can avoid a war through diplomacy, makes a plan to seek out Metis of the titans, the titans' peacemaker, but must do so by going to the titans' homeland in disguise, as if they were discovered as Olympians in the titans’ land, they would likely be imprisoned, or worse. Demigod student Cymone joins the dangerous quest.

Third Section—Aphrodite takes the reins

Titans' Land

We find the titans readying for war, but several titans harassing Ares and Heracles (disguised as bride and bridal attendant). Ares and Heracles receive what they dished out in the Maidens from Athens scene, but five-fold, with the harassment and bullying becoming physical. While Ares and Heracles could likely defend themselves, they do not want to risk revealing who they are.
Meanwhile, Metis and Aphrodite are meeting, but Metis lets Aphrodite know that as long as Menoetius is dead, his brother Perses will not relent, and there will be war, and she sees no hope of a peaceful resolution.
The harassment of Ares and Heracles gets to a point where Cymone can not stand by while it occurs. She rushes over to defend the two, but her titan disguise falls off. She is immediately captured, the titans now enraged that the Olympians would send a spy. Aphrodite and Hero try to help Cymone, but Metis stops them, saying they'd only be taken prisoner as well.
With war now even more imminent, Aphrodite hatches one last idea—that they will journey down to Hades, the Underworld, to try to bring Menoetius back from the land of the dead, and it is hoped avert a war.

Demeter; Come Back Persephone—song

Aphrodite and Hero don't know the way to Hades, so they seek out the one person who does—Demeter, the goddess of agriculture. Since her daughter was kidnapped, Demeter has gone numb from mourning. She talks to people that aren't there, doesn't notice the world around her, and has let go of her duties as goddess of agriculture—nothing now grows on the lands. She now spends most of her time wandering the fields, singing the song she used to sing to Persephone.
Eventually Aphrodite is able to get Demeter's attention, and asks her to show them the way to Hades. Demeter refuses, believing that only death or worse could come from such a quest. Aphrodite sympathizes with Demeter, and asks about her daughter.
The song Come Back Persephone alternates between two main tunes. The faster one describes how things used to be with Persephone (the two of them playing in the fields), the kidnapping, and finally Demeter chasing Hades down to the River Styx, but too late to catch them. The slower one is the echo of the song Demeter would sing to Persephone at the end of the day, to welcome her back. The first time we hear it, it's the mood of how things used to be, the second when Demeter is worried but not aware of the kidnapping, the third on the edge of the river, begging for her daughter's life. The song ends with Demeter resigned to a lifetime of mourning, only singing the song to herself.
Aphrodite does persuade Demeter to help them and show them the way to the river Styx.

The River Styx; The Other Side—song

Demeter shows them the river, then leaves. This is the river of legend that is a bridge between the land of the living and the land of the dead. Aphrodite and Hero are now stuck though—they have no boat, and don't know what to do. Hero remembers the advice and gifts of the Graeae—a horn, which summons Charon, the ferryman of the dead, who comes to the shore by boat, and the two obol coins, which are their passage for the crossing.
As they go, Charon sings to them about what happens to people after they die. In some spiritualities, after death the playing field is completely leveled, and it doesn't matter if you were a beggar or queen: we are confronted with all the choices we made in life, and whether we wish to atone for them and move on. We can either let go of our lingering desires for material comforts, or stay in a sort of limbo, should we refuse to burn off any non-spiritual remnants from our time on earth.
His song has a similar sound to Hades, but its own distinct feel.

Hades

We now are in Hades proper, Hades in his throne room. We wanted Hades to appear commanding, but not necessarily pure evil, asides from his kidnapping of Persephone. He knows people look at him as the devil, but he believes he has a true and essential function: he creates a space for the dead to find their next step in their journey, and that it's really up to them whether they move on, or instead linger for a short or long time in what people refer to as hell.

However, he is amused, even condescending towards all those around him, and this includes Aphrodite when she enters. He refuses her request to release Menoetius, and for his own amusement brings Menoetius in to display. Since his death Menoetius has done nothing but rage (impotently, now that he is in Hades) about how he's going to bring destruction to all Olympians.

Aphrodite takes the sacrificial step to offer her life in exchange for Menoetius,' believing that if she can avert the war back in the land of the living, that is for the greater good. Hades is taken aback, but agrees; he releases Menoetius, but before Hades can bring his staff down on Aphrodite and condemn her to the Underworld forever, Hero jumps between them and receives the staff's blow. Hero is immediately taken prisoner in Hades, and Menoetius is released. Aphrodite begs Hades to take her instead and free Hero, but Hades says the staff's blow is final. We’ll note that the position Hero is in here (now prisoner in Hades) is the same one she has in the opening and closing museum scene.

Persephone, having witnessed Aphrodite's bravery and self-sacrifice, asks Hades to grant Aphrodite a favor, to be able to take one from Hades back up to the living. Hades agrees, but says it can not be Hero. Aphrodite picks Persephone, freeing her, but not before Hades gives her pomegranate seeds, which by legend, Persephone eats, forcing her to come back to the Underworld for several months each year; and from then on, in those months Demeter again goes into mourning, leading to winter and nothing growing during that time.

Transition back to the lands of the living

Menoetius' rage has been checked. He can not imagine why Aphrodite would sacrifice her life for his, especially when he is a sworn enemy of all Olympians. She responds that it was the one way she thought that could avert a war between the Olympians and the titans.
If you catch a production with the orchestral version, note the minor version of the Come Back Persephone tune—hopeful for the reunion of her and Demeter, but overshadowed by the prospect of war.

Battle Scene

The titans and the Olympians are now on a battlefield, ready for war. Their leaders Zeus and Rhea have one more talk, but neither is willing to back down. Just before both armies clash, Aphrodite enters between the two battles lines, begging them to halt, and find other ways to resolve the conflict.
Both sides now berate Aphrodite, and the two armies start to reconverge (several titans going straight towards Aphrodite), but Menoetius now steps in between the two sides. He commands the titans to stand down, and takes the trident from the titans and returns it to Poseidon, confessing that he had stolen it in the first place. Cymone is released from imprisonment and rejoins the Olympians.
He then lets both sides know that despite his years of victories in war, he now feels there is a higher calling, and that all could learn more from Aphrodite. When Zeus learns that not only did Aphrodite survive a journey to Hades and back, but also successfully brought Persephone back, he is flabbergasted, and both sides applaud Aphrodite and her accomplishments.
However, we still have the lingering problem of the Olympians having sent Rhea and the titans a false bride-in-disguise, claiming that it was Aphrodite. Hera and Zeus reveal this to the titans, reigniting Rhea's rage. She goes to Ares and lifts his veil, both sides ready to go back to war depending on her reaction, but we find she actually enjoyed her time with him, and that he was smitten as well. She calls him 'my god of love,' which he seems to revel in now. This is an echo and contrast to Ares' line at the beginning of the play in the song Olympus: then, he had mockingly said 'Who needs a goddess of love?’

Final Council

After a short scene where Persephone and Demeter are reunited, we come back to Olympus for a final council, with some noticeable changes: titans are now mixed in with Olympians; Poseidon is back; and Aphrodite is now in a place of honor on the council.
The council begins with a near word-for-word rehash of the first agenda item from the opening council, though the roles are reversed; and while we might remember the gods in the first scene dismissing Aphrodite's ideas, they now are looking to her for insight. This hasn't lessened their egos, though—when the second meeting item comes up, each puts in their two cents, but this time Zeus himself invites them to hear what Aphrodite their peacemaker / advisor has to say. The main change here is the relationship between Zeus and Aphrodite, now colleagues and friends (and in our version, father and daughter), while earlier in the play Zeus was a bully, even to the point of physical harm.
We finish with Ares and Athena acknowledging the changes in Olympus, and especially Aphrodite, and the action freezes with everyone looking to her. After they are frozen, Hades rejoins the museum tableau, along with Hero, flanked by two servants of Hades. If our craft is on, all the actors are in their exact places and poses from the earlier museum scene.

Museum End-Scene

With everyone frozen in place, we again meet the two teenagers from the first museum scene. The show Olympus has been successful if the grating, mocking modern language of these two teens is a stark contrast to the (we hope) elegant, flowing speech of the Olympians and the titans; and when the two again make fun of Aphrodite, them imagining that all the gods are looking at Aphrodite because she's 'hot,' we hope that the audience now feels awakened sympathy for her, even wanting to come on stage and tell the two teenagers a thing or two: after watching Aphrodite's struggle, heroism, and sacrifice, the audience might feel more allegiance with her, and would rise to defend her, perhaps in a way different than they would have during the museum’s opening scene involving these two teens making fun of her.
The teenagers' mother enters, cuts off the teenagers' clowning, and lets them know the story of Olympus that we've just presented. She speaks to Aphrodite's strengths, and the teenagers now seem interested in learning about this wise, courageous woman. We finish with one last (frozen) shot of Olympus, all the gods looking to Aphrodite for insight and leadership.

Speech and Verse

Asides from the teenagers, their mother (modern times), and one line from Charon, all the lines in Olympus are in some form of verse. The actors are in two main groups:
Ones who speak in several different ways (verse meters) depending on the situation, such as Ares
Ones who always speak in the same meter (or do so a large majority of the time), such as Demeter and Hera

An analysis of each character’s verse is beyond these director notes, but here is a sample of some of the different characters’ way of speaking, as well as a few meters shared by the general council or other groups.

Aphrodite
Aphrodite often mirrors the speech patterns of those around her, be that the general council or the person she’s talking to—for example, when she speaks with Hera sometimes she will use Hera’s speech pattern. However, her usual mode is a longer line, sometimes with a double rhyme:

Diplomacy should be our first course; at least try to end this peacefully.
If they’re defiant, only then use force—none then would die needlessly.


Hera
Hera occasionally uses the council verse, but usually has her own four-line short verse with an ABBA scheme:

Go gently on her, she’s just a child
Good Apollo, please calm him down:
He won’t act rashly if you’re around—
Tame him if his temper’s wild.


Poseidon
Poseidon speaks in an AAC BBC scheme, sometimes echoed by those around him. It is similar to the Graeae’s speech.

For now I’ll just keep silent. After all, I have my trident
And this underwater kingdom serves me well.
If the titans wage their war, I’ll bring the Kraken to their door;
Will it come to that? Time will tell.


The Graeae
These three sisters use a few rhymeschemes. Occasionally they use the Poseidon rhyme pattern (above) but sometimes an ABAB

P: Hand me the bloodworm and the scallions.
E: Shall we add some lizard tongue
Or the ears of a stallion?
D: I do like them when they’re young!


Apollo
Apollo usually speaks in the council meter; however, in his scene with Zeus he has his own rhymescheme. While the rhymes themselves mirror Poseidon’s (AAC BBC), the meter is more extended (lasts for two more ‘beats’ before resolving)

Eight then’d be left! No, seven! Know that it’s your dark obsession
That clouds your better judgment with foulness and spite.
You once had a heart inside. Show us that it hasn’t died.
Else watch the world we’ve made here fall to shadows overnight.


Demeter
Demeter has an unusual AAC __C scheme; Each line rhymes at the end, but the first part of her first lines rhyme as well.

Hades? Shades! My daughter writhes and burns;
Never to be mine again, never to return.

or

My brother. Another life he’d then have in his power.
Your body would be his, and your soul he would devour.

Hades
Hades’ rhymes are either an ABAB CDCD, or the usual AA BB CC etc. With both, his meter is distinct to him, different from the council or titan dialogue, with added emphasis on downbeats mid-sentence (even if they don’t rhyme).

ABAB CDCD
Menoetius! Our new arrival! Bring him forth to share the stage!
You wish for his revival? Wait until you hear his rage!
In a flash, he’d take your head—and more, if he had time.
But hear from him instead—here he is, caring and kind.

AA BB
I think not. These are the dead! What more could they ask for?
Here, they can redeem themselves. What would they go back for?
In the living world, they’re tempted every day by their passions,
By rich food, thirst for glory, by romance, or by fashions.


Persephone
Persephone only has four spoken lines in the play, but they have an AB AB rhythm distinct to her. While they mirror Hades’ ABAB section (showing her imprisonment in Hades), she has not entirely capitulated and still has her own voice.

Their actions have moved me, husband—grant me one boon;
Let her pick one to release back to the living.
Even if you do, then you know that soon
They will return here to Hades—show that you can be giving.


Zeus - Aphrodite
During their fight scene, Zeus and Aphrodite enter into a two-way meter where
1) the rhymescheme is AAAC BBBC with the A’s or B’s sometimes extended
2) They begin their line interrupting the one who has spoken before them, setting off a new chain.

(Aph:) Do you really care what I have to say? It seems that your decision’s made;
As long as you can get your way, and those around you act afraid,
No one else need speak, you’re always right!

(Zeus): Even now you dare to spite me? None have lived who dare to fight me.
Gods and goddesses, Aphrodite, cower and are meek before my might.

Everyone Else
All other characters speak usually in AA BB CC rhymes of varying lengths. Occasionally a group will mirror another rhymescheme—for example, when four titans are mocking and harassing Ares and Heracles, they mirror Poseidon’s AAC BBC scheme, though they then shift to the usual AA BB.

Council Meters

The council lines (be those in Olympus or in the Titans’ world are almost always an AA BB CC etc. rhymescheme. They vary from longer ‘normal’ rhythms, to triplet-time medium length ones to shorter, crisper speech.

Normal
Sometimes the council is in its business mode, with a longer, flowing rhymescheme

(Hera:) The naiads gave their solemn vow to leave the dryads be
Now their pools flood their roots, and their storms shake off their leaves.

Triplet feel
Here there is tension but not emergency energy

(Athena:) What matter is this, have you no restraint?
How dare you this sacred hall profane?
(Ares:) They are only mere mortals, why all this commotion?
Besides, they came to give us a god’s due devotion.

Hurried
At others, they are more direct, as when they are discussing the imminent conflict with the titans and what to do. Here, you can imagine it accompanied by a regular war drum.

(Ares:) ‘Tis not time for bedtime parley.
We need warriors, hale and hearty
To show the titans we won’t stand
Their theft or trespass in our lands.