A BUSY day of events was held at Haslemere Educational Museum during half term, linked to the British Museum Spotlight Loan Troy: Beauty and Heroism.

There was a family event exploring the use of red and black-figure pottery, and how many of the pots depict beautiful goddesses, such as Aphrodite and Helen, as well as heroes, such as Herakles and Achilles. One of the younger visitors, aged four, who was inspired by the theme of heroes, drew Captain America on the pot that he created, creating a very contemporary parallel to the hero Achilles.

In the afternoon, the museum held an Opera South workshop for eight to 12 year-olds.

Professionals from the world of opera ran the workshop.

This introduction to opera included details about what opera is, practical voice exercises and the opportunity to learn about the Trojan War through listening to arias referring to Troy sung by the Opera South singers.

To cap off the day, the evening saw an Opera South production of arias associated with Troy and the themes of beauty and heroism.

Education officer Kay Topping said: “The evening was quite magical with the wonderful operatic voices filling our lecture hall – especially fitting as the room was once the music room when the building was a private house.”