Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Pyramus & Thisbe: Another Greek Tragedy




This couple is typical of the Greek stories: it ends in tragedy. But then, so do half these stories. Here is there upsetting and tragic story of Pyramus and Thisbe:


Pyramus and Thisbe were the best-looking youths in their town of Babylonia. They were in love, but their parents forbid them to see oneanother and built a wall to seperate the two. Everyday, they would sit, cursing the wall for seperating them. One day, a crack appeared in the wall and allowed them to speak to eachother. They planned to meet oneanother at a certain mulberry tree in their town. That night, Thisbe left and went to the tree, and Pyramus was not there. She sat down and waited, wearing a veil. Suddenly, a lioness with a bloody mouth from it's latest kill came up to her. Screaming, Thisbe ran off, and the veil fell onto the ground, and the lioness began to chew on it.


Pyramus, who had been delayed for awhile, came and saw lioness departing and the bloody veil on the ground. Pyramus was horrified and upset because he believed Thisbe had died because of his delay. He grabbed the veil, clutched it to his chest, and stabbed himself with his dagger.


Thisbe was coming back to the tree, still terrified but not wanting to disappoint Pyramus. When she arrived, she saw Pyramus's lifeless body laying beneath the tree. Thisbe screamed at him to awake, but he was dead. Thisbe, disraught with grief, grabbed Pyramus's dagger and stabbed herself. As their blood ran, it reached the tree and turned the formerly white berries red, and they have been that color ever since.

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