124
See also: Apollo and Daphne 60–61 ■ Echo and Narcissus 114 ■ Cupid and
Psyche 112–13P
yramus and Thisbe grew up
neighbors in Babylon. They
fell in love, but their parents
forbade the union; the two were not
allowed to meet or even talk. Only a
chink in the wall between their two
houses allowed them to whisper
sweet nothings, and each kissed
the wall on their own side to wish
the other good night. Eventually,
they decided to sneak out at night
and meet under a mulberry tree
outside the city walls.A tragic twist
Thisbe arrived first, but she was
terrified by a lioness, fresh from a
kill, who came to drink at a nearby
pool. Thisbe ran into a cave, her veil
slipping from her shoulders. The
lioness pounced on the veil, ripping
it to shreds and staining it with
blood. When Pyramus arrived to
find the bloody veil and paw prints
in the sand, he believed that Thisbe
had been devoured. Weeping, he
stabbed himself with his sword; the
blood gushed out from his wound
and stained the mulberry tree’s
fruits a dark purple.When Thisbe crept back and found
Pyramus dying, she took his sword
and killed herself, begging that the
pair, kept apart in life, should be
united in death. Her dying wish
was that mulberries forever retain a
bloodstained hue to commemorate
their love. The gods granted this
wish, and their parents buried the
lovers’ ashes in a single urn.
The tale of Pyramus and Thisbe
had a lasting influence, inspiring
both Shakespeare’s Romeo and
Juliet and the play within a play
in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. ■EVEN DEATH
SHALL NOT
PART US
PYRAMUS AND THISBE
Jealous wall, why
do you stand in the
way of lovers?
MetamorphosesIN BRIEF
THEME
Tragic loversSOURCE
Metamorphoses, Ovid, 8 ce.SETTING
Ancient Babylon (modern Iraq).KEY FIGURES
Pyramus A handsome
young man from Babylon;
in (forbidden) love with his
neighbor, Thisbe.Thisbe A beautiful young
woman; forbidden from
meeting with her love,
Pyramus.US_124-125_PyramusThisbe_and_PhilemonBaucis.indd 124 01/12/17 4:22 pm
125
See also: The Olympian gods 34–39 ■ Numa outwits Jupiter 104-05J
upiter and Mercury once
visited the hill country of
Phrygia, both disguised
as mortal men. They went to a
thousand doors, looking for a meal
and a place to rest, and were
turned away a thousand times.
At last they came to the poorest,
most dilapidated cottage of all,
the home of an old woman, Baucis,
and her husband, Philemon, who
welcomed the two travelers inside.Gracious hosts
While Baucis set a fire, Philemon
gathered vegetables from his
garden, and together they provided
the best feast they could for their
guests. When the couple noticed
their flagon of wine was magically
refilling itself, they realized they
were entertaining gods. “This
wicked area will be punished for
its unkindness to strangers,” said
Jupiter, “but you will be safe.”
The old pair followed the gods
up a mountain, and looked back.
They saw the countryside flooded,
but their little cottage had been
transformed into a glorious temple.Philemon and Baucis asked to be
guardians of the temple, and also
to die at the same moment, so that
neither would be left alone.
The gods granted their wish.
One day, Baucis noticed leaves
shooting out from Philemon’s
body—and from her own. With
only time for a goodbye, they were
turned into an oak and linden tree,
intertwined in a single trunk. ■ANCIENT ROME
THOSE WHOM
THE GODS CARE
FOR ARE GODS
PHILEMON AND BAUCIS
IN BRIEF
THEME
Gods reward deserving
mortalsSOURCE
Metamorphoses, Ovid, 8 ce.SETTING
Phrygia, ancient Greece.KEY FIGURES
Jupiter King of the gods; god
of the sky and thunder.Mercury God of commerce,
communication, travelers, luck,
and trickery; one of the 12
major Roman gods.Philemon and Baucis A poor
cottage owner and his wife,
who were spared when the
gods flooded their part of
Phrygia to punish the people.Philemon and Baucis humbly offer
fruit, cheese, and wine to Jupiter and
Mercury in this neoclassical painting
by Andrea Appiani or a member of
his circle in Milan (ca. 1800).US_124-125_PyramusThisbe_and_PhilemonBaucis.indd 125 01/12/17 4:22 pm