Eight Brief Tales of Lovers
Jessica Hair
Bradley Gaines
Pyramus and Thisbe
o Lovers from a very young age
o Longed to marry, but were forbidden
o Finally one day agreed to meet that night at the
Tomb of Ninus, under a tall mulberry tree full of
snow-white berries
o While waiting for Pyramus, Thisbe spots a lioness
and fled from the tree dropping her cloak in the
process
o Pyramus shows up and sees the bloodstained shreds
of the cloak and the tracks of the lioness
Pyramus and Thisbe
o Pyramus came to the conclusion that Thisbe was
dead
o Knowing he could not live without Thisbe, he
plunged his sword into his side, his blood dying the
berries red
o Thisbe comes back to find Pyramus dying under the
tree
o She finds his sword fallen from his hand
o Knowing he killed himself for her, Thisbe plunged the
sword into her heart
o The lovers blood staining the berries of the mulberry
tree
Orpheus and Eurydice
o Orpheus, a great mortal musician, savior of the
heroes, and most importantly, a lover
o Lived a simple, careless life, until he met Eurydice
o She couldn’t resist the power of his song and they
got married
o Not long after the ceremony, Eurydice was stung by
a viper and died, and Orpheus was overwhelmed
with grief
o He journeyed down to the underworld to save her
o At the sound of his lyre all that vast multitude were
charmed to stillness
Orpheus and Eurydice
o No one under his spell could resist him anything
o They gave Eurydice back to him on one condition: he
couldn’t look at her until they reached the upper
world
o As they made it to the top, he turned too soon and in
an instant she was gone
o He tried to go back down and get her but was not
allowed in the same way – the only way in was
death
o Maenads in a frenzy, ripped the singer to shreds and
placed his limbs in a tomb at the foot of Mt. Olympus
o To this day, the nightingales sing sweetly there
Ceyx and Alcyone
o These two loved each other and were never apart
o A time came when Ceyx had to make a long journey
across the sea
o Knowing all the dangers, she begged him not to go
o The ship sank and he died
o Alcyone knew something happed and she went to
the shore where off in the water she sees his dead
body
o Instead of sinking into the waves she was flying over
them, as she changed into a bird
Pygmalion and Galatea
o Pygmalion was a woman hater, but the statue he
made and devoted all his genius to was that of a
woman
o He fell deeply in love with this woman
o At the feast day of Venus, he dared to ask the
goddess only that he find a maiden like his statue
o Venus turned the statue into a real human woman
and even graced their marriage herself with her
presence
o All we know that happened after this is that he
named her Galatea and their son Paphos
Baucis and Philemon
o One day, Jupiter and Mercury descend to earth in
disguise in order to test the hospitality of the people
o No one is kind to them except an old couple, Baucis
and Philemon, who are very poor
o Revealing themselves, Jupiter and Mercury drown
the rest of Phrygia’s inhabitants in a flood and offer
Baucis and Philemon any wish they desire
Baucis and Philemon
o Baucis and Philemon merely ask never to live apart
from one another
o The two live to a very old age, when the gods
transform them into two trees –a linden and an oakgrowing out of a single trunk
Endymion
o Endymion is a handsome young shepherd loved by
the moon, Selene
o Selene casts a magic sleep over him so that she can
visit him whenever she wants
o Night after night she visits him and covers him with
her kisses
o Although her passion only brings her a burden of
pain as he cannot return the love back
Daphne
o Daphne is a beautiful nymph that Apollo loves
o She runs away from him but he pursues her all the
way to the waters of her father, the river god Peneus
o Daphne finds her arms harden and twist as father
turns her into a laurel tree
o Apollo proclaims that the laurel will forever be his
sacred tree and that they will be joined together
wherever songs are sung and stories are told
Alpheus and Arethusa
o Arethusa, a beautiful young Greek huntress and a
follower of Artemis would have nothing to do with
men
o One day after an exhausting hunt, she came to a
crystal clear stream and decided to take a swim
o Frightened when she feels something in the water,
runs into the forest where the voice of the unknown
told her that he was Alpheus, the god of the river
o Arethusa called out to Artemis, and the goddess
answered by changing her into a spring