The story of Pyramus and Theisba, a young man and a girl from Babylon, is very reminiscent of the plot of Shakespeare's tragedy "Romeo and Juliet". And although researchers believe that the English classic took the plot of Arthur Brook's poem as a basis, it is still obvious that Brooke took a story from Babylonian mythology as a basis.
The ancient state of Babylon was founded in the III millennium BC. This area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is famous for the Hanging Gardens of Babylon - the very ones that have become one of the wonders of the world. In a beautiful oasis, the feeling between Pyramus and Theisba was born.
Ovid's "Metamorphoses"
The story of Pyramus and Theisba became known mainly due to the lines that the Roman poet Publius Ovid Nazon (43 BC - 17 or 18) dedicated to her, who went down in history as simply Ovid, in his poem "Metamorphoses". In this work, the author has collected about 200 stories and legends, the plots of which are somehow connected with any changes, metamorphoses. Specifically in this episode, the mulberry berries change color - from white to blood red -.
Pyramus and Theisba lived in the beautiful eastern city of Babylon on the same street - in neighboring houses. There was no youth more beautiful than Pyramus in the city. And there was no girl more beautiful than Theisba. History has not told us why the parents of young people were so opposed to their union. But nevertheless, despite the fact that the families were separated only by a wall between the houses, Pyramus and Theisbe were not allowed to see each other. This is how Ovid wrote about it:
Over the years, love grew stronger; and a legal wedding would come, If not for mother and father; they could not forbid one, -
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So that in captivity of love their souls cease to burn.
There are no accomplices for them; talk with a sign, a bow;
The more they hide, the deeper the hidden flame.
The clay walls of Babylonian houses often cracked due to the sun burning almost every day. From the eyes of the vigilant relatives disappeared a thin crack in the wall that connected the bedrooms of the lovers. Through this hole, the girl and the boy communicated with each other, spending whole hours at the crack.
You gave your voice the way, and your tender confessions
In a whisper, barely audible, they reached you safely.
They often stood: Pyramus on the other side, Theisba on this side.
One by one, catching the breath of the lips, they said …
The wall connected the lovers and at the same time tormented them, preventing them from fully connecting. In the end, Pyramus and Theisba's patience ran out. And they decided to meet at all costs. The appointment was made outside the city walls, at the grave of King Nin, the wife of the then reigning Queen Semiramis. A mulberry tree covered with sweet white berries grew over the ruler's burial place.
Terrible misunderstanding
The first to reach the tomb of the king was Theisba. Wrapped in a dark cloak, she slipped out of the house, waiting for the moment when her family and servants fell asleep. The girl sat down under a tree and waited for her lover. The night was dark and terrible. And then Theisba heard a lion's roar. The girl turned around and in the light of the moon saw a lioness with a bloody mouth. The animal had obviously just quenched its hunger and was on its way to a watering hole. Frightened by the sight of the predator, the girl fled. Theisba flew to the cave, where she was able to hide. The beauty did not notice that she had dropped her cloak. The lioness, returning from the watering hole, in anger tore Theisba's cloak to shreds.
Meanwhile, Pyramus arrived at the meeting point. There, to his great horror, he saw not Theisba, but her cloak torn to shreds. Around - the traces of a predatory animal. The young man burst into tears, deciding that his beloved was eaten by a lion. He drew his sword from its scabbard and stabbed himself.
Immediately, he thrust into himself the iron that was at the belt, And, dying, he immediately removed from the scorching wound.
He lay down on his back, and blood spurted high in a stream …
The young man's blood stained the white mulberries.
Meanwhile, Theisba, deciding that the lioness had gone home, got out of her shelter and decided to quickly run to the meeting place with Pyramus in order to see him and hide from danger together. Soon, moonlight illuminated a terrible scene: a bloody Pyramus lay next to a torn cloak and a sword. The girl immediately understood what had happened. She rushed to hug the young man, trying to awaken him to life.
ABOUT! - exclaimed, - Pyramus, how are you carried away by misfortune?
Theisbe answer, Pyramus: your dear Theisba is calling you!
Hear me! Raise your head, honey!"
The shouts of Theisba awakened Pyramus for a second. He opened his eyes for a moment. And closed them again - now forever.
The girl looked up at the mulberry - all the berries on it turned purple-red.
“You, oh tree, you, now covered with branches
The woeful ashes of one, how soon you will cover two, Keep the signs of murder, let yours mournful and dark
Berries will be forever - memory of two deaths!"
After that, Theisba raised the sword of Pyramus, pointed it at her heart and threw herself at it. So, without beginning, the love story of Pyramus and Theisba ended. The lovers were buried in the same grave.
At all times
The story is short and simple. But this plot has become downright archetypal for the history of painting and literature. After Ovid, he consistently appeared in various works of literature and art. The founder of English poetry Jeffrey Chaucer, author of the famous "Canterbury Tales", which are called "the English" Decameron ", wrote in his" Book of the Queen ":
Pyramus could not live without Theisba, And Theisba is without Pyramus.
Shakespeare understood perfectly well that he would be accused in one way or another of borrowing an ancient plot. That is why, in his tragedy "Romeo and Juliet", he openly mentioned Thisba.
Mercutio in the fourth scene tells Benvolio about Romeo: “Now he has only poetry in his head, like those that Petrarch wrote. Compared to his beloved, Laura is a dishwasher … Dido is a slob, Cleopatra is a gypsy, Elena and Gero are worthless debauches, and Theisba, although she had pretty eyes, still cannot stand comparison."
And the heroes of the comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by the great English playwright put on the stage a play called "Love of the Beautiful Theisba and Pyramus." Here is a quote from A Midsummer Night's Dream about the heroes' venture:
Honorable ones, is this view not clear to you?
Marvel: it will soon become clear to all of you.
This man, you know, Pyramus.
Call the girl the beautiful Thisboy …
But not only such great poets as Ovid and Shakespeare turned to the ancient plot. For example, the ancient Greek poet Nonnus Panopolitan, who worked in the 5th century, in his work "The Acts of Dionysus" compared the rivers with Pyramus and Theisba that were not destined to unite:
Here is a fruitful stream from the seven-mouths pouring moisture, Nile the Wanderer meets Alpha the Sufferer:
The first yearns to pour out with all his love on the soil …
… The other wants to, deviating from the previously familiar road,
To surrender to love sorrow; lover meeting Pyramus
Along the way, he utters a prayer full of speeches:
“… Ah, Pyramus, where are you going? To whom did the young Tisba leave? …
… Ah, Pyramus, the comforter of Alpheus, after all, not from Diya
Danger to both of us, from Afrogenaya's sting!
The flame of passion burns me. Come with me! Arethus, Syracuse, I will look for you, and you your Tisba!.."
One of the chapters of Alexandre Dumas's wonderful novel The Count of Monte Cristo is called Pyramus and Theisba. It tells about lovers who are forced to hide their romance. They meet secretly in a huge abandoned garden.
The opera Pyramus and Theisbe by the German composer Johann Adolf Hasse is still a success on many stages.
Many artists have turned to the story of Pyramus and Theisbe. Among them are Tintoretto, Lucas Cranach the Elder, and Nicolas Poussin.
So we can say that the sad and uncomplicated legend of the young Babylonians has become the subject of many great works. Some of them appeared before the sad tale of Romeo and Juliet. And in some, the authors, who lived after Shakespeare wrote his tragedy, demonstrated their deep erudition: they showed that the first story of the unfortunate love of young lovers did not take place in Verona, but in ancient Babylon, several millennia BC.
Olga SOKOLOVSKAYA