Latin and the Roman Theater

        Livy, an ancient Roman historian, claimed in his book that Romans first experienced theatre in the 4th century BC. It was originally new forms of dances with musical accompaniment. Classic dramas were usually written in a poetic meter, and they were performed by all-male actors wearing masks.

       Many English playwrights, such as William Shakespeare, had their writing influenced by Roman writers and poets. One of Shakespeare's most famous plays, Romeo and Juliet, was actually based on a Greek myth that was written down by a Roman poet, Ovid, in his book, Metamorphoses. That myth is Pyramus and Thisbe. 

       Pyramus and Thisbe is a story of two lovers in a city named Babylon. Their houses were connected, and as the years went on, the two kids started to fall in love. A wall was built between the houses, because of the parents' rivalry, to prevent them from seeing each other, but that did not fully work because there was a crack in it and that allowed them to still talk to each other. One night, they decided to run off and meet up together at a tomb under a mulberry tree. 

Thisbe was the first to arrive, but as she was waiting, she saw a lion with a bloody mouth. She was scared, so she ran away, leaving behind her veil. The veil was then tarnished with blood by the lion, and as Pyramus arrived, he saw the veil and immediately thought that the lion killed his love. Disheartened by that thought, he killed himself. Thisbe returned to find her love on the ground in a puddle of his own blood. She was mortified and returned the favor by taking his blood-stained sword and plunging it into her own heart. After that event happened, it was believed that the gods heard Thisbe's cry and permanently changed the color of the mulberry to red instead of its original white color in remembrance of the two lovers' sacrifice for each other.

       If this story was not written down, in Latin, by Ovid, Shakespeare would not of known about this story to create one of  his most popular works. 

Coming up next week... more mythology!