Pyramus and Thisbe
Two beautiful children grew up side by side, there homes sharing a wall
Parents forbid their marriage so they secretly talked through that wall
Decide to run away and meet at the Tomb of Nino’s under a Tree
Thisbe arrived first and saw a lioness, in fear she ran dropping her cloak
Pyramus arrived shortly after and found her torn apart cloak assuming she had
been killed
The thought of living without her was unbearable and he stabbed himself, his
blood dying the berries on the tree red (mulberries)
Thisbe came back hoping the lion was gone, and finds her dying love, and she
too stabs herself
Mulberries became an everlasting memorial to true lovers
Very similar to Romeo and Juliet
Ceyx and Alcoyne
Husband and wife, devoted lovers, rarely were apart
Ceyx decides to make a journey across the sea to consult an oracle
Alcoyne is very upset by this dangerous journey. She wants to
accompany him but he refuses
The day he leaves there is a terrible storm and his ship sinks
Alcoyne prays to the gods for his safety, and the messenger god
(Iris) summons the god of sleep (Sommus) to send her a dream about her
husband’s death.
She wakes up and does not want to live without him. In mourning
she goes to the waters where she watched him sail away
In the water was his dead body floating and she jumps into the
water
As she does her body swoops over the water and she is
transformed into a bird and she is greeted by Ceyx, who did the same
Every year for seven days the waters are calm and they are seen flying over the sea together.
Baucis and Philemon
Two gods Jupiter and Mercury came to earth to test the hospitality of people
The elderly couple Baucis and Philemon were the only ones who passed their test
The gods reveal themselves and as they punish the town they grant Baucis and
Philemon any wish.
They ask that they may never be apart, and when they pass away the gods transform
them into an Oak and a Linden tree, both growing out of one trunk.
Cupid and Psyche
Psyche is a beautiful mortal who’s name means love and soul
all men around the world loved her and therefore disregarded Venus.
Venus became angry and sent her son Cupid to make Psyche fall in love with the most
wicked person on earth
Instead, the moment Cupid sees Psyche he falls in love with her and instead make it so
that no men love her.
When she is still not married, Psyche’s father takes her to Apollo who tells him that they
must place her on a hilltop where a winged serpent will come and retrieve her. When
she is alone on the hill she is swept up by a breeze and placed in front of a beautiful
mansion with unseen servants giving her everything she could ever want.
Although she cannot see her husband, he only arrives in the dark, she loves him deeply .
When her sisters visit her they become jealous of everything she has and convince her
that her husband is the winged serpent and she must light a candle to see her husband
and then stab him.
Psyche is torn but decides to light the candle to see her husband, upon gazing on him
she sees it is Cupid, and beautiful. However she drops candle wax on him and he wakes,
immediately leaving because she broke their trust, and there can be no love where
there is no trust.
Psyche looks for Venus so that she might get the chance to see Cupid, and Venus sends
her on many crazy missions such as retrieving beauty from Hades, while making sure
that cupid is locked away.
Cupid eventually discovers he misses her and escapes , when he finds her he speaks to
Jupiter who makes Psyche into a god and they are married.
Orpheus and Eurydice
Orpheus was a son of a muses, he was a beautiful mortal musician who could persuade
people with his music, nothing could resist him when he played his song.
Rivers would change course, and when he sailed on the Argo with Jason whenever they
would grow tired he would play and it would give them new energy.
When he was married, directly after his wedding his wife is struck by a viper and dies.
He went down to Hades and convinced the Lord of the Dead and Demeter’s daughter to
bring his wife back to earth.
They agreed as long when walking up to earth he didn’t look back at her, when he
stepped on earth he looked back, but his wife was still in the cave and so disappeared.
Orpheus became consumed with grief and wandered aimlessly playing
Then a band of Maenads slewed him and sent his limbs down the river.
His body was assembled an placed at a tomb on the base of
Mt. Olympus, and it is said that even to this day the nightingales sing more
sweetly than anywhere else.
Daphne
Independent huntress who hates marriage and love.
Refused all men her father sent to her, as well as all mortals
Apollo found her while she was hunting and set out for her;
however, she ran away.
Called for her fathers help, but Apollo caught her up against a tree
Daphne gets turned into a tree and Apollo claims her as his tree
Alpheus and Arethusa
Arethusa is a sacred spring, she was once a fair young huntress and follower of Artemis
She wanted nothing to do with men
Loved hunting and freedom of the forest
Took bath in river, startled by something in the water and ran
Pursued by god of the river, Alpheus and he loved her
She only wanted to escape, ran from him and called to Artemis who turned her into a river that
carved the earth and made a tunnel
Alpheus changed back into a river and followed her through the tunnel and his water mingles
with hers in town at Ortygia
Endymion
King, hunter, sheperd: surpassing beauty
Loved by the moon, Selene
Put to sleep on a hillside by the moon
Immortal but in eternal sleep, moon comes down to kiss him every night