Pyramus and Thisbe

In Roman mythology, Pyramus and Thisbe (Ancient Greek: Πύραμος καὶ Θίσβη, romanized: Púramos kaì Thísbē) are a pair of ill-fated lovers from Babylon, whose story is best known from Ovid's narrative poem Metamorphoses. The tragic myth has been retold by many authors. Pyramus and Thisbe's parents, driven by rivalry, forbade their union, but they communicated through a crack in the wall between their houses. They planned to meet under a mulberry tree, but a series of tragic misunderstandings led to their deaths: Thisbe fled from a lioness, leaving her cloak behind, which Pyramus found and mistook as evidence of her death. Believing Thisbe was killed by the lioness, Pyramus died by suicide, staining the mulberry fruits with his blood. Thisbe, upon finding Pyramus dead, also killed herself. The gods changed the color of the mulberry fruits to honor their forbidden love. Ovid's version is the oldest surviving account, but the story is likely to have originated from earlier myths in Cilicia. The tale has been adapted in various forms, inspiring works such as Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream, as well as modern adaptations in literature, opera, and popular culture. The story is depicted in works of art from ancient Roman mosaics to Renaissance paintings.