Discussion Question 2

The stories closing lines aptly conclude the darkness/death imagery which Ovid has developed throughout the narrative because the fruit on the tree which were once light have been turned black by the death of the two lovers and then their remains were burned together and the two lovers became ash which is black. All through out the story, there has been dark imagery. Ovid emphasized the night several times and it was during the night that these terrible events unfolded. Some examples of this are in line 84 when Ovid writes that they will depart in "silenti nocte" which translates to silent night and in line 93 when ovid writes "per tenebras" which is descibing Thisbe move through the darkness. Ovid also describe the cave that Thisbe hid in as a dark cave (line 100) and it is while she was hiding that Pyramus thought she was dead and killed himself. So, all through out the story the theme that Ovid has been sending is darkness leads to bad things. Therefore, it is very fitting that when the two lovers die their bodies are burned and they become black ash. The fruit turning black is also very fitting because while the lovers were alive the fruit on the tree was bright white and after they died it became black, a dark color which laces death and darkness.

Discussion Question 1

Ovid’s description of Pyramus’ suicide is essential to the story line because the whole point of the story is to show what happens when you try to keep two loved ones apart. During the Roman times and even before that, marriages were arranged by families for social and political reasons, people did not marry or love. Pyramus and Thisbe loved each other and longed to get married but their parents forbid it causing great pain. The point of the descriptive suicide is to really affect the reader so that they get a really gruesome image of pain that will stick with them and they will see the dark side of forbidding lovers to be together. If Pyramus had just killed himself and there was no detail, the image would not stick with people as much and it would not seem as bad. When reading the descriptive details about the limbs flapping on the ground and the blood shooting out like a water pipe, it is a horrifying image. The details are going to bring more emotion to the reader. A good example of this is the movies ‘Titanic’. In the movie when the ship starts sinking, hundreds of people are dying left and right and although it is sad, few people are affected by it. When Jack dies however, people always get upset (mostly the girls) because we have grown with him as a character through the movie and although 1500 other people are dying his death seems the worst because he is not just some unknown character, he is a character who has details about that people watching the movie have come to know. Details bring emotion and make things seem worse. So, the suicide of Pyramus is so descriptive so that it stands out in people’s minds and it gives the reader more emotion.

Pyramus & Thisbe (limerick)

Once lived Pyramus and Thisbe

their love was not allowed to be

their parent's lacked pity

so they left the city

what dangers would come they didn't see

Pyramus & Thisbe (lines: 78-127)

In lines 78-127 in Pyramus & Thisbe, Ovid has used several rhetorical devices including:

1. In line 118 when Ovid writes; “nostril quoque sanguis haustus!” which translates into; “also drink our blood!” In this line Pyramus in shouting at the bloody garment to drink his blood as well as Thisbe’s. This is personification because a rag is an inanimate object and can not drink like a human can.

2. In line 119 when Ovid writes; “demisit in ilia ferrum” which translates into “plunged the sword into his genitals”. The word ‘ilia, illum’ means genitals and it is ironic that Pyramus stabbed himself there because that is where lovers connect and the whole reason that Pyramus and Thisbe had left the city was so they could physically be together. So it is ironic that Pyramus chose that spot to stab himself.

3. In lines 121-123 when Ovid writes; “Cruor emicat alte, non aliter quam cum vitiate fistula plumbo scinditur” which translates to; “blood spurts out high, no differently then when a defective lead pipe is cut.” This is a metaphor because it is a comparison that is comparing Pyrumus’s wound to a broken pipe.