Thisbe

mythological heroine

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Last updated

July 14, 2026

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Thisbe is a legendary young woman from Babylon, known for her tragic love story with Pyramus. Their parents forbade their union, so the lovers planned to elope. They agreed to meet under a mulberry tree, but a terrifying lioness appeared. Thisbe fled, dropping her veil, which the lioness tore. Pyramus, believing Thisbe was dead, tragically took his own life. When Thisbe returned and found Pyramus dead, she also died. According to legend, the mulberry fruit, once white, turned black from that day forward. This tale was famously recounted by Ovid in his Metamorphoses.12

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Pyramus and Thisbe
Thisbe, hero and heroine of a Babylonian love story, in which they were able to communicate only through a crack in the wall between their houses; the tale was related by Ovid in his Metamorphoses, Book IV. Though their parents refused to consent to their…
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Thisbe, hero and heroine of a Babylonian love story, in which they were able to communicate only through a crack in the wall between their houses; the tale was related by Ovid in his Metamorphoses, Book IV. Though their parents refused to consent to their…
Read More