HistoryandMythology4

Answer prepared by: Megan W. // **
 * WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF //A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, THE MYTHOLOGY OR STORY BEHIND THESEUS AND HIPPOLYTA, CUPID "PYRAMUS AND THISBE," AND "THE GOLDEN ASS"?

William Shakespeare’s //A Midsummer Night’s Dream// is a comedy overflowing with romance, twists and, of course, magic. Many of the beloved characters that enhance the Fairy World and the realistic world of Athens didn’t come from Shakespeare’s vast imagination. Instead, Shakespeare borrowed them from Greek and Roman Mythology, as well as other plays created around Shakespeare’s time. Often created long before Shakespeare was born, characters such as Theseus and Hippolyta, Cupid, and “The Golden Ass”, as well as the tragedy made famous and hilarious by the mechanicals, “Pyramus and Thisbe”, come to life once again in //A Midsummer Night’s Dream//.

Shakespeare begins //A Midsummer Night’s Dream// by informing the audience that Theseus and Hippolyta are engaged. Theseus states early on in //A Midsummer Night’s Dream// 1.1.16-17 how he fought Hippolyta in battle and won her as his bride as a result of his victory. “Hippolyta, I wooed thee with my sword, and won thy love doing thee injuries.” Although they are lovers in this comedy, and have had small roles in one another’s lives in Greek mythology, they are most famous for myths that have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

Edgar Parin d’Aulaire, author of the book //Book of Greek Myths,// explains the tale of Hippolyta//.// In addition to her position as Queen of the Amazons, a fierce tribe of warlike women, Hippolyta is most notable for her role in the Greek myth of Heracles. Heracles was the son of Princess Alcmena and Zeus, King of the Gods. Hera, Zeus’ wife and the goddess of marriage, was far from pleased with her husband’s actions and loathed innocent Heracles as a result. Hera took her frustration out on Heracles when he was a grown man and made him go insane and kill his wife and children. For punishment, Heracles was sentenced to ten years of servitude to his cousin Eurystheus, during which time he had to complete ten tasks. Hera, still dissatisfied with her attempts at revenge, influenced Eurystheus to send Heracles on quests impossible for humans. For one of his last tasks, Heracles was sent to fetch the golden girdle of none other than Hippolyta. The myth states that Hippolyta was so enamored of Heracles and his immense muscles that she presented him with the belt without a fight. As a result, Hera spread a rumor that Heracles had not come to fetch the girdle, but to kidnap Hippolyta. Hippolyta and her tribe of women warriors fought against Heracles valiantly, but it was a vain attempt and Hippolyta perished in the fight.

Theseus, a famed hero in Greek mythology, is most commonly associated with the Minotaur. d’Aulaire tells the myth of Theseus, son of King Aegeus in //Book of Greek Myths//. Theseus was one of the fourteen tributes to sail to Crete to be sacrificed to the Minotaur in the labyrinth built by Daedalus. Theseus promised his father that the ship returning home would raise black sails if he had perished, and white if he survived. Upon arriving in Crete, Princess Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of Crete, admired Theseus and couldn’t bear that he would be sacrificed to the Minotaur. She went to Daedalus for help, and he gave her a magic ball of string that would lead Theseus to the Minotaur. Theseus was prepared upon entering the deadly labyrinth, and followed the string to the Minotaur, whom he killed in a matter of seconds with his bare hands. Theseus and Ariadne, along with the remainder of the original fourteen tributes, escaped Crete and began the journey home. Unfortunately, Theseus’ luck took a turn for the worse. Not far into the journey, Princess Ariadne abandoned Theseus for the god of wine, Dionysus. Due to his grief of losing Ariadne, Theseus forgot to raise the white sails for his father. When the ship returned home, King Ageus immediately looked for the white sails. Upon seeing the black sails, Ageus committed suicide by jumping off a cliff, assuming his son was dead. Theseus inherited the throne, and went on to perform other heroic deeds, but he will always be most known for defeating the Minotaur, and losing his bride and father.

Shakespeare included another beloved and well-known character. Many know him as the international symbol of love, or from Valentine’s Day cards, but most know him as Cupid. d’Aulaire describes the myth of Cupid in //Book of Greek Myths//. Cupid exists in both Greek and Roman mythology and is involved in multiple myths that always include romance. His story involves a simple favor to his mother that results in much death and grief. Cupid is the Roman name for the Greek god Eros, who is the son of none other than the goddess of love, Aphrodite. According to Greek mythology, Eros darted around with a quiver full of magical arrows that caused people to fall in love with the first person they saw. He was said to fly around the world, making fun of those who fell desperately in love with others as a result of his arrows. Aphrodite had promised a young man who had awarded her the Golden Apple of Beauty the most beautiful woman on earth as his bride. Helen of Troy was considered to be the most beautiful mortal, but unfortunately she was already married. Aphrodite had Eros intervene so Helen of Troy would fall in love with Paris. Paris and Helen escaped, and as a result, the Trojan War began.

Throughout //A Midsummer Night’s Dream// the mechanicals, lead by Bottom, rehearsed, and eventually performed the play “Pyramus and Thisbe” and famously transformed the tragedy into a ridiculously funny comedy. On the Folger Shakespeare Library website, the section entitled “Very Tragical Mirth: Romeo and Pyramus, Juliet and Thisbe” describe the tragedy. The Greek myth tells the story of a boy and girl who are in love and live in neighboring buildings. Their parents had forbidden them to see each other, and the only way they could communicate was through a crack in the wall, between their two homes. One night they decide to elope and agree on a meeting point to run away together. Thisbe arrives earlier than Pyramus at their rendezvous point, and is forced to hide from a lion to avoid being killed. She drops her cloak, and the lion, which had just eaten, has a bloodstained mouth and bloodies the cloak while nuzzling it. Pyramus arrives, and seeing the bloodstained cloak and the lion’s tracks, assumes that Thisbe is dead and kills himself. Thisbe eventually comes out of hiding, and seeing Pyramus’ dead body, kills herself with his sword. “Pyramus and Thisbe” is very similar to Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”. The major difference is in the way they are performed, because “Pyramus and Thisbe” is seen as a comedy based on how it was hilariously performed at Theseus and Hippolyta’s wedding.

//The Golden Ass//, a humorous comedy written by Apuleis, had only been translated into English in 1566, not long before Shakespeare began writing //A Midsummer Night’s Dream// sometime between 1594 and 1596. Unlike the other characters Shakespeare borrowed, “The Golden Ass” had been created during Shakespeare’s time, as compared to the characters from Greek and Roman mythology. On the Royal Shakespeare Company website, the section entitled “the Ass’s Head” describes the myth. The play follows a young man, Lucius, who is turned into a donkey as a result of his desire for magic and love. He is humiliated and only changed back into a man by the goddess Isis. The Royal Shakespeare Company states in //The Ass’s Head// that “it seems likely that some of Shakespeare's details of the fairies' care of Bottom are drawn from this tale.” It is also widely believed that the inspiration for Bottom himself was the result of the play //The Golden Ass//.

The mythology behind these characters and plays provided inspiration for //A Midsummer Night’s Dream// and helped develop the back-stories and details of characters in both the Fairy World and Athens. They supplied a greater meaning to the beloved comedy for those willing to dig deeper into the story.





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d'Aulaire, Edgar Parin, and Ingri d'Aulaire. //Book of Greek Myths//. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc., 1962. Print.

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