Page 55, Question 2

Question 2: In what ways do the story's closing lines aptly conclude the darkness/death imagery which Ovid has developed throughout the narrative?



Probably the most well-known instance where Ovid portrays imagery of the darkness, is in the color of the mulberry fruit. In the last line of Pyramus and Thisbe, Ovid writes, "nam color in pomo est, ubi permaturuit" meaning for the color of the fruit is dark, when it has fully matured. Ovid relates darkness and death to each other, and it is only fitting that after this line, he says "quodque rogis superest, una requiescit in urna," and that which remains of the funeral pyres (the ashes) rests in one urn, speaking about Pyramus and Thisbe's death. Furthermore, it is important to note that Ovid previously also mentioned darkness and death together. In line 108, he has Pyramus say, "una duos" inquit "nox perdet amantes." However, Ovid does not always reference darkness as negative imagery.

Thisbe is able to escape the walls of the city, through the In lines 88-89, "lateantque sub umbra arboris" meaning, the shadow of the tree allowed for a particular, common meeting place, and also shadow for Pyramus and Thisbe to hide under. Furthermore, in line 93, "Callida Thisbe egreditur per tenebras," once again the darkness of night, allows Thisbe to leave the walls of the city, and meet with Pyramus. Furthermore, when Thisbe "fugit obscurum in antrum", the darkness of the cave is providing protection for Thisbe from the lion, as the tree can be considered to be doing for both Pyrams and Thisbe. On the contrary, though, it is darkness that protects Thisbe from the lion, but prevents Pyramus from seeing Thisbe, leading to the death of Pyramus, and therefore the death of Thisbe, as well.

The closing lines of Pyramus and Thisbe conclude the darkness/death imagery, because they relate the two to each other, as Ovid has been doing the entire narrative. The fruit of the mulberry becomes dark, once it has matured, as the ashes of both unfortunate lovers, rest in one urn. Pyramus and Thisbe, as a poem, embodies the cycle of life after death, providing comfort for some, in the fact that once death has passed, things will proceed and move on. In this case, the fruit of the tree, the mulberry, is the product of reproduction, of the tree. It symbolizes life, after death, and therefore, one can conclude that the mulberry also symbolizes life occurring, after Pyramus and Thisbe's death, and that the fruit of the mulberry and the two lovers are connected. Ovid even utilizes the word "fetus" for the fruit in line 125, instead of pomo, which he has used previously to represent the mulberry. By using the word fetus, he connotates the idea of birth/life/offspring, even though the fruit has matured, with the dark color, provided by the deaths of Pyramus and Thisbe. In this way, Ovid portrays the theme life after death, or the occurance of life originating from death.