MET: Lesson - Pyramus and Thisbe, Part 2

Image: an illustration from Pyramus and Thisbe, in which Thisbe runs from a lionPyramus and Thisbe, Part 2

Let's continue reading Pyramus and Thisbe, in Latin. Please take care to complete each handout fully before moving forward in the course.

Part 2 - Plans and Failures

Pyramus and Thisbe, Part 2 continues the story with the lovers growing frustrated by their inability to meet. They make a plot to sneak out of their houses at night and meet near a tomb. The plan goes well - Thisbe is able to creep out of her house without being spotted, but arrives before Pyramus. While waiting, Thisbe is frightened by a lioness, who drinks from a fountain in the garden.

Image note: Thisbe Runs from the Lioness at the Well by Antonio Tempesta, 1606.

Download Handout

Please download the Ovid: Metamorphoses - Pyramus and Thisbe, Part 2 Handout Links to an external site.. Complete the handout before continuing in the course.

Ovid: Metamorphoses, Book IV, Lines 81-104

While you should be using the handout to help in reading and comprehending the passage, below you will find the complete Latin text for Part 2.

"Postera nocturnos Aurora removerat ignes, 
Solque pruinosas radiis siccaverat herbas;
ad solitum coiere locum. tum murmure parvo
multa prius questi statuunt, ut nocte silenti
fallere custodes foribusque excedere temptent,            85
cumque domo exierint, urbis quoque tecta relinquant,
neve sit errandum lato spatiantibus arvo,
conveniant ad busta Nini lateantque sub umbra
arboris: arbor ibi niveis uberrima pomis,
ardua morus, erat, gelido contermina fonti.                    90
pacta placent; et lux, tarde discedere visa,
praecipitatur aquis, et aquis nox exit ab isdem.
callida per tenebras versato cardine Thisbe 
egreditur fallitque suos adopertaque vultum  
pervenit ad tumulum dictaque sub arbore sedit.            95
audacem faciebat amor. venit ecce recenti 
caede leaena boum spumantes oblita rictus 
depositura sitim vicini fontis in unda; 
quam procul ad lunae radios Babylonia Thisbe  
vidit et obscurum timido pede fugit in antrum,           100 
dumque fugit, tergo velamina lapsa reliquit. 
ut lea saeva sitim multa conpescuit unda, 
dum redit in silvas, inventos forte sine ipsa 
ore cruentato tenues laniavit amictus.

Practice Activity

After reading the passage, see how well you understood it. Complete the following practice quiz covering the reading material from this section of the passage.

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