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Thisbe, a MythSource painting
Roman

Thisbe

01Identity

Thisbe in Roman tradition

Thisbe is Pyramus's lover in the Babylonian story told in Ovid's Metamorphoses. The couple live in neighbouring houses, but their fathers forbid their marriage. A crack in the dividing wall lets them speak secretly, and they arrange to meet outside the city beneath a mulberry tree beside the tomb of Ninus.

Thisbe reaches the meeting place first. When a lioness approaches the nearby spring, she escapes into a cave and loses her veil. The animal tears the cloth with its bloodied mouth. Pyramus arrives later, finds it, and believes that Thisbe has been killed. His mistake leads him to kill himself.

Thisbe returns and finds him beneath the tree. She asks their parents to place their remains together and asks the tree to keep its dark fruit in memory of them. She then dies by Pyramus's sword. The story ends with the lovers' ashes in the same urn and the mulberries darkened. Her escape, return and final requests form the second half of the shared story of Pyramus and Thisbe.

SourceThe Metamorphoses of Ovid, Pyramus and Thisbe, printed pp. 121–125

Top questions

The quick answers

02The myths

The myths of Thisbe

1 myth, with sources recorded for each.

Pyramus and Thisbe

Thisbe and Pyramus live in neighbouring houses, but their fathers forbid marriage. A small crack in the wall gives them a hidden passage for words and plans. They decide to leave at night and meet at the tomb of Ninus beneath a white-berried mulberry tree. Thisbe reaches the place first, covering her face as she slips away from her attendants.

A lioness comes to the nearby spring after feeding. Thisbe sees it by moonlight and runs for a cave, leaving her veil behind. The animal tears the cloth with its bloodied jaws. Pyramus arrives later, finds the marks of the beast and the stained veil, and concludes that Thisbe has been killed. He turns his grief into action and wounds himself beneath the tree. His blood darkens the fruit.

Thisbe returns, searches for him and recognises his body. Pyramus briefly opens his dying eyes when she calls, then closes them. She says she will not be parted from him by death and asks their parents to let the lovers rest in one tomb. She also asks the tree to remember their shared end. Then she falls on Pyramus's sword. The parents grant their burial together, and the mulberries ripen black.

Pyramus and Thisbe, a MythSource painting of the scene

7 sources· checked 2026-10-01

  1. 1The Metamorphoses of OvidT1
  2. 2The Metamorphoses of OvidT1
  3. 3The Metamorphoses of OvidT1
  4. 4The Metamorphoses of OvidT1
  5. 5The Metamorphoses of OvidT1
  6. 6The Metamorphoses of OvidT1
  7. 7The Metamorphoses of OvidT1

Also mentioned in

Stories elsewhere on MythSource that mention Thisbe, each on that figure’s page.