Notes on "Pericles, Prince of Tyre" by Shakespeare et al

Most scholars agree that William Shakespeare's play Pericles, Prince of Tyre was co-written with George Wilkins. It is believed that Shakespeare wrote acts 3, 4, and 5, while Wilkins wrote the first two. Their plot was, in turn, based on an earlier poem by John Gower (who is a character in the play), among other sources.

See wikipedia for links to where the text of the play can be found (free, online).

Characters Pericles main character list:

• Antiochus, King of Antioch (who's revealed early on to be evil)
• Thaliard, a Lord of Antioch (who is assigned to kill Pericles)
• Pericles, Prince of Tyre
• Helicanus and Escanes, two Lords of Tyre
• Simonides, King of Pentapolis
• Thaisa, Daughter to Simonides (who eventually marries Pericles)
• Marina, Daughter to Pericles and Thaisa
• Lychorida, Nurse to Marina
• Cleon, Governor of Tarsus
• Dionyza, Wife to Cleon
• Leonine, Servant to Dionyza (who is assigned to kill Marina)
• Cerimon, a Lord of Ephesus (and a skilled physician who saves the life of Thaisa)
• Philemon, Servant to Cerimon
• Lysimachus, Governor of Mitylene (who helps Marina and Pericles reunite)
• Pandar (male brothel owner, in Mitylene)
• Boult, his Servant
• Bawd (female brothel owner, in Mitylene)
• Diana, the Greek goddess (who helps Thaisa and Pericles reunite)

The protagonist is Pericles, but he has several antagonists, for example: Antiochus (and Thaliard), the fierce storms at sea, and Dionyza (and her servant Leonine, as well as her husband Cleon). He also has allies, for example: Helicanus, Cleon and Dionyza (who later turn against him), Cerimon, and the Greek goddess Diana.

Notes on the character of Antiochus (adapted from Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare): In the time of the play (around 200 BCE), Shakespeare’s Antiochus fits the actual leader Antiochus III (“Antiochus the Great”). However, the text of the play suggests that Shakespeare’s Antiochus was modeled instead on his brutal son Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Some of the conflicts of Antiochus IV are described in the Book of Maccabees, for example, the revolt of the Jews (this is of course before the origin of Christianity). For example, Antiochus IV wanted everyone to worship the Greek god Zeus, which was unacceptable by the Jews. This revolt is associated with the Hanukkah holiday that everyone knows. As Helicanus says in Act II, scene IV:

"A fire from heaven came and shrivell’d up
Their bodies, even to loathing, for they so stunk
That all those eyes adored them ere their fall
Scorn now their hand should give them burial.”

Compare that with 2 Maccabees 9:9 in discussing the punishment and death of Antiochus IV:

The body of this impious man swarmed with worms, and while he was still alive in hideous torments, his flesh rotted off, so that the entire army was sickened by the stench of his corruption.

Locations The cities used by Shakespeare as locations for his play are, at the time the play occurs, real places - they are all located on the western part of the Mediterranean Sea. However, their use in the play may put them in ficticious locations.

• Actioch: Act I, scene I

  (There, Pericles meet the evil Antiochus and escapes, fearing for is life.) This was a city in modern day Turkey. Its ruins lie near the current city of Antakya.

• Tyre: Act I, scenes II, III, Act II, scenes IV

  This is a city in modern day Lebenon.

• Tarsus: Act I, scene IV, Act III, scene III, Act IV, scenes I, III, IV,

  (Pericles saves Tarsus from famine and later leaves baby Marina there to be protected and raised. It turns out the Governor and his wife cannot be trusted...) This is a city in modern day Turkey.

• Pentapolis: Act II, scenes I, II, III, V

  (Pericles meets his wife Thaisa there.) Pentapolis in the play is a collection of 5 cities located in modern day Egypt and Libya. Some are in ruins and some have survived until today.

• Ephesus: Act III, scene II, IV, Act V, scene II, III

  (The coffin Pericles' wife Thaisa is washes ashore and she is saved by a skilled physician there. She is unaware of where Marina is.) This was a city in what is not the country of Turkey. Its ruins lie near the current city of Izmir.

• Mytilene: Act IV, scene II, V, VI

  (This is where pirates took Marina after kidnapping her in Tarsus before she was almost murdered by the wife of the Governor there.) Mytilene is a city on the Greek island of Lesbos.

• On Pericles' ship: Act III, scene I, Act V, scene I

  (Pericles' wife Thaisa appears to die in childbirth there and is buried at sea in a coffin.)

Locations, in scene order More precisely, in the order of the play's acts and scenes, the locations, with characters, are as follows. The presence of Gower, the narrator of the play, in a scene is omitted.

• Actioch: Antiochus (king), Pericles, Thaliard (a lord of Antioch and one who wants to kill Pericles for Antiochus), the daughter of Antiochus, Messenger

  Act I, scene I

• Tyre (in the palace): Pericles, Helicanus (a lord), Escanes (a lord), Thaliard Pericles leaves Helicanus in charge, so Helicanus is now Governor of Tyre?)

  Act I, scenes II, III

• Tarsus (a room in Cleon's house): Cleon (governor of Tarsus), Dionyza, a lord, Pericles

  Act I, scene IV

• Pentapolis (by the seaside): Pericles, three fishermen

  Act II, scene I

• Pentapolis (by a pavillion): Pericles, Simonides (king), Thaisa (king's daughter, to be Pericles' wife), knights, their squires, various lords

  Act II, scene II

• Pentapolis (in a hall of state, a reception for Pericles): Pericles, Simonides, Thaisa, Marshall (organizer of the reception?), knights, ladies, various lords

  Act II, scene III

• Tyre (a room in Helicanus' house) : Pericles, Helicanus, Escanes, three lords

  Act II, scene IV

• Pentapolis (in the palace): Simonides, Thaisa, three knights

  Act II, scene V

• On Pericles' ship: Pericles, Lychorida (nurse to Marina), an infant (Marina?), two sailors

  Act III, scene I

• Ephesus (room in Cerimon's house): Cerimon (a lord of Ephesus), Philemon (In Cerimon's staff), two or three servants, and some shipwrecked sailors, two gentlemen, Thaisa

  Act III, scene II

• Tarsus (room in Cleon's house): Cleon, Dionyza, Pericles

  Act III, scene III

• Ephesus (room in Cerimon's house): Cerimon, Thaisa

  Act III, scene IV

• Tarsus (near the seashore): Dionyza, Leonine, Marina, three pirates

  Act IV, scene I

• Mytilene (room in a brothel): Pandar (brothel owner, male), Boult (his servant), Bawd (brothel owner, female), the pirates and Marina

  Act IV, scene II

• Tarsus (room in Cleon's house): Cleon, Dionyza

  Act IV, scene III

• Tarsus (near the monument/tombstone to Marina): Pericles, Cleon, Dionyza

  Act IV, scene IV

• Mytilene (street in front of the brothel): Two gentlemen (johns leaving the brothel)

  Act IV, scene V

• Mytilene (room in a brothel): Pandar, Boult, Bawd, Lysimachus (governor of Mytilene), Marina

  Act IV, scene VI

• On Pericles' ship: Two Sailors (eg, Tyrian Sailor), Helicanus, two gentlemen, Lysimachus, Lords (eg, First Lord), Marina, Pericles, Diana (as a godess in a vision)

  Act V, scene I

• Ephesus (temple of Diana): Thaisa, a number of Virgins, Cerimon, Pericles, Lysimachus, Helicanus, Marina, a Lady

  Act V, scenes II, III