ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the first version of the legend of Pyramus and Thisbe, which was already a second hand account, as it was first introduced into literature via the story told by one of the daughters of Minyas in book IV of Ovid's Metamorphoses. It is possible to associate the legend of Pyramus and Thisbe with a hierogamy which was possibly incestuous because of the proximity of the two families. This hypothesis appears acceptable if people consider the sequence of events in the legend which, from the time of Ovid onwards, were not modified in any way whatsoever but were persistently reproduced to the point of appearing superfluous. For Ovid, the basic theme of the legend was the ultimate communion of Pyramus and Thisbe. The wall was usually seen as a symbol of separation, although in order to discover its mythical meaning, it would be more appropriate to see it as the symbol of Babylon.
