![]() ![]() ![]() The three prayers and resulting promises cause confusion in heaven until Saturn, god of destiny, promises that Palamon will win his love and Arcite will win the battle. All receive a vision indicating that their prayers will be answered. Palamon prays to Venus, goddess of love Emilie prays to Diana, goddess of chastity and Arcite prays to Mars, god of war. On the evening before the battle, Palamon, Emilie, and Arcite pray. Theseus welcomes them all and entertains them in high fashion. Part III: At the end of the year, Arcite and Palamon, each at the head of one hundred knights, return to Athens for the joust. The winner of the joust will get the hand of Emilie. Theseus proposes a formal tournament in one year with each knight supported by one hundred knights. Palamon tells all, demanding that both be killed for their crimes, and Theseus swears that the wish will be granted, but he relents when the women of his company beg mercy for the knights. Theseus stops the duel and rebukes the knights for their behavior. Theseus and his entourage arrive upon the bloody scene. The next day, the men duel, dismissing all knightly ceremony. The two arrange to duel the following day. Palamon, who had not recognized Arcite, finally identifies him through his lament and leaps up, swearing to kill Arcite for his treachery and law breaking. That morning, by chance, Arcite goes to the same grove and, thinking himself alone, recites his history aloud, blaming Juno, Mars, and especially Venus for his plight. At last, whether by chance or destiny, Palamon escapes and flees to a grove. Meanwhile, Palamon languishes in the prison tower. Several years pass and Philostrate/Arcite rises to a high and respected position in the court of Theseus. ![]() Taking the name Philostrate, Arcite is employed as a page in the House of Emilie. One night, Mercury, the messenger of the gods, appears and orders him to return to Athens, which he does. As a result of his lamenting, his physical appearance changes so much that he is no longer recognizable. Part II: Back in Thebes, Arcite sinks into a lover's melancholy. Both knights think the other luckier: Palamon, because he can still see the beautiful Emilie Arcite, because he can raise an army and capture her. About this time, a friend to both Theseus and Arcite arrives in Athens and secures Arcite's release on the condition that he never return to Athens. Because both knights claim their love for Emilie, their friendship gives way to hostility. Arcite peers from the tower window and, upon seeing the fair Emilie, proclaims his own love for her. One morning several years later, Palamon sees the beautiful Emilie wandering about in her garden and cries out in pain. Theseus decides against executing the knights and instead imprisons them with no hope of ransom. After the destruction of Creon's forces, booty hunters find two young knights (Palamon and Arcite) who are not quite dead. Incensed, Theseus quickly overthrows Creon and restores the Theban dead to the women for ceremonial burying. Outside Athens, he meets a band of weeping women and learns that the tyrant Creon has murdered their husbands and dishonors the dead by leaving them unburied. Part I: Duke Theseus returns from overthrowing Scythia with his new wife, Hippolyta, and her sister, Emilie. ![]() The Sovereignty of Marriage versus the Wife's Obedience. ![]()
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