Pyramus & Thisbe Myth Lesson | Middle & High School

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Pyramus & Thisbe Babylonian Love Story Mythology Series for Grades 8-10 ELA

Engage English Language Arts middle and high schoolers with the ancient Babylonian myth of a pair of young lovers — There’s something about the forbidden. Two young people fall in love because they were told it was not allowed. And through a random gap in the wall that separated them, they communicated. And their love grew. What follows is a tragic love story that has been parodied (by Shakespeare) and inspired (also, by Shakespeare). It’s Pyramus and Thisbe!

This educational digital download is compatible with PDF and Google Workspace formats.

Use this Digital Download for a Three-day English Language Arts Lesson

Using my tested-in-the-classroom resources, your kids will want to discuss the love story of Pyramus and Thisbe. So I have loaded this resource with discussion questions that will get your students talking and writing! N.B. — The text of the myth is not included in this digital download, but I provide multiple links to the story online.

Common Core Standards: This resource aligns well with the reading literature standard: “Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux-Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus).”

This Resource Includes the Following Features:

1 Teacher’s Three-day Lesson Calendar
- With a teacher-tested-stamp of approval, follow my suggestions on how to teach the myth in a three-day block. Start with artwork, read the text, engage in questions, quick writing, and sharing, and cap off the lesson with a writing activity (and more!).
2 Illustrated Reading Card
- Dictionary Entry: Pyramus and Thisbe
- Bonus: Pyramus and Thisbe Coloring Book
5 Art + Literature Connections (with Visual Aids)
- Compare the text with eye-popping engravings and prints from the New York Public Library Digital Collection and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
1 Key Characters and Places Worksheet
- Orient your learners by identifying the story’s key characters and geographical location.
- Drag-and-Drop Easel Map Activity
11 Reading Comprehension Questions
- Either use these questions as a quiz for after reading, independent work, or in a discussion or small group setting.
- It also Includes a 6-Question Easel Assessment
10 Critical Thinking Questions
- Use these questions for whole-class discussion but I also like to spice things up and get my students moving by having a carousel-style discussion.
Frayer Model Vocabulary Template (with student sample)
- Frayer models are a way to get kids to think about vocabulary visually in a four-section square —- A square for meaning, one for examples, another for non-examples, and a sketch. It is amazing to see the work they produce. A great way to decorate your classroom to showcase your kids’ vocabulary-in-text understanding.
2 Exit Tickets
- Exit tickets are a way to get data about your students’ understanding of the lesson right before the class is finished. Collect these exit tickets and quickly see what ideas your students picked up about the ancient Babylonian myth (retold by Ovid). I also provide two different tickets to offer academic choice for students.
1 Essay Writing Activity (with visual starter and prompt)
- Cap this three-day lesson with a genre analysis essay.
1 Further Reading List
- Don’t disregard this further reading list if you think it is merely a bibliography. Share the list with your students or have them do projects based on the research that is available. Assign different sources to students and organize presentations where learning can go deeper into this popular love myth.
Answer Keys for all student-facing documents
- Teachers always ask for answer keys for my products, so I gave you plenty of guidance on what to expect from students in their written and oral responses.
- Includes a standards alignment chart for planning.

Content Note: The story of Pryamus and Thisbe includes tragic death by suicide. Artists raise these topics to help us think, not to encourage harm. Just so you know, the resource includes guidance for including this story in a secondary classroom setting. The lesson includes links to full-text primary resources but the product itself does not contain copies of copyrighted material not belonging to Stones of Erasmus.

I created this resource with middle and high school students in mind. It is designed for an English Language Arts Mythology unit —

On characteristics of the love myth.
On Babylonian and Assyrian Literature
Use it also in a genre unit on love tales or stories of star-crossed lovers!
Use this resource as a stand-alone lesson or, pair it with a larger unit on Myth, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Ovid’s Metamorphosis, Thomas Bulfinch’s Mythology, Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, or J.F. Bierlein’s Parallel Myths.