Pericles, Prince of Tyre
How courtesy would seem to cover sin!
ACT I, SCENE I
Pericles, Prince of Tyre, has the spirit of a knight errant, and goes on one adventure after another. In the first he accepts the challenge of the King of Antioch to read a certain riddle. Success is to be rewarded with the hand of the King's beautiful daughter, failure punished with death. Pericles discovers the secret of the riddle, and that it means the King has commited incest with his daughter. Pericles refuses to marry this princess and returns to Tyre. He is seen next relieving a famine at Tharsus, where he wins the enduring gratitude of the governor, Cleon, and his wife Dionyza.
Now he is shipwrecked near Pentapolis, and finds himself among some fisherman who, drawing in their nets, discover Pericle's armor in them. The Prince dons the armor and enters the lists at Pentapolis, wins first honors, and marries Thaisa, daughter of King Simonides.
Sailing for home, Thaisa apparently dies in childbirth and is buried at sea. Pericles takes his daughter, Marina, to Tharsus to be cared for by his old friends Cleon and Dionyza. Thaisa is washed ashore alive at Ephesus. For some reason she believes Pericles is dead, and takes the veil of chastity.
Dionyza becomes jealous because Marina so far surpasses her own daughter in beauty and intelligence, and arranges to have her murdered, but she is stolen by pirates and sold to procurers in Mitylene. She escapes violence by her purity and beauty, and becomes a teacher, to earn her living without sacrificing her honor.
Pericles hears from Tharsus that his daughter is dead. His ship is driven to Mitylene, and there he is entertained by Lysimachus, who sends for the now famous Marina to divert the saddened and bereft Pericles. The Prince recognizes his daughter, and the goddess Diana appears to him in a vision, directing him to go to Ephesus. Here he finds his lost wife, Thaisa, and the family is reunited.