Reading boundaryStart: I trow men woulde deem it negligence,Stop after: Now comes the point, and hearken if you lest.
Summary
Theseus builds a vast circular stone arena with temples to Venus, Mars, and Diana. Venus’s walls display love’s pleasures, deceptions, jealousies, and famous captives; Mars’s iron temple gathers treachery, warfare, accident, and death beneath an image of precarious Conquest; Diana’s paintings join chastity and hunting with stories of transformation and suffering.
Palamon and Arcite each arrive with one hundred distinguished knights. Palamon’s ally Licurgus, king of Thrace, appears with bulls, hounds, and a bearskin; Arcite’s ally Emetrius, king of India, arrives with rich armor, an eagle, lions, and leopards. Theseus lodges and feasts every guest according to rank as the narration brings the elaborate preparations to their point.
Who’s who
Theseus — patron of the arena, its temples, and the gathering feast.
Venus, Mars, and Diana — deities of love, war, and chastity or hunting represented in the three temples.
Licurgus — king of Thrace and imposing leader among Palamon’s knights.
Emetrius — king of India and splendid leader among Arcite’s knights.
Palamon and Arcite — rival Theban champions, each accompanied by one hundred knights.