By Daley Wilhelm George R. R. Martin by no means invented action-packed stories of political tension, long anticipated reunions, necromancy, or incest. This makes Game of Thrones one of the most controversial and talked-about series in modern television, but the same exciting themes can be found in classic plays, one of which is showing here in Ball State’s own Strother Theatre.

Pericles, Prince of Tyre is a Shakespearean work first published in the 1600s. However, the story was already a familiar one to those who knew their Athenian history because the headlining hero Pericles was an actual person back in ancient Greece. The play revolves around Pericles’ various adventures: fighting pirates, ending famines, and generally being an incredibly fantastic guy. One might think it’s unrealistic, annoying even, to have a character that is so good and perfect, but the Shakespeare version of Pericles actually tones down the legacy of the true Pericles who was heralded as a powerful leader, an excellent strategian, and a compelling orator, which was all the rage in Athens during the “Age of Pericles” in the 460 BC.

The real Pericles

The play Pericles

Incest has always been bad

Game of Thrones  Pericles, Prince of Tyre Oedipus Antigone

Throw her overboard

Jon Snow-esque plot twists

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