William Shakespeare

Pericles William Shakespeare

The King of Antioch, Antiochus, has a beautiful daughter. A really, really attractive young woman. Really attractive. So enticing that she attracts more than her fair share of suitors, but in order to separate the wheat from the chaff, Antiochus has devised a riddle which must be solved before anyone can take his daughter's hand in marriage. Those who fail wind up with their heads on stakes. Pericles discovers that that solving the riddle isn't much better: the answer reveals the incestuous secret of Antiochus. Pericles, not being an idiot, chooses the best option possible, by which is meant the only option: he flees. Flight first lands Pericles in Tarsus. Stricken with famine, Pericles has brought aid to its governor, Cleon, and his wife, Dionyza. Flight next lands Pericles in Pentapolis after a shipwreck strands him there with nothing but his armor. Rescued by fishermen, Pericles winds up in the court of the king just in time for the celebration of his daughter, Thaisa. By winning a jousting tournament, Pericles also wins himself a wife.