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- # The nomenclature of the play.
## Overview
This section, titled "The nomenclature of the play," discusses the naming conventions and changes in Shakespeare's play *Pericles*. It was extracted from a text file (`pdf-01KG6Q7Q25RHMFT3SJXPV18VFF.txt`) between lines 13714 and 13725.
## Context
This section is part of the larger chapter titled "[PERICLES](arke:01KG6S4D9MD59KJ70ZSS7J97J8)," which is itself contained within the "[PDF Workflow Main Test 2026-01-30T00:26:53](arke:01KG6NWQ2H2K4PGG7H4ZHYCZ3Y)" collection. It follows the section "[The play and Gower’s version.](arke:01KG6S5QA1PGGRRKNRHCPWY0WB)" and precedes "[Defects of the plot.](arke:01KG6S5Q9ZJ44QW6RG4BH6TNS3)."
## Contents
The section details the alterations in character names from earlier narratives to Shakespeare's *Pericles*. It notes that Pericles' wife is unnamed in some versions but called Lucina in Twine and Thaisa in Shakespeare's play. The daughter is named Thaise in some sources, Tarsia in Twine, and Marina in Shakespeare's play, a name for which no prior suggestion exists. The most significant change highlighted is the hero's name, from Apollonius of Tyre in previous literature to Pericles, suggesting a connection to the Athenian statesman and a reminiscence of Pyrocles from Sidney’s romance *Arcadia*. The text also mentions that early scenes of the play reflect a recent study of Sidney's romance.
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- The nomenclature of the play.
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- The nomenclature of the play.
by Valentine Simmes for the Widow Newman’; a copy was formerly in E. V. Utterson’s library and sold at his sale in 1854 for £7 7s. od.; this was reprinted in Collier’s *Shakespeare’s Library*, 1843, i. 182–257 (re-edited by W. C. Hazlitt, pt. i, vol. iv, 247–334).
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PERICLES
Pericles' wife has no name, and the daughter is called Thaise. In Twine the wife is called Lucina and the daughter Tarsia. In the Shakespearean play the wife is called Thaisa, and the daughter is christened Marina—a cognomen for which there is no suggestion in the old narratives. But the most notable change of all is in the name of the hero. Throughout the previous literature on the subject he is known solely as Apollonius of Tyre. The name of Pericles naturally suggests the Athenian statesman, who would be familiar to any reader of Plutarch. The Pericles of the drama seems, by way of justifying his Athenian designation, to emphasize his ‘education in arts and arms’ (ii. 3. 82). But the name is something more than an echo of Athenian history. It is a reminiscence of Pyrocles, one of the heroes of Sidney’s romance of *Arcadia*. In the early scenes of the play, too, many expressions reflect a recent study of Sidney’s romance.
- title
- The nomenclature of the play.