The Tragedy of Parthene

The Tragedy of Parthene; or, The Passionate Love of Man and Woman is a Belladocian tragedy play written by the playwright Ricardo Valens. A contemporary commentary on the notions of romance among the Belladocian nobility, it was originally performed in Bergamo in 299. Though well received by the audiences of the time, Valens undertook to edit it, and a final manuscript form was produced in 302, which is the version that remains to the present.
From the time of its first production, Parthene has been regarded as a masterpiece, and is often considered Valens' greatest work. The play is a tragedy about the ill-fated romance between the farmer Heliphor (meaning "Heliand-bearer) and the young prostitute Parthene (meaning "Virgin"). Heliphor sees Parthene while in the city to deliver his grain, and does not at first realize she is a prostitute. After talking to her several times over the course of months, he develops romantic attachment to her, and is horrified when he sees her entering the brothel. He confronts the madame of the brothel, offering to buy Parthene's freedom, but the madame sets the price far above what he could ever hope to raise. Without hope, he takes all of his money and buys Parthene's time for a whole week, spending it merely talking with her. When this is done, he is all the more in love, and decides to turn to crime to raise the money to free her. While he is doing this, Parthene herself has a monologue about her own feelings of weakness and helplessness, confessing she has also fallen in love with Heliphor. She resolves to make money for herself, to buy her freedom and be with him, choosing to seduce the wealthy Maestro Yil and take his money. On the night she is to sleep with Yil, Heliphor breaks into his house, trying to rob it. He finds Yil and Parthene in bed, and driven blind by rage, kills them both. Distraught, Heliphor takes Parthene's body and buries her on his field, then disembowels himself over the grave. Many years later a beautiful pine tree has sprouted over the grave, and all that remains is a headstone which reads, "My love, now lost."
Parthene was based in part on the local myth of "Aponontius and Margareté", a story with similar themes, but a different ending: in the myth, Aponontius only kills the rich man, and takes his gold, freeing Margareté.