The internet is a constant source of my spiraling thoughts. Today about Romeo & Juliet. There’s a new essay about the history of the story of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers. Actually, it’s not really his story. He based it on a poem by another English writer. But the story itself goes way back through a succession of different authors to Ovid, who also lifted it from a 5th Century B.C. historian. Was it history or merely fable to begin with?
Reminds of a bit of what is the telling of ongoing history today. Is it fact or fable, and how do you know when it rolls from a beginning of unnamed sources and then is re-reported to and by millions in mere instants? As Romeo & Juliet proves, a compelling story that taps your passion…doesn’t die.