Original: Thou speak’st like a physician, Helicanus,
Modern: You’re talking like a doctor, Helicanus,

Original: That minister’st a potion unto me
Modern: Who’s giving me medicine

Original: That thou wouldst tremble to receive thyself.
Modern: That you yourself would be afraid to take.

Original: Attend me, then: I went to Antioch,
Modern: Listen to me, then: I went to Antioch,

Original: Where as thou know’st, against the face of death,
Modern: Where, as you know, risking my life,

Original: I sought the purchase of a glorious beauty.
Modern: I tried to win a beautiful woman’s hand in marriage.

Original: From whence an issue I might propagate,
Modern: From this union I hoped to have children,

Original: Are arms to princes, and bring joys to subjects.
Modern: Who would be strength to rulers and bring happiness to the people.

Original: Her face was to mine eye beyond all wonder;
Modern: Her face was more beautiful than anything I’d ever seen;

Original: The rest—hark in thine ear—as black as incest:
Modern: But the rest—listen closely—was as evil as incest:

Original: Which by my knowledge found, the sinful father
Modern: When I discovered this, the wicked father

Original: Seem’d not to strike, but smooth: but thou know’st this,
Modern: Didn’t seem angry, but acted friendly: but you know this,

Original: ‘Tis time to fear when tyrants seem to kiss.
Modern: It’s time to be afraid when tyrants pretend to be kind.

Original: Such fear so grew in me, I hither fled,
Modern: This fear grew so strong in me that I fled here,

Original: Under the covering of a careful night,
Modern: Hidden by the protective darkness of night,

Original: Who seem’d my good protector; and, being here,
Modern: Which seemed to keep me safe; and, once here,

Original: Bethought me what was past, what might succeed.
Modern: I thought about what had happened and what might come next.

Original: I knew him tyrannous; and tyrants’ fears
Modern: I knew he was a tyrant; and tyrants’ fears

Original: Decrease not, but grow faster than the years:
Modern: Don’t decrease, but grow stronger as time passes:

Original: And should he doubt it, as no doubt he doth,
Modern: And if he suspects, as I’m sure he does,

Original: That I should open to the listening air
Modern: That I might reveal to anyone who’ll listen

Original: How many worthy princes’ bloods were shed,
Modern: How many noble princes have been killed,

Original: To keep his bed of blackness unlaid ope,
Modern: To keep his shameful secret hidden,

Original: To lop that doubt, he’ll fill this land with arms,
Modern: To eliminate that threat, he’ll bring armies to this land,

Original: And make pretence of wrong that I have done him:
Modern: And pretend that I’ve wronged him:

Original: When all, for mine, if I may call offence,
Modern: When everyone will suffer for my actions, if I can call them wrong,

Original: Must feel war’s blow, who spares not innocence:
Modern: Will feel the violence of war, which doesn’t spare innocent people:

Original: Which love to all, of which thyself art one,
Modern: Because I love everyone, including you,

Original: Who now reprovest me for it,—
Modern: Who now criticize me for this decision,—

In Act I, Scene ii of “Pericles, Prince of Tyre,” Pericles returns to Tyre after his dangerous encounter with King Antiochus in Antioch, where he discovered the king’s incestuous relationship with his daughter. Deeply troubled by this knowledge and fearing Antiochus’s wrath, Pericles confides in his trusted counselor Helicanus about the horrific secret he has uncovered. He explains that possessing this knowledge puts both himself and his kingdom at risk, as Antiochus will likely seek to eliminate him to protect his secret.

Recognizing the immediate danger, Pericles decides he must leave Tyre to protect his people from Antiochus’s potential revenge. He entrusts the governance of his kingdom to the loyal Helicanus, instructing him to rule in his absence. Despite Helicanus’s protests and attempts to dissuade him, Pericles remains firm in his decision to depart, believing that his presence would only bring destruction upon Tyre. The scene concludes with Pericles preparing for his voluntary exile to safeguard his homeland.

Pericles, Prince of Tyre follows the wandering journey of Prince Pericles across the Mediterranean. The play opens with Pericles fleeing Antioch after discovering that King Antiochus is engaged in an incestuous relationship with his daughter. Fearing for his life, Pericles leaves his kingdom of Tyre in the care of his trusted advisor Helicanus and sets sail. He arrives in Tarsus during a famine, where he provides grain to the starving people, earning the gratitude of Governor Cleon and his wife Dionyza.

Continuing his travels, Pericles is shipwrecked near Pentapolis, where he washes ashore and participates in a tournament to win the hand of Thaisa, daughter of King Simonides. Pericles wins both the tournament and Thaisa’s love, and they marry. However, news arrives that Antiochus and his daughter have died, making it safe for Pericles to return to Tyre. During the sea voyage home, Thaisa gives birth to a daughter during a violent storm but appears to die in childbirth. The sailors insist her body must be cast overboard, so Pericles places her in a sealed coffin and commits it to the sea.

Thaisa’s coffin washes ashore in Ephesus, where the physician Cerimon revives her. Believing her husband and child are dead, she becomes a priestess in Diana’s temple. Meanwhile, Pericles leaves his infant daughter Marina with Cleon and Dionyza in Tarsus, asking them to raise her. Fourteen years pass, and Marina grows into a beautiful and virtuous young woman, causing Dionyza’s own daughter to pale in comparison. Jealous, Dionyza orders Marina’s murder, but pirates capture her before the deed is done and sell her to a brothel in Mytilene.

In the brothel, Marina’s purity and eloquence convert clients to virtue rather than vice, eventually leading to her release and employment as a teacher. When Pericles returns to Tarsus, Cleon and Dionyza show him a false tomb, claiming Marina died of natural causes. Grief-stricken, Pericles becomes a hermit aboard his ship. His vessel eventually arrives in Mytilene, where the governor Lysimachus brings Marina aboard to cure the melancholy stranger through music. Father and daughter recognize each other, leading to joyful reunion. The goddess Diana then appears to Pericles in a vision, directing him to her temple in Ephesus, where he is reunited with Thaisa. The play concludes with Marina’s betrothal to Lysimachus.