Reams have been written about it; He has forged the most unusual alliances and has triumphed over everything. Like an elephant on the rampage (not a very romantic simile, but you get the picture), he hasn’t bothered to see who’s in his path and just completely consumes the people involved. Yes, we are talking about that thing called Love. Over the decades, Cupid’s arrows have sometimes caused two human beings to be so deeply, passionately, and desperately in love that society and its dictates have simply fallen by the wayside. . And we’ve devoured their immortal love stories, secretly envying these couples who found their matching halves or soulmates. And encourage us to find our own prince or princess.
Are here 10 of the most romantic couples of all time in human history.
1. Romeo and Juliet. Possibly the most famous pair of lovers of all time, this is a William Shakespeare love story that has inspired a generation of lovers and continues to do so to this day. Rome and Juliet are the definitive synonyms of true and eternal love, and also of the greatest sacrifice of love: life itself.
2. Pyramus and Thisbe. Written by the Roman poet Ovid in his play ‘Metamorphosis’, this is a tragic love story that probably set the tone for William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ several centuries later. In this story, two young lovers are next door neighbors, but are unable to meet openly due to their respective families in conflict. They used to meet in secret and one day they agreed to have a date under the mulberry tree. Through a series of unfortunate incidents and colossal misunderstandings, both Pryramus and Thisbe die within minutes of each other, each killing themselves believing the other to be dead.
3. Cleopatra and Marco Antonio. Intriguing, memorable, and intensely romantic, this is a love story whose passionate appeal hasn’t faded over time. Not surprisingly, William Shakespeare dramatized the story of true love in his play. Cleopatra, a strikingly beautiful, intelligent and powerful woman, was the last pharaoh of Egypt, while Mark Antony was the Roman general who succeeded his murdered friend Julius Caesar. The two fell in love instantly and their union made them a formidable ruling power, placing Egypt in a position of supremacy. As with all love stories, its course was never straight and the false news of Cleopatra’s death caused Antony to impale himself with his own sword. The shattered Egyptian queen did the same, unable to live without her lover.
4. Salim and Anarkali.The Mughals, who ruled India from 1526 to 1858, not only built one of the greatest love monuments to ever exist, the Taj Mahal, but they also produced several memorable love stories. Among them, the most popular tale has been that of the handsome Prince Salim (Emperor Jehangir, still without a crown) and the beautiful courtesan Anarkali, the court dancer of his father’s palace. Their love story is the stuff of legends: unlikely alliance, insurmountable social barriers, and parental opposition. And, the final, heartbreaking finale when Anarkali is walled alive even as an imprisoned Salim watches helplessly.
5. Tristan and Isolde. Isolde, the daughter of the King of Ireland, was engaged to marry King Mark of Cornwall. King Mark sent his nephew Tristan to Ireland to escort his future wife to Cornwall. However, fate had planned otherwise. Both Tristan and Isolde fell passionately in love with each other. However, Isolde married King Mark, but she never stopped loving Tristan. King Mark learned of this matter and banished Tristan from Cornwall. Heartbroken, Tristan went to Brittany, where he met Isolde of Brittany. In the end he marries her, but never consummates the union. Finally, due to a lie from Iseult, Tristan dies of pain. The shattered Isolde dies shortly after.
6. Ulysses and Penelope. This is a Greek love story that is marked by unimaginable devotion and sacrifice. Shortly after his marriage to Penelope, Ulysses leaves for battle and is separated from her for the next twenty years. But each patiently awaits the return of the other. During these long years of separation, Penelope categorically rejects no less than 108 ardent suitors even though she has little hope of the return of her beloved husband. Ulysses, for his part, bravely rejects the advances of a beautiful witch only to be able to return to his wife and son.
7. Heloise and Abelardo. The love story that became world famous in the early 12th century celebrates the passion between a monk and a nun. Peter Abelard was a philosopher par excellence in Paris, who was commissioned by the canon of Notre Dame, Fulbert, to tutor his niece, Heloise, a serious girl. Abelard and Heloise fell madly in love, and a child was conceived as a result of this secret adventure. When the canon stumbled upon their love affair, Abelard decided to send Heloise to a convent to avoid her uncle’s wrath. However, the uncle was convinced that Abelardo was only having fun with his niece and that is why he had castrated him while she was sleeping. Deprived of his manhood, Abelard became a monk for the rest of his life, but he continued to love Heloise. Heartbroken, Heloise became a nun in that same convent. However, the wonderfully moving love letters the two exchanged were later printed and inspired true lovers everywhere.
8. Shah Jehan and Mumtaz Mahal. Another Mughal love story that has endured to this day is that between Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal. After Mumtaz’s death in 1629, the heartbroken emperor decided to build a fitting monument for the love of his life: the magnificent Taj Mahal, hailed as the greatest monument of love. It is also among the New Seven Wonders of the World. The construction of this white marble monument took twenty long years, employing 20,000 workers and 1,000 elephants. Shah Jehan was overthrown by his own son, Aurangazeb, and imprisoned in the Red Fort in Agra. He spent his long, lonely years, standing and looking across the Jamuna River at the gleaming white monument of his beloved queen. Finally, Shah Jehan was buried next to her in the Taj Mahal. Lovers try to see the Taj Mahal on a full moon night, it is an unforgettable sight.
9. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. This is an incredible love story in which an English monarch mourned the death of her husband, the only man she loved, for 40 long years. Victoria ascended to the throne of England in 1837 and married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in 1840. Deeply devoted to her husband, Victoria was devastated when Albert died in 1861. The grieving queen avoided all appearances public for three years. . Even after her return to public life, she never stopped mourning her beloved husband and continued to wear black until his death in 1901. It was under his rule, the longest in the history of England, that Britain became a world power in which “the sun never sets”.
10. Orpheus and Eurydice. In this ancient Greek love story, Orpheus fell madly in love with Eurydice, a beautiful nymph, and married her. Casting a shadow over this happy couple was Aristaeus, the Greek god of land and agriculture, who also had an eye on the ethereal Eurydice. One day, while trying to escape Aristaeus’ amorous pursuit, Eurydice inadvertently stumbled directly into a den of snakes and was fatally bitten on her legs. The anguished Orpheus played and sang sad songs that ultimately moved the gods and nymphs to return his lost love. However, as with most love stories, this one didn’t have a happy ending either. And he lost Eurydice a second time, but this time for all eternity.
You realized? None of the love stories really had a “happy ending.” They all ended up with one or both lovers dying in the end, usually due to some colossal misunderstanding. I wonder if everyone had ‘lived happily ever after’, would we have felt the same sense of excitement that we experience now? We will never know!
