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There is the tale of Hero and Leander in classic myth, there is Tristan and Yseult in medieval lore, but the most famous pair of lovers in world literature is Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (first performed in 1594, published in 1597).
Shakespeare based his story on a narrative poem »The Tragical Historye of Romeus and Juliet«(1562) by Arthur Brooke. This English poet, in his turn, drew on Italian sources. As early as the XV century, Italian Renaissance short story writers several times retold the sad story of »star-crossed lovers«. From the realm of fiction it soon passed into the realm of fact: Girolamo della Corta presented it as a fact in his »History of Verona«(1596), and the Veronians hurried to build »the tomb of Romeo and Juliet«, still a tourist attraction. From Italy the story spread all around Europe. Lope de Vega used it in his 1600 play, Pierre Boitaux — in 1566.
But after Shakespeare, his version of the plot firmly dominated the authors of next generations. It is easily recognizable in Heinrich von Kleist's tragedy »Die Familie Schroffenstein« (1803), in Gottfried Keller's story »The peasant Romeo and Juliet« (1856). An opera by Charles Gounod (1865), a symphony by Hestor Berlioz (1851), a ballet by Sergey Prokofiev (1936) are the major musical works inspired by Shakespeare, and there is a number of outstanding filmed versions of »Romeo and Juliet«.
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