The Tragedy of Mariam

Cary dedicates her play to the moon goddess Diana, whom she describes as a lesser but compelling companion of the sun god Phoebus. She describes the sun as illuminating the opposite side of the world (the Antipodes) while the moon illuminates her own as she writes.

Cary ends the dedication by comparing the glories of the sun to the differing but equally important glories of the moon. While the sun shines on Italy, where Herod and other important men have gathered in Rome, the moon shines on Palestine, where the Jewish women are engaged in mourning, philosophizing, and plotting. She refers to “her first” as a commitment to Apollo, the highest and most beautiful god of the sun, and says she is now creating a “second to Diana” (Dedication 13, 14).

Cary lists 16 characters and a Chorus:

Herod, King of Judea

Doris, his first wife

Mariam, his second wife

Salome, his sister

Antipater, his son by Doris

Alexandra, Mariam’s mother

Silleus, Prince of Arabia

Constabarus, Salome’s husband

Pheroras, Herod’s brother

Graphina, Pheroras’s beloved

First Son of Babus

Second Son of Babus

Annanell, the High Priest

Sohemus, a counselor to Herod

Nuntio, a royal messenger

Butler

Chorus, a company of Jews