Leon´tes

( 3 syl. ), king of Sicily. He invited his old friend Polixenês, king of Bohemia, to come and stay with him, but became so jealous of him that he commanded Camillo to poison him. Instead of doing so, Camillo warned Polixenês of his danger, and fled with him to Bohemia. The rage of Leontês was now unbounded, and he cast his wife Hermionê into prison, where she gave birth to a daughter. The king ordered the infant to be cast out on a desert shore, and then brought his wife to a public trial. Hermionê fainted in court, the king had her removed, and Paul in a soon came to announce that the queen was dead. Ultimately, the infant daughter was discovered under the name of Perdĭta, and was married to Florizel, the son of Polixenês. Hermionê was also discovered to the king in a tableau vivant , and the joy of Leontês was complete.—Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale (1604).