In the story “The Widow of Ephesus” by Petronius, love, loyalty and extreme behavior are expressed through the actions of the widow. The widow's struggles and tenderness allow her to experience a range of emotions. People see her in the purest form of love and chastity, as she mourns the loss of her husband. She deprives herself of all comfort in grief, and is later tempted by a suitor only to deny him out of loyalty. Her pain leads her to extreme behavior, fasting, self-inflicting pain, and even denying her maid and soldier simple indulgences such as food. Even for a moment he resists returning a soldier's love. Because Petronius' "The Widow of Ephesus" is a great story that presents the wide range of human emotions and how one can accept and move forward. The theme of love is presented by the widow, as she demonstrates a deeper love for her dead husband. . She refuses to follow the procession with her hair down and the beating of her bare breasts in front of the crowd. At the beginning of the story, the widow is presented as pious. Her actions are described as overly devoted to her dead husband due to dissatisfaction with traditional norms of mourning. Petronius writes: "He followed the dead man to his resting place, and began to watch and cry night and day over the body" (1, paragraph 2). Petronius suggests the widow's love from her state of mind lost in grief, “Even to her resting place.” Another example of the love that the widow demonstrates throughout the story is her sacrifice of her dead husband's body to save her new love. The widow reacts to the soldier's pain, because the body of a crucified man has been taken and he will have to take his place. He shows that even... middle of the card... albeit a drastic change, this act of sacrifice saved his new loves alive, and in both examples he presents them with extreme behavior, self-inflicting pain and drastic views of the body of her dead husband. In conclusion the story, “the widow of Ephesus” by Petronius is that of Love, Loyalty and extreme behavior. The widow demonstrates her love through mourning and sacrifice so that her new love may live. Loyalty ignoring all cries to cease her fast and deny the advances of her new suitors. All of these show extreme behavior that could result from the loss of a loved one. They are Devotion, Sadness, Chastity and Fidelity that the widow shows and for this reason she is esteemed by everyone for her virtue. Sources: Petronius, Satyricon, Translated by Michael Heseltine, Loeb Classical Library (London: William Heinemann; New York: The Mac `Millan Company, 1913, chap. 11