Mr. Shakespeare's tale of star-crossed lovers is widely believed to have been inspired in some part by the myth of Pyramus and Thisbe. Why? Well, there are definitely some parallels that are hard to miss. Both couples

• are young and desperately in love.
• are kept apart by their families who hate each other.
• plan to elope despite their parents (though Romeo and Juliet succeed).
• plan to meet at a tomb so they can run away together.
• are kept apart by a series of highly unfortunate misunderstandings.
• kill themselves with the same blade.

Yeah, we're going to go ahead and call that a similar story.