Pericles

Pericles is the play’s protagonist and embodies the archetype of the hero. Undergoing the classic hero’s journey, Pericles meets a series of obstacles that test his virtue. For his virtuous conduct, Pericles is “rewarded” at the end of the narrative. Since Pericles’s journey fits in perfectly with the heroic quest, it may seem that he is a stock figure in service of larger themes, but he is portrayed as a dynamic, three-dimensional character. 

As the play begins, Pericles is a youthful prince who has recently lost his own father. Despite his virtue and truthfulness, he sometimes lacks confidence in his own abilities and still seems unsure of himself as a ruler. When he cleverly guesses the answer to Antiochus’s riddle, Pericles flees the scene, unable to risk confronting Antiochus directly as an equal. When he meets Simonides, he admires him as a just ruler and compares him favorably to his own father, humbly believing himself to be weak, inexperienced, and insignificant as a ruler by comparison.  

Pericles grows in maturity and decisiveness while repeatedly navigating perilous situations, as can be seen by comparing his behavior in two storm-tossed scenes. In the first instance in Act II, the shipwrecked Pericles begs the gods to let him die on dry land, and describes himself as a tennis ball whacked about by the cruel waves.