 At a more abstract level Myrrha is the desire for freedom driving those who feel trapped or bound, as well as being the incarnation of Byron's dream of romantic love.Byron knew the story of the mythical Myrrha, if not directly through Ovid's "Metamorphoses", then at least through Alfieri's "Mirra", which he was familiar with.In her essay "A Problem Few Dare Imitate", Susan J. Wolfson phrases and interprets the relation of the play "Sardanapalus" and the myth of Myrrha