<P> I have heard it over, And it is nothing, nothing in the world, Unless you can find sport in their (The Mechanicals') intents, Extremely stretched, & conned (learnt) with cruel pain, To do you service . </P> <P> Theseus, eager to please his fiancee, Hippolyta, and the rest of his court, chooses Pyramus and Thisbe despite Philostrate's efforts . Because of its amateurishness, the play turns out to be humorous . </P> <P> In most contemporary performances Philostrate's name is usually pronounced: FILL - uh - straight, (to rhyme with "illustrate") with a short "uh" rather than a long "oo" because the medial vowel is unaccented . </P> <P> However, a variation to this would be based on the conventions of classical Greek . In this case, the final "e" would be pronounced (as an "ee" or "aye"), giving the name four syllables, and the accent would shift from the first syllable, to either the second or third syllable, depending on whether the medial syllables are considered short or long . It would then be pronounced: fill - uh - STRA - tay . </P>

Who is philostrate in a midsummer's night dream