It is said that in Ephesus, in the 1st century, a young man (Callimachus) falls in love-- well, lust, really-- for Drusiana, a married woman who has taken a vow of chastity. When he reveals his intentions, she prays for death to avoid scandal and preserve her chastity, and dies. Her husband, Andronicus, and St. John bury her that very day. Callimachus bribes the guard at the tomb to give him her body. Alone at last with the dead woman, he "embraces" her, and falls dead himself. Andronicus and St. John have a vision of Christ, who suggests that they resurrect both Drusiana and Callimachus. They do, and Callimachus repents his evil ways and becomes a good Christian.

This story appears in the apocrypha version of the Acts of the Apostles, specifically the Acts of John. It became a big hit when Hroswitha opened her play of the same name at Gandersheim in the 10th century.