John Lyly’s Endymion was a love play. Endymion was in love with Cynthia, the Moon Goddess. In the original myth, it was Cynthia that pursued Endymion. In Lyly’s version, the reverse occurs. However, there were obstacles in the way, including Tellus, who does not believe Endymion, and Cynthia, who holds unlimited power because she was a goddess. Tellus puts Endymion to sleep because he rejects her love and Endymion’s chances with Cynthia were over before it even started because Cynthia had power and knew that Endymion did not belong to her, however heartfelt Endymion was during the course of the play.
This play was written to Queen Elizabeth. However, Elizabeth was the role of the Moon Goddess in this play, while Endymion was one of her lovers, Tellus the loyal guard who believed Endymion was lying. Elizabeth died without a husband, so Endymion (the lover role) does not have Elizabeth’s love. Tellus was the guard who loves Endymion, yet he does not believe him. Love is blind, even if Endymion confesses everything, since everything was lost by the end.
Daisy, I took the liberty of editing this a bit. You are correct to say that Lyly revised the relationship of Endymion and Cynthia in writing this play, but I’d be careful about making the link to Elizabeth’s court too explicit.