[3] Edward Chaney suggested that Robert Greene when writing Pandosto may have had in mind the Earl of Oxford's suspicions about the paternity of his daughter (granddaughter of Lord Burghley) when he returned in 1576 from his continental tour that may have included Sicily.
[4] Greene's story contains darker elements than Shakespeare's version (who lightened the mood of the play for comic and romantic purposes).
His pursuit of this unfounded charge leads him to send his infant daughter out to sea to die and causes the death of his son and his wife.
In terms of the plot, he removed the suicide and added a resurrection scene, bringing the queen back to life using either magic or a death trick, depending on interpretation.
The original titles, altered for 1607 edition, were The Fishermans Tale: Of the famous Actes, Life, and Loue of Cassander, a Grecian Knight, 1595. and Flora's Fortune.