Hero and Leander. Hero and Leander is the Greek myth relating the story of Hero, a priestess of Aphrodite who dwelt in a tower in Sestos on the European side of the Hellespont, and Leander, a young man from Abydos on the opposite side of the strait.
Leander fell in love with Hero and would swim every night across the Hellespont to spend time with her. Hero would light a lamp at the top of her tower to guide his way.
Succumbing to Leander's soft words and to his argument that Aphrodite, as the goddess of love and sex, would scorn the worship of a virgin, Hero allowed him to make love to her, that is, she did not refuse any longer. Their trysts lasted through a warm summer.
But one stormy winter night, the waves tossed Leander in the sea and the breezes blew out Hero's light; Leander lost his way and drowned. When Hero saw his dead body, she threw herself over the edge of the tower to her death to be with him.
The myth of Hero and Leander has been used extensively in literature and the arts: Ancient Roman coins of Abydos: Septimius Severus Caracalla. The Double Heroides treats the narrative in 18 and 19, an exchange of letters between the lovers. Leander has been unable to swim across to Hero in her tower because of bad weather; her summons to him to make the effort will prove fatal to her lover. Francisco Quevedo mentions Leander in En crespa tempestad del oro undoso. Byzantine poet Musaeus also
Leander fell in love with Hero and would swim every night across the Hellespont to spend time with her. Hero would light a lamp at the top of her tower to guide his way.
Succumbing to Leander's soft words and to his argument that Aphrodite, as the goddess of love and sex, would scorn the worship of a virgin, Hero allowed him to make love to her, that is, she did not refuse any longer. Their trysts lasted through a warm summer.
But one stormy winter night, the waves tossed Leander in the sea and the breezes blew out Hero's light; Leander lost his way and drowned. When Hero saw his dead body, she threw herself over the edge of the tower to her death to be with him.
The myth of Hero and Leander has been used extensively in literature and the arts: Ancient Roman coins of Abydos: Septimius Severus Caracalla. The Double Heroides treats the narrative in 18 and 19, an exchange of letters between the lovers. Leander has been unable to swim across to Hero in her tower because of bad weather; her summons to him to make the effort will prove fatal to her lover. Francisco Quevedo mentions Leander in En crespa tempestad del oro undoso. Byzantine poet Musaeus also
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