Hero and Leander is the
Greek myth
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of d ...
relating the story of Hero ( grc, Ἡρώ, ''Hērṓ''; ), a priestess of
Aphrodite
Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols inclu ...
(
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...
in Roman mythology) who dwelt in a tower in
Sestos on the European side of the
Hellespont, and Leander ( grc, Λέανδρος, ''Léandros''), 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 succumbed to his charms and they made love. Their secret love affair lasted through a warm summer. They had agreed to part during winter and resume in the spring due to the nature of the waters. One stormy winter night, Leander saw the torch at the top of Hero's tower. The strong winter wind blew out Hero's light and 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.
Their bodies washed up on shore together in an embrace and they were buried in a lover's tomb on the shore.
Attestations
Scholarship indicates that the myth is attested in Ovid's ''Heroides'', in
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...
's ''
Georgics
The ''Georgics'' ( ; ) is a poem by Latin poet Virgil, likely published in 29 BCE. As the name suggests (from the Greek word , ''geōrgika'', i.e. "agricultural (things)") the subject of the poem is agriculture; but far from being an example ...
'' and in poet Mousaios' (or Musaeus') epic poem.
The ''
Double Heroides
The ''Double Heroides'' are a set of six epistolary poems allegedly composed by Ovid in Latin elegiac couplets, following the fifteen poems of his ''Heroides'', and numbered 16 to 21 in modern scholarly editions. These six poems present three sepa ...
'' (attributed to
Ovid
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...
) 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.
Cultural references
The myth of Hero and Leander has been used extensively in literature and the arts:
In classical antiquity
* Ancient Roman coins of
Abydos (Troas):
Septimius Severus
Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary suc ...
Caracalla
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor S ...
In music
*
Arrigo Boito
Arrigo Boito (; 24 February 1842 10 June 1918) (whose original name was Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito and who wrote essays under the anagrammatic pseudonym of Tobia Gorrio) was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist, librettist and composer, best ...
composed an opera, ''Ero e Leandro'', but destroyed it. His libretto was later set by
Giovanni Bottesini (1879) and
Luigi Mancinelli
Luigi Mancinelli (; 5 February 1848 – 2 February 1921) was an Italian conductor, cellist and composer. His early career was in Italy, where he established a reputation in Perugia and then Bologna. After 1886 he worked mostly in other countr ...
(1897).
*
Francisco Quevedo
Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas, Knight of the Order of Santiago (; 14 September 1580 – 8 September 1645) was a Spanish nobleman, politician and writer of the Baroque era. Along with his lifelong rival, Luis de Góngora, ...
mentions Leander in "En crespa tempestad del oro undoso"
*
Robert Schumann allegedly perceived his "In der Nacht" from
Fantasiestücke as depicting the story of Hero and Leandros.
*
Franz Grillparzer
Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer (15 January 1791 – 21 January 1872) was an Austrian writer who was considered to be the leading Austrian dramatist of the 19th century. His plays were and are frequently performed at the famous Burgtheater in Vien ...
's 1831 tragedy ''Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen'' is based on the tale.
*
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...
(1759-1805) wrote the ballad ''Hero und Leander'' based on the tale.
*
Franz Liszt's
Ballade No. 2 in B Minor was most likely inspired by
Schiller and other
Romanticists
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
adaptation and interest in the myth.
*
Georg Friedrich Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...
's 1707 solo cantata in Italian, ''Ero e Leandro'' (HWV 150), is based on the tale.
*
Victor Herbert
Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, cellist and conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is bes ...
composed a tone-poem, ''Hero and Leander'' (1901).
*
Alfredo Catalani composed a tone-poem, ''Ero e Leandro'', based on the tale.
*"The Ballad of the Oysterman", by
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (; August 29, 1809 – October 7, 1894) was an American physician, poet, and polymath based in Boston. Grouped among the fireside poets, he was acclaimed by his peers as one of the best writers of the day. His most fa ...
, has a reference to the myth. The titular oysterman comments that "
eread it in the story-book, that, for to kiss his dear, / Leander swam the Hellespont..."
*Jack Dean & Company played at the Whirligig Festival, Weston-super-Mare, September 12, 2021.
In painting
*
Peter Paul Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradi ...
painted a picture named "Hero and Leander" in 1604 based on the tale.
*
Cy Twombly
Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly Jr. (; April 25, 1928July 5, 2011) was an American painter, sculptor and photographer. He belonged to the generation of Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns.
Twombly is said to have influenced younger artists such as ...
completed a painting in Rome in 1985 inspired by the story as told by
Christopher Marlowe. The painting is entitled ''Hero and Leander (To Christopher Marlowe)''.
In literature
* The 6th-century
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
poet
Musaeus Musaeus, Musaios ( grc, Μουσαῖος) or Musäus may refer to:
Greek poets
* Musaeus of Athens, legendary polymath, considered by the Greeks to be one of their earliest poets (mentioned by Socrates in Plato's Apology)
* Musaeus of Ephesus, liv ...
also wrote a poem;
Aldus Manutius made it one of his first publications (c. 1493) after he set up his famous printing press in Venice (his humanistic aim was to make Ancient Greek Literature available to scholars). Musaeus's poem had early translations into European languages by
Bernardo Tasso
Bernardo Tasso (11 November 14935 September 1569), born in the Republic of Venice, was an Italian courtier and poet.
Biography
He was, for many years, secretary in the service of the prince of Salerno, and his wife Porzia de Rossi was closely c ...
(Italian),
Boscán (Spanish) and
Clément Marot
Clément Marot (23 November 1496 – 12 September 1544) was a French Renaissance poet.
Biography
Youth
Marot was born at Cahors, the capital of the province of Quercy, some time during the winter of 1496–1497. His father, Jean Marot (c.& ...
(French). This poem was widely believed in the Renaissance to have been pre-Homeric:
George Chapman
George Chapman (Hitchin, Hertfordshire, – London, 12 May 1634) was an English dramatist, translator and poet. He was a classical scholar whose work shows the influence of Stoicism. Chapman has been speculated to be the Rival Poet of Shak ...
reflects at the end of his completion of Marlowe's version that the dead lovers had the honour of being 'the first that ever poet sung’. Chapman's 1616 translation has the title ''The divine poem of Musaeus. First of all bookes. Translated according to the original, by Geo: Chapman''. Staplyton, the mid-17th century translator, had read
Scaliger
The Della Scala family, whose members were known as Scaligeri () or Scaligers (; from the Latinized ''de Scalis''), was the ruling family of Verona and mainland Veneto (except for Venice) from 1262 to 1387, for a total of 125 years.
History
Wh ...
's repudiation of this mistaken belief, but still could not resist citing
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...
's 'Musaeum ante omnes' (''Aeneid'' VI, 666) on the title page of his translation (Virgil's reference was to an earlier
Musaeus Musaeus, Musaios ( grc, Μουσαῖος) or Musäus may refer to:
Greek poets
* Musaeus of Athens, legendary polymath, considered by the Greeks to be one of their earliest poets (mentioned by Socrates in Plato's Apology)
* Musaeus of Ephesus, liv ...
).
![Jan van den Hoecke - Hero laments the dead Leander](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Jan_van_den_Hoecke_-_Hero_laments_the_dead_Leander.jpg)
*Renaissance poet
Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) began an expansive version of the narrative. His story does not get as far as Leander's nocturnal swim, and the guiding lamp that gets extinguished, but ends after the two have become lovers (
Hero and Leander (poem)
''Hero and Leander'' is a poem by Christopher Marlowe that retells the Greek myth of Hero and Leander. After Marlowe's untimely death it was completed by George Chapman. The minor poet Henry Petowe published an alternative completion to the po ...
);
*
George Chapman
George Chapman (Hitchin, Hertfordshire, – London, 12 May 1634) was an English dramatist, translator and poet. He was a classical scholar whose work shows the influence of Stoicism. Chapman has been speculated to be the Rival Poet of Shak ...
completed Marlowe's poem after Marlowe's death; this version was often reprinted in the first half of the 17th century, with editions in 1598 (Linley); 1600 and 1606 (Flasket); 1609, 1613, 1617, 1622 (Blount); 1629 (Hawkins); and 1637 (Leake).
*Sir
Walter Ralegh
Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion ...
(-1618) alludes to the story, in his 'The Ocean's Love to Cynthia', in which Hero has fallen asleep, and fails to keep alight the lamp that guides Leander on his swim (more kindly versions, like Chapman's, have her desperately struggling to keep the lamp burning).
*It is also the subject of a novel by
Milorad Pavić
Milorad Pavić ( sr-Cyrl, Милорад Павић, ; 15 October 1929 – 30 November 2009) was a Serbian novelist, poet, short story writer, and literary historian. Born in Belgrade in 1929, he published a number of poems, short stories ...
, ''Inner Side of the Wind'' (1991).
* Leander is also the subject of Sonnet XXIX by Spanish poet
Garcilaso de la Vega of the 16th Century;
*
John Donne
John Donne ( ; 22 January 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under royal patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's ...
(1572-1631) has an elegant
epigram
An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...
summing up the story in two lines:
''Both robbed of air, we both lie in one ground,''
''Both whom one fire had burnt, one water drowned''.
![Gillis Backereel - Hero mourns the dead Leander](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Gillis_Backereel_-_Hero_mourns_the_dead_Leander.jpg)
*The myth is central to
John Keats' 1817 sonnet, "On an Engraved Gem of Leander."
*
Myths and Hymns
''Myths and Hymns'' (originally known as ''Saturn Returns'') is a song cycle by composer Adam Guettel, based on Greek myth and lyrics found in an antique hymnal.
''Myths and Hymns'' was first performed Off-Broadway, under the title ''Saturn Retu ...
(1998), by
Adam Guettel
Adam Guettel (; born December 16, 1964) is an American composer- lyricist of musical theater and opera. The grandson of musical theatre composer Richard Rodgers, he is best known for his musical '' The Light in the Piazza'', for which he won the ...
, contains a song entitled after the pair.
*
Leigh Hunt
James Henry Leigh Hunt (19 October 178428 August 1859), best known as Leigh Hunt, was an English critic, essayist and poet.
Hunt co-founded '' The Examiner'', a leading intellectual journal expounding radical principles. He was the centre ...
's 1819 poem
''Hero and Leander'' is based on the myth.
*
Letitia Elizabeth Landon
Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L.
The writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age. Her first major breakthrough ...
's poem ''Leander and Hero'' first appeared in 1823. Significantly, she reversed the usual order of names and used it as an example of mutual constancy.
*
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...
references Leander in
"Written After Swimming From Sestos To Abydos."; the myth of Hero and Leander inspired his own swim across the Hellespont (i.e., the Dardanelles) in May,
1810. Byron also alludes to his feat, with further reference to Leander, both in ''
The Bride of Abydos
''The Bride of Abydos'' is a poem written by Lord Byron in 1813. One of his earlier works, ''The Bride of Abydos'' is considered to be one of his "Heroic Poems", along with '' The Giaour'', '' Lara'', '' The Siege of Corinth'', '' The Corsair' ...
'' (1813) and in
''Don Juan'' (1819-1824), canto II, stanza 105.
*In Chapter XVII of "
Two Years Before the Mast
''Two Years Before the Mast'' is a memoir by the American author Richard Henry Dana Jr., published in 1840, having been written after a two-year sea voyage from Boston to California on a merchant ship starting in 1834. A film adaptation under the ...
" (1840),
Richard Henry Dana, Jr. relates an anecdote of the ship's cook, who had so bonded with a sow, "Old Bess", who had stayed aboard the vessel all the first months of the voyage, that after the sow had been taken ashore in San Diego, the cook "could hardly have been more attentive, for he actually, on several nights, after dark, when he thought he would not be seen, sculled himself ashore in a boat with a bucket of nice swill, and returned like Leander from crossing the Hellespont".
*''
Les Misérables
''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century.
In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...
'' (1862), by
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
, has a reference to the myth in Jean Valjean, Book V. Referring to the reaction of a duchess when she heard of the fate of her lover who died by drowning in the quicksand in Paris' sewers, Hugo comments that "Hero refuses to wash Leander's corpse."
![Hero and Leander by Peter Paul Rubens](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Hero_and_Leander_by_Peter_Paul_Rubens.jpeg)
*In the collection of short stories and essays by
Lafcadio Hearn, ''In Ghostly Japan'' (1899), the author is told the popular story of a girl who swims to her lover guided by a lantern, and he comments on the similarities with the western story: '—"So," I said to myself, "in the Far East, it is poor Hero that does the swimming. And what, under such circumstances, would have been the Western estimate of Leander?"'
*
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work.
...
(1865-1936) started his poem "A Song of Travel" with the words: "Where's the lamp that Hero lit / Once to call Leander home?"
*
Alfred Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...
's poem "Hero to Leander" has Hero begging her lover not to leave until the morning when the sea has calmed "Thou shalt not wander hence to-night, I'll stay thee with my kisses"
*Poem XV of
A.E. Housman's ''More Poems'' (1936) is devoted to the myth. It describes how, "
Sestos town, in Hero's tower , On Hero's heart Leander lies..."
*
Diana Wynne Jones
Diana Wynne Jones (16 August 1934 – 26 March 2011) was a British novelist, poet, academic, literary critic, and short story writer. She principally wrote fantasy and speculative fiction novels for children and young adults. Although usually d ...
's meta-fantasy novel ''Fire and Hemlock'' (1984) makes an early reference to Hero and Leander, both to foreshadow the plot and as a namesake for the heroine's alter-ego.
In theatre
*
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
mentions the story in the opening scene of ''
Two Gentlemen of Verona'', in a dialogue between Valentine and Proteus (the two gentlemen in the play):
:VALENTINE: And on a love-book pray for my success?
:PROTEUS: Upon some book I love I'll pray for thee.
:VALENTINE: That's on some shallow story of deep love: How young Leander cross'd the Hellespont.
:PROTEUS: That's a deep story of a deeper love: For he was more than over shoes in love.
:VALENTIN: 'Tis true; for you are over boots in love, And yet you never swum the Hellespont.
:Hero and Leander are again mentioned in ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona'' in Act III Scene I when Valentine is tutoring the Duke of Milan on how to woo the lady from Milan.
Shakespeare also alludes to the story in ''
Much Ado About Nothing
''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...
'', both when Benedick states that Leander was "never so truly turned over and over as my poor self in love" and in the name of the character Hero, who, despite accusations to the contrary, remains chaste before her marriage; and in ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream'' in the form of a
malapropism
A malapropism (also called a malaprop, acyrologia, or Dogberryism) is the mistaken use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, sometimes humorous utterance. An example is the statement attributed to ...
accidentally using the names Helen and Limander in the place of Hero and Leander, as well as in
Edward III
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...
(Act II, Scene II),
Othello
''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...
(Act III, Scene III), and
Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
(Act II, Scene IV).
The most famous Shakespearean allusion is the debunking one by Rosalind, in Act IV scene I of ''
As You Like It'':
:"Leander, he would have lived many a fair year, though Hero had turned nun, if it had not been for a hot midsummer night; for, good youth, he went but forth to wash him in the Hellespont and being taken with the cramp was drowned and the foolish coroners of that age found it was 'Hero of Sestos.' But these are all lies: men have died from time to time and worms have eaten them, but not for love."
*
Ben Jonson
Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...
's play
''Bartholomew Fair'' (1614) features a puppet show of Hero and Leander in Act V, translated to London, with the Thames serving as the Hellespont between the lovers.
*
Dion Boucicault
Dionysius Lardner "Dion" Boucicault (né Boursiquot; 26 December 1820 – 18 September 1890) was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the ...
mentions Leander in his play '
The Colleen Bawn
''The Colleen Bawn, or The Brides of Garryowen'' is a melodramatic play written by Irish playwright Dion Boucicault. It was first performed at Laura Keene's Theatre, New York, on 27 March 1860 with Laura Keene playing Anne Chute and Boucicau ...
' (1860). Corrigan refers to Hardress Cregan and his nocturnal boat-rides to his secret wife as being, 'like Leander, barring the wetting'
* The
song cycle
A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online''
The songs are either for solo voice ...
Myths and Hymns
''Myths and Hymns'' (originally known as ''Saturn Returns'') is a song cycle by composer Adam Guettel, based on Greek myth and lyrics found in an antique hymnal.
''Myths and Hymns'' was first performed Off-Broadway, under the title ''Saturn Retu ...
, composed by
Adam Guettel
Adam Guettel (; born December 16, 1964) is an American composer- lyricist of musical theater and opera. The grandson of musical theatre composer Richard Rodgers, he is best known for his musical '' The Light in the Piazza'', for which he won the ...
, references the myth in the seventh song of the cycle, ''Hero and Leander''.
In folkloristics
In
folkloristics
Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...
, the myth of lovers Hero and Leander becomes the
Aarne-Thompson-Uther tale type ATU 666*, "Hero and Leander".
Variants of the tale are also attested in Japan, where they appear as a local legends. In Hiroko Ikeda's index of Japanese folktales, the type is known as ''Tarai-bune no Momoyo Gayoi''. Philologist and folklorist
Julian Krzyżanowski
Julian Krzyżanowski (4 July 1892 – 19 May 1976) was a Polish literature and folklore scholar, best known for his study of Polish proverbs. Participant of the Warsaw Uprising. Professor at the Warsaw University and others. Recipient of Order of ...
, establisher of the Polish Folktale Catalogue according to the international index, located variants of the lovers' myth in Poland, which he classified as T 667, "Hero i Leander" ("Hero and Leander").
The myth seems to have inspired a literary version by Italian author
Giovanni Francesco Straparola
Giovanni Francesco "Gianfrancesco" Straparola, also known as Zoan or Zuan Francesco Straparola da Caravaggio (ca. 1485?–1558), was an Italian writer of poetry, and collector and writer of short stories. Some time during his life, he migrated fr ...
in his work ''
The Facetious Nights of Straparola
''The Facetious Nights of Straparola'' (1550–1555; Italian: ''Le piacevoli notti''), also known as ''The Nights of Straparola'', is a two-volume collection of 75Nancy Canepa. "Straparola, Giovan Francesco (c. 1480–1558)" in ''The Greenwood Enc ...
''.
References
Further reading
* Gómez Garrido, Luis Miguel (2021). «Fuegos En La Noche Y Amores Contrariados: Entre El Mito De Hero Y Leandro Y El Cuento Oral ATU 666*». In: ''Boletín De Literatura Oral'' 11 (julio): 103-16
Fuegos en la noche y amores contrariados: Entre el mito de Hero y Leandro y el cuento oral ATU 666*
* . "Hero und Leander (AaTh 666*)"
ero and Leander (ATU 666*) In: ''
Enzyklopädie des Märchens
The ''Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales'' (''Enzyklopädie des Märchens'') is a German reference work on international Folkloristics, which runs to fifteen volumes and is acknowledged as the most comprehensive work in its field. It examines over two ...
'' Band 6: Gott und Teufel auf Wanderschaft – Hyltén-Cavallius. Edited by Rudolf Wilhelm Brednich; Hermann Bausinger; Wolfgang Brückner; Lutz Röhrich; Rudolf Schenda. De Gruyter, 2016
990 .
* Minchin, Elizabeth. "Mapping the Hellespont with Leander and Hero: ‘The Swimming Lover and the Nightly Bride’". In: Greta Hawes (ed.). ''Myths on the Map: The Storied Landscapes of Ancient Greece''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. pp. 65–82. .
* Montiglio, Silvia. ''The Myth of Hero and Leander: The History and Reception of an Enduring Greek Legend''. Library of Classical Studies, 19. London; New York: I.B. Tauris, 2018. .
* Montiglio, Silvia. ''Musaeus' Hero and Leander: Introduction, Greek Text, Translation and Commentary''. Routledge, 2020. .
* Oliver Murdoch, Brian. ''The Reception of the Legend of Hero and Leander''. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 27 May. 2019. . doi
The Reception of the Legend of Hero and Leander
External links
*
''Hero and Leander'', full text*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hero And Leander
Ancient Thracian Greeks
Greek mythological priestesses
Mythological lovers
Love stories