Hero and Leander

C. Marlowe, G. Chapman

Marlowe's poem relates the Greek legend of Hero and Leander, youths living in cities on opposite sides of the Hellespont. Hero is a priestess or devotee of Venus in Sestos. At a festival in honor of her deity, Venus and Adonis, she is seen by Leander, a youth from Abydos on the opposite side of the Hellespont. Leander falls in love with her, and she reciprocates. Both young people are described as having more than human beauty. Leander is described as so attractive that even men find him beautiful. The homoerotic undertones of Leander's beauty are a foreshadowing of a future event in the poem. The edition read here includes the continuation by George Chapman.