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Full Description
Hero and Leander are the protagonists in a classical tale of epic but tragic love. Hero lives secluded in a tower on the European shore of the Hellespont, and Leander on the opposite side of the passage. Since they cannot hope to marry, the couple resolves to meet in secret: each night he swims across to her, guided by the light of her torch. But the time comes when a winter storm kills both the light and Leander. At dawn, Hero sees her lover's mangled body washed ashore, and so hurls herself from the tower to meet him in death. Silvia Montiglio here shows how and why this affecting story has proved to be one of the most popular and perennial mythologies in the history of the West. Discussing its singular drama, danger, pathos and eroticism, the author explores the origin of the legend and its rich and varied afterlives. She shows how it was used by Greek and Latin writers; how it developed in the Middle Ages - notably in the writings of Christine de Pizan - and Renaissance; how it inspired Byron to swim the Dardanelles; and how it has lived on in representations by artists including Rubens and Frederic Leighton.
Contents
INTRODUCTION 1
The Scope of this Book 1
The (Nebulous) Origins of the Tale and its (Nebulous)
Literary Beginnings 11
1. SEDUCTION, LOVE AND ATHLETICISM: LEANDER
(AND HERO) IN ROMAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE 15
The Exemplary Lover 15
Why will Leander Swim? Heroides 18 and 19 20
From Emblem of Lust to Bridegroom 37
Hero's Selfishness According to Fronto 41
Not Only a Love Story 43
Outside Literature 48
2. MUSAEUS' HERO AND LEANDER, OR 'LOVE
AGAINST THE WORLD' 59
A Brief Introduction 59
Darkness and Light 60
The Bold Lover 67
The Fearless Swimmer 73
Leander's Native Land 79
The Obstacles to the Couple's Marriage 81
The Urgency of Passion 84
Love Conquers All 88
A Neoplatonic Allegory? 94
3. LUSTFUL FORNICATORS OR COURTLY LOVERS?
THE LEGEND IN MEDIEVAL EUROPEAN LITERATURE 101
Part One: Neo-Latin Texts 101
Part Two: French Literature 116
Part Three: Germany and the Low Countries 140
Part Four: Italian and Iberian Literature 148
4. THE TALE AS MUSAEUS TOLD IT: HERO AND LEANDER
IN MEDIEVAL GREEK LITERATURE AND THE
DIFFUSION OF MUSAEUS' POEM IN EUROPE 177
Musaeus' Fame in the Byzantine Period 177
The Novelistic Musaeus 185
Caring About Locality: East Versus West 197
And They Loved Happily Ever After: The Sequel to the
Tale According to Giovanni Grasso 200
Musaeus Enters Western Europe, or How to Advertise
a Poet 204
EPILOGUE Looking Back and Looking Forward 217
