vii. Hero & Leander

On the coast of Sestos, in Thrace, was a magnificent temple to that glorious Goddess Aphrodite; made of white marble, with large towers looking out at that beautiful Sea, it had many priestesses and devoted followers to look after it.

One such priestess was a fair young woman named Hero; everyday she climbed the many stairs to the top of the tower closest to the Ocean, which served as her chambers, and looked out on those waves and dreamt of love for herself. Even as a priestess of that radiant  Goddess of love, or perhaps because of her status, Hero found herself lacking it in her own life.

This was all she could think of at the next festival, open to all cities around, as she watched and blessed and prayed over the many couples; husbands and wives and betrothed couples accompanied by excitable parents, each caused her chest to tighten and her eyes to water. It was here though, at this festival that brought such unfortunate grief to her, that Leander, of Abydos, caught sight of her and instantly fell in love. Kneeling before her for a blessing, he asked that she pray to her Goddess that he might know her name, and be permitted to love her; and so shocked was Hero, that she told him without a second thought.

Though from cities separated by choppy waters, Leander often found ways to make his way to her temple, bringing her gifts along with his offerings to that wondrous Goddess, whom he often prayed to that Hero might love him back. And taking pity on the young man, the Goddess filled Her priestess’ heart with tender affection, and soon they began to see each other often under the cover of Night. This continued through the season, Leander taking a small ship, or sometimes swimming, if that shining Helios grew hot enough to warm the water as he did the land, to see Hero in her temple; after she’d lit the torch in her room, she would go down and make extra offerings to her Goddess, and more often than before visited the temples of the other Olympics in order to pray for his safety on these trips. As the weather cooled though, she urged him to stop seeing her, worried for his health and safety; she promised she would write to him, and that she would see him again when the Earth warmed again, but both youths were filled with sorrow at their parting.

One night, overwhelmed for missing her, Leander caught sight of the torch in Hero’s tower, and knowing that it was not for him and likely just to bring light in the dark, he set out in search of a ship to see her anyways; not finding one, he decided to swim across as he had so many nights before. But the water was cold and the winds were harsh, the torch that had driven his heart to continue on went out, and soon Leander lost his way and slipped under the waves, and did not resurface. Returning from her nightly prayer, Hero found the torch in her room had dimmed, so feeling a chill in the air she relit it with brush from the hearth and gazed out into the Sea to imagine her lover swimming towards her, as she often did in his absence. Except this night it was no imagination, and she caught sight of the familiar figure bobbing lifelessly in the water beyond the temple.

Lost in her grief, Hero did not hesitate as she gathered up her skirts and climbed the window ledge, throwing herself down against the waves to be again with the man she so loved. And seeing the awful fate of these lovers, blessed and favored by sweet Aphrodite Herself, and not wanting them to be lost without rites on Earth, or separated from one another in death, she pleaded with Poseidon to push them gently to shore. When the storm of the night passed, the other priestesses found Hero and Leander on the beach, wrapped in an embrace as if they were sleeping.