William EttyHero, Having Thrown herself from the Tower at the Sight of Leander Drowned, Dies on his Body exhibited 1829

The story of the two young lovers Hero and Leander is one enduring love. It has been a recurring subject in art and literature since classical times. The annual feast devoted to Venus, goddess of love, brought all the youth of the Asian town of Abydos- including Leander- to Venus’s temple in Sestos. Here Leander saw the perfectly beautiful priestess Hero: they fell in love. To conceal this from Hero’s parents and her female attendant Leander promised that, come what may, he would swim across the Hellespont from Abydos to Sestos ( in Europe) every night so they could make love; to guide him safely Hero would place a burning torch on the top of the tower where she lived… (read more)