Leander was a youth of Abydos, a town of
the Asian side of the strait which separates Asia and Europe. On the opposite
shore, in the town of Sestos, lived the maiden Hero, a priestess of Venus.
Leander loved her, and used to swim the strait nightly to enjoy the company
of his mistress, guided by a torch which she reared upon the tower for
the purpose. But one night a tempest arose and the sea was rough; his strength
failed, and he was drowned. The waves bore his body to the European shore,
where Hero became aware of his death, and in her despair cast herself down
from the tower into the sea and perished.
