Silvia Montiglio

The Myth of Hero and Leander

The History and Reception of an Enduring Greek Legend

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

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.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: I. B. Tauris & Company
• Seitenzahl: 304
• Erscheinungstermin: 30. Dezember 2017
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 218mm x 145mm x 33mm
• Gewicht: 544g
• ISBN-13: 9781784539566
• ISBN-10: 1784539562
• Artikelnr.: 47650304

Autorenporträt

Silvia Montiglio

Inhaltsangabe

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