Hero and Leander is a famous tragic love story from ancient Greek mythology, recounting the tale of two young lovers. Hero, trapped in a tower, would light a candle in her window each night giving direction to Leander who would swim across the Hellespont and climb up to her room. The tale has a tragic ending, one stormy night the candle is blown out and Leander drowns, and upon seeing his dead body in the sea, Hero drowned herself likewise. It is often considered a precursor to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, as well as the beginning of the literary trope of a princess trapped in a tower. The diptych presented here uses as its source text, a letter written from Hero to Leander,
which is recorded in Ovid’s metamorphosis; it is, for all intents and purposes, a love letter from one young lover to another. This piece is a continuation of Rowell’s exploration into mythology and ancient
texts, making up part of his ‘Legacy Series’.