Hero and Leander

Lines 1-90

The speaker sets the scene and describes the two protagonists, Hero and Leander, in some detail. The description of Hero (Lines 4 to 50) is noticeable for its comic extravagance and exaggeration. Hero is presented as an alluring, goddess-like figure. As she sits in Venus’s temple, men gaze on her enraptured. She is attired in fine linen garments lined with silk. On the sleeves are depictions of a naked Venus who is trying to win the love of the scornful youth Adonis—a well-known mythological story (See: Background). This sets up the paradox that Marlowe will exploit in the poem: Hero may think of herself as “Venus’ nun” (Line 45), and nuns are indeed committed to female chastity, but Venus is also the “lusty” goddess of love, with all the sensual enjoyment that such an office implies.

The description of Hero’s clothing continues with the rather fantastical and lurid detail that her blue kirtle (a skirt or gown) is stained with blood because many would-be lovers have died by suicide when she rejected them (Lines 15-16). It is hard to imagine the demure Hero—as she is presented in her interactions with Leander—to countenance and bring attention to this kind of slaughter, but Marlowe’s purpose is not to create characters that are credible in every detail.