HERO in Greek `Hpc;I, and LEANDER in Greek AiavSpos, the characters in a pretty Hellenistic love-story, preserved in Ovid (Heroides 18 and Io; authorship of both disputed) and Musaeus (5th century A.D. ), besides references elsewhere, none earlier than Virgil; much handled in modern times, e.g., by Marlowe, Chapman and Byron. Hero, virgin priestess of Aphrodite at Sestos, was seen at a festival by Leander of Abydos; they fell in love with each other, and he used to swim the Hellespont at night to visit her; guided by a light from her tower. One stormy night this was ex tinguished, and Leander was drowned ; Hero, seeing his body, drowned herself likewise.
See the editions of the Heroides by Palmer-Purser (Oxford, 1898) ; of Mousaios, by A. Ludwich (Bonn, 1912) ; bibl. in both.