Comparing Marlowe's And Musaeus Hero Essay

1599 Words4 Pages

Comparison of Marlowe’s and Musaeus’ Hero In Musaeus’ poem, “Hero and Leander”, Hero is the subject of Leander’s affections. Hero, Aphrodite’s priestess, is introduced by Musaeus as aggressive when initially pursued by Leander:
“Leander followed Hero and drew more boldly nigh
Gently his hand had taken her fingers rosy-red,
With a sigh drawn deep from his inmost heart. No word she said,
But back from him, as in anger, she plucked her rosy wrist.
Yet well divined Leander her heart could now resist
No more- he grasped undaunted her bright-embroidered dress
And drew her onward with him to that rich shrine’s recess;
Then, with steps that faltered, after him Hero came,
As one still all unwilling; and with a woman’s blame (98-106)

Hero resists …show more content…

If ambivalent, she would not have taken so much care in protecting the flame. Hero braves the great height to signal Leander. The weather Hero braves just to protect the flame is too great for ambivalence to overcome. The indecision Hero felt before is gone and she embraces Leander, showing that her ambivalence is resolved.
Christopher Marlowe complicates Hero through amplifying her ambivalence. The description of Hero upon being pursued by Leander shows how Marlowe heightens her ambivalence.
“Women are won when they begin to jar.
Thus having swallowed Cupid’s golden hook,
The more she strived, the deeper was she strook
Yet, evilly feigning anger, strove she still
And would be thought to grant against her …show more content…

In Marlowe’s poem, Hero wishes she could ignore Leander. Hero is upset with herself for sleeping with Leander: “And now she wished this night were never done, / And sighed to think upon th’ approaching sun, / For much it grieved her that the bright daylight / Should know the pleasure of this blessed night,” (785-788). This regret and ambivalence after sleeping with Leander is not present in Musaeus’ poem, only impatience to see each other again: “A maid by day, by night a bride-- how oft the twain / Sighed for the sun, impatient, to sink to the west again!” (269-270) Marlowe extends Hero’s ambivalence further than Musaeus. The anxiety Marlowe’s Hero shows lends depth to her

Open Document