Reviews

Hero and Leander by Christopher Marlowe

friendofmarlowe's review against another edition

4.0

kind of a shame marlowe didn’t get to finish this.. getting stabbed in the head kinda does that to a poet.

*note: i only read marlowe’s section, so my review doesn’t reflect a reading of anyone’s attempt to finish the poem

georgie_libby_m's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

tay_of_sunshine's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

debbie_likes_to_read_books's review against another edition

2.0

I forgot I read this in poetry, during my reading week ahaha Marlowe's version was a tragic tale on the trageties of Hero and Leander with a mystical twist of aesthetic element in the poem

catipede_manylegs's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

4.0

Woven throughout the beautiful prose of "Hero and Leander" is the pervasive and oft-repeated (or even browbeaten) dichotomous theme of Woman -- through her hard-won "purity" -- as both subjugate and ruler of Man.

The playful lyricism of "Hero and Leander" becomes a leitmotif for 'female virginity as the bastion of a functional ancient Greek society', for the duration of the reading. Christopher Marlowe was killed before completing his poem, creating an honest cliffhanger.

evelynepisodes's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

eb00kie's review

3.0

At the root of the poem, there is a story of a very beautiful guy, the archetypal lover, who fell in love with a very beautiful virgin priestess of the goddess of love. They are separated by a strait and every day he swims to her and she has a light, but

Spoiler

one day there is a storm, her lantern goes out, he gets lost and drowns

. The symbolism of the story itself is striking: the lovers, the challenge, the blatant lack of practicality.

Marlowe died before he finished it, but we are left with at least two-thirds of the story. What he did bring to the story was his style for the horrible and the sublime. What's more, the story segues into small tangential anecdotes, which flesh out the culture and the tone.

studycat's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

tmfrancis's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

kygpub's review against another edition

dark emotional funny slow-paced

3.25