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According
to
Greek
myth,
Leander
was
a
young
man
who
lived
in
Abydos
on
the
Asian
side
of
the
Hellespont.
He
fell
in
love
with
a
priestess
of
Aphrodite
named
Hero
who
lived
in
Sestos
on
the
opposite
shore.
Every
night,
Hero
would
light
a
lamp
in
her
tower
by
the
sea
to
guide
the
devoted
Leander
as
he
swam
the
four
miles
across
the
strait
to
be
with
her.
One
night
a
storm
put
out
Hero's
lamp
and
Leander
struggled
in
the
stormy
sea,
fighting
the
currents
with
no
guiding
light
to
swim
toward.
When
Hero
realized
that
her
lover
had
drowned,
she
leapt
from
the
tower
to
her
own
death
below.
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In
ancient
times,
the
narrow
strait
named
the
Hellespont
was
a boundary
between
Europe
and
Asia,
with
Greek
civilization
on the
north-west
side
of the
water
and
the
Empires
of Asia
to the
south-east.
The
Hellespnt
was
originally
named
for
Helle,
a King's
daughter
who
drowned
there
in the
tale
of the
Golden
Fleece.
The
Hellespont
is known
in the
present
day
as the
Dardanelles,
and
is contained
within
the
borders
of Turkey.
Lord
Byron
himself
swam
the
waters
of the
Hellespont
in 1810,
inspired
by the
legend
of Hero
and
Leander.
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