Leander, a young man from Abydos, swims across the Hellespont every night to meet his beloved Hero, who lives in Sestos, on the opposite Thracian shore. A lamp, kept lit by his beloved, helps him navigate through the darkness. The two young lovers spend the night in passionate love, and as dawn breaks, Leander returns to his homeland. One fateful night, amidst a fierce storm, the lamp goes out, and Leander drowns in the stormy sea. The waves carry his lifeless body to the shores of Sestos, where Hero finds it the next morning and commits suicide by falling from the tower where she is isolated.

Ovid presents Leander writing a letter (Her. 18) to Hero during his hours of waiting, before deciding to defy the storm and undertake his fatal journey. Her. 19 represents Hero's epistolary response: she expresses her concern about Leander's delay, her complaint about the postponement of their meeting, and tender advice for her beloved to be particularly careful.

This book is the first annotated edition in Modern Greek of these two letters that Leander and Hero are supposed to exchange (Her. 18-19). It includes: an introduction to Ovid's work, emphasizing the collection of the Heroides and the ancient tradition of this particular myth. The Latin text of Her. 18-19 accompanied by an facing poetic translation. Extensive comments per couplet that provide essential information for understanding the text.

Compared to earlier interpretative approaches, this edition emphasizes more strongly the ever-present Ovidian irony and the subtle humor that the poet has not forsaken even in this work with its sad theme, bold insinuations from the poet, as well as the abundant poetic references that constitute a continuous discussion about literary genres.

The modern reader is surprised by the disillusionment of the expectations that the general knowledge of this sad love and death story may have evoked: Leander is more concerned with himself than with the object of his desire, Hero, while she is portrayed as a typically insecure woman fearful of falling victim to infidelity. Both correspondents resort to many clichés to convince of the depth of their feelings, achieving exactly the opposite.

Their exaggerations lead to parody, and the display of provocative naivety evokes smiles and gradually reveals that Ovid's version came to deconstruct one of the most emblematic 'equal' loves of European literature.

Vaios Vaiopoulos is a Professor of Latin Philology at the Ionian University, Director of the scientific journal Mediterranean Chronicle, and Assistant Director of the Mediterranean Studies Association.