Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Hero and Leander" by Jordan Davis reimagines the classical myth through a contemporary lens, infusing it with a sense of whimsy, modernity, and the subtle complexities of human emotions and relationships. The original tale, steeped in tragedy, tells of the ill-fated love between Hero, a priestess of Aphrodite, and Leander, a young man from Abydos. Leander would swim across the Hellespont each night to be with Hero, guided by a light she set upon her tower, until a stormy night extinguished the light, leading to his drowning and her subsequent suicide. Davis's rendition, while nodding to the original's themes of love and determination, diverges into a narrative that plays with elements of the mundane and the divine, exploring themes of identity, desire, and the fleeting nature of connections.

In this version, Leander is depicted not as a tragic hero but as a "pale boy" whose interactions with the sea god (perhaps a stand-in for Poseidon or a personification of the sea itself) are marked by a casual disregard for the "magnetic seasons" and the cyclical, tempestuous nature of the divine and natural world. The sea god's love is a "fine and flashing monotony," suggesting both the allure and the tedious predictability of divine or obsessive affection. Leander's attempt to please the "boring god" speaks to the poem's playful yet poignant commentary on the nature of attraction and the sometimes monotonous efforts to maintain it.

The narrative then shifts to a more grounded scene, where Leander interacts with a figure on the shore, initially thought to be a "sunny girl" but revealed to be a woman engaged in the simple, earthly pleasure of eating a pomegranate. This transition from divine to mortal concerns, from the ethereal to the tangible, underscores the poem's exploration of human experiences as varied, complex, and deeply connected to the senses.

Davis's use of modern imagery and language ("I'm just ducking the waves, we have the day from school" and "I better go and the sea god back again to swimming thing thought") bridges the ancient myth with contemporary life, suggesting that the themes of love, longing, and the quest for connection are timeless, yet experienced differently across contexts.

The conclusion, with Leander incapacitated by "intense pain" after eating the pomegranate—a fruit often associated with the underworld and forbidden knowledge in mythology—ties back to the original myth's themes of love's peril and the inescapable fate. Yet, the mention of a school bus and games of prophecy introduces a layer of modern adolescence, with its own rites of passage and discovery, juxtaposing the mythic with the everyday.

"Hero and Leander" by Jordan Davis thus serves as a meditation on the enduring power of myth to illuminate the human condition, while also playfully acknowledging the ways in which ancient stories can be reinterpreted to reflect the nuances of contemporary life. Through its blending of the mythical and the modern, the poem invites readers to reflect on the nature of love, the pursuit of desire, and the sometimes capricious interplay between the divine and the mortal.

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