# Narrative Poems: 'Hero and Leander' by Christopher Marlowe

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/close-readings-6008264/narrative-poems-hero-and-leander-by-christopher-marlowe
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/close-readings-6008264/narrative-poems-hero-and-leander-by-christopher-marlowe.md
Podcast: [Close Readings](https://stenobird.com/podcast/close-readings-6008264)
Published: 2026-01-19T11:55:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/LRB9792034740.mp3
Audio file: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/LRB9792034740.mp3
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Duration seconds: 1009

## Resource

'Hero and Leander' was published in 1598, and anyone who came across it in a stationer’s shop in Elizabethan London would have known that its author was dead, killed in a brawl in Deptford in 1593. Christopher Marlowe’s sensational life as playwright and spy is matched by the wit, sophistication and eroticism of his eccentric retelling of Ovid’s myth, based on a sixth-century version by Musaeus. Seamus and Mark begin their new series by looking at the playful but often troubling treatment of desire in a poem that contains one of the most explicit depictions of sex in English poetry. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen to the full episode, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/applesignupnp Other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/scsignupnp Further reading in the LRB: Michael Dobson on the life of Marlowe https://lrb.me/np1marlowe1 Hilary Mantel on the murder of Marlowe: https://lrb.me/np1marlowe2 Charles Nicholl on Faustus: https://lrb.me/np1marlowe3 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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