Hellespont Dreaming

There are two swims across the Hellespont this year. The first is in May to celebrate the 200 year anniversary of Lord Byron’s swim on May 3rd 1810. The other swim, now in its 25th year is on August 28th and marks Turkish Victory Day which commemorates the Turks final defeat of the Greeks in 1922.

It is a 4km swim, tide assisted from Cannakale in Asia across the Hellespont to Europe. Korean Air were offering return trips from Auckland to Istanbul for under $2,000.

But wait there’s more……. Here is the original legend for the romantically inclined.

Leander, who lived on the Asian side, had the misfortune to fall in love with Hero, who lived in Europe. The course of true love did not run smoothly. Geography was not on their side. The Hellespont has a nasty current ripping down the middle of it and a reputation for chewing up ships. And religion didn't help, either. Hero was a priestess of Aphrodite, and sworn to perpetual celibacy. So their meetings had to be covert and at night. Just as in most relationships, ancient and modern, the bloke did all the travelling. She held out a lantern, and he swam each night towards it. They copulated all night, and he then swam back. One night the wind blew out the lantern and that current took Leander out into the Aegean. He never returned. The heartbroken Hero had the decency to hurl herself into the Hellespont and the myth was born.