Hero and Leander - a new interpretation through the lens of law and governance
The story of Hero and Leander fits nicely into my take on Greek myth being a metaphor for law and governance.
Hero is a priestess of Aphrodite, the goddess that rises from the foam and froth of lies and misinformation and is the embodiment of Truth. She lived in a tower in Sestos on the European side of the Hellespont, and was the object of affection of Leander, a young man from Abydos on the opposite side of the strait.
Every night he swims across the Hellespont to spend time with her. Hero lights a lamp at the top of her tower to guide his way. The light at the top of the tower is metaphor for a beacon of truth. The location of Sestos, which means 'to sift' (truth from lies) adds weight to this train of thought.
Leander's soft words and charms—and his argument that Aphrodite, as the goddess of love and sex, would scorn the worship of a virgin—convince Hero to make love with him.
The metaphor is that Leander, (translated - Lion [lying] man) from Abydos (translated - Bottomless - a lie that one can't get to the bottom of) tricks Hero and mixes her truth in the jurisdiction of the living land with his lies from the commercial dead corp(se)orate jurisdiction of law across the water.
One stormy winter night, however, Leander sees the torch at the top of Hero's tower. He attempts to go to her, but halfway through his swim, the wind blows out Hero's light. Leander then loses his way and drowns. When Hero sees his dead body, she throws herself off the tower (falls for his lies) to join him in death. Their bodies wash up on shore together, locked in embrace, and are then subsequently buried in a lovers’ tomb.
Here we see that although she was formerly wedded to truth of Aphrodite, Hero becomes enmeshed with lies and finally ends up in the commercial jurisdiction of the dead. Thus a hero is one that formerly was a champion of truth, but, having been seduced by the lies and pleasures on offer from the jurisdiction of commerce, is now destined to be associated with it for evermore.
The catch is of course that the jurisdiction of commerce controls money and thus controls the world, so that everyone who uses money is caught up in the lie. In this jurisdiction the big lie is preserved, celebrated and seen as a champion of the (twisted) truth, hence the title of Hero is applied to those who promote such ideas.
Take away - Hero is a bad term for seekers of the truth, but promotors of the lies of commerce will wear the badge with pride.