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The continuance of Marlowe's implied homosexuality is in the courting of Leander by Neptune, in which Neptune mistakes him for someone else, and his advances upon Leander are unwelcome, and Leander urges that "he is not a female!!"

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The two characters ultimately are the perfect representatives of "carpe diem."

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The comedy in the poem is ultimately in and of itself a dark humor- there is no light, romantic humor to it, but a haunting sense of dread between the two lovers that neither of them can recognize- this is most evident in Hero's hesitance.

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Some critics take Marlowe's feminine description of Leander's beauty as a sign of Marlowe's own homosexuality, due to the manner and sharp contrast in which Hero and Leander are described.

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Hero is repeatedly referred to as "Venus' nun", as in she is the virgin priestess of Venus.

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Marlowe, in his description of the two lovers in the beginning of the poem, describes extreme beauty as almost feminine, something that attracts and haunts all.

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Perhaps Marlowe was so involved with the romantic aspect of the story because his life was so high strung- it is rumored he was a secret spy for the Queen, and he was arrested on street fight & atheism charges.

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Others argue that, for the poem being so based on romantic notions, there is too much basis on description of erotic encounters between the two.

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Some critics feel as if Hero's tension between her love & her knowledge of what is right is unnecessary, and Marlowe too far goes into the concept as it delves from his other romantic tone.

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Others are critical of the tone of the poem, stating that instead of a clear, simple tone, Marlowe has multiple, very extreme tones.

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Some argue that Marlowe's detachment and use of humor to do so removes the characters from any sort of personality, and so by this humor and their long dialogues, the reader cannot connect them to a face.

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C.S. Lewis criticizes that Marlowe is realistic enough to keep a reader on board, yet not enough to make them FEEL for the characters.

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Marlowe's romantic detachment is counteracted by the humorous aspects of his writing, in which he almost mocks the characters (Leander's eagerness, Hero's hesitance, their love)

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Critics say that Marlowe too much decorates the characters, using imagery to detach himself and the reader more from the story.

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Criticisms of the poem focus mainly on Marlowe's overly romantic interpretation of the lovers- saying he plays too much to their naivety.

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In the end, the lovers can only be united through death- a dishonorable one at that. Leander had mentioned honor earlier in the poem "honor is not won until some honorable deed is done."

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Hero's suicide is ironic because love knows no hate, yet she throws herself down to hell- the greatest symbol of hate- FOR love.

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Hero throws herself off the top of her tower into the Hellespont, "danged down to hell."

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Hero rushed down to see her love, only to find him dead upon the bank. While this should be the death of their love, it is not.

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Marlowe chooses to tell the tale of Leander's death by use of Neptune, who gave him a bracelet which protected him of death by sea, and yet when Leander chose to ignore the stories told by Neptune, he rebuked his protection and left Leander to the will of the waves. This incorporation of Greek gods is a nod to the Greek tale from which he is adapting from, and helps the reader further understand.

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One night, a terrible storm kicked up, making the currents in the Hellespont bad, and the waves choppy. Yet, Leander was still far too much in love to risk not seeing his love. Leander's foolishness will be the end of himself.

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The light that Hero creates for Leander is a symbol in itself- a symbol of the two's love for each other. Even more so it being a "light in the dark" - their love kept them going even though they knew it was wrong.

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they missed each other desperately when they were apart, and decided that each night Leander would swim across the Hellespont, following a light that Hero would light each night for him.

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Yet, Hero also feels as if her hesitant nature should displease her lover, whom she still has desperate feelings for, so she continues to become acquainted with him. This is continued hesitance from before, yet following with the theme of will overruled by fate.

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Hero must deny Leander's request for her hand in marriage, because Leander is not from the same town and her father's approval would be denied.

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In their meetings, Hero feels guilty and ashamed, as she is connected to a man whom her father should never approve of. These guilty feelings and hesitations foreshadow the rest of the poem.

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At the end of Part 1, Marlowe begins to touch back on the fate of the two lovers, hinting at it by mention of gods and the "sisters" (of fate)

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Through much convincing, Leander convinces the hesitant Hero that they should become lovers, because it makes no sense for her to be a virgin worshipping the goddess of beauty and love.

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Leander flatters Hero in the church by saying that it is not she who should be worshipping Aphrodite, but Aphrodite who should be worshipping her.

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In John Baxter Sinkhorn's criticism of Marlowe's poem, he believes that Marlowe takes too much of the tragedy out of the Greek tale, and that he focuses too much on the beauty of the aspects of the poem- of Hero and of the two's love.

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There is a section of this epic poem that many cut out and label as a separate poem of Marlowe's.

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"whoever loved that loved not at first sight?" Hero and Leander fell in love immediately once they had saw one another- a bad habit which will cost them their fortune in the end.

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"it lies not in our power to love or hate, for will in us is overruled by fate." is a strong central theme of the epic poem, because their love was at the hands of fate

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"proteus" mentioned early on in the poem, who is the prophetic old man of the sea. He is carved into the wall of the church, as a foreshadow to the future death of the lovers

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"For faithful love will never turn to hate" seems almost ironic, because at the end of the epic poem, Hero throws herself "to hell" from her tower due to "shame and anguish."

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Leander, the man in the story, is described to have a face that could "make the rudest peasant melt" and one that "all men desire"

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Hero, the woman in the story, is a priestess of Aphrodite, and her beauty is thoroughly described by Marlowe. Her scent of flowers, fair hair, and kind demeanor.

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Hellespont is a natural waterway, a strait that separates the two cities of Abydos and Sestos, where the two lovers live.

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takes place in Hellespont, which is modern day Dardanelles, located in Turkey

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is an adaptation of the greek text of ovid's heroides