(Λείανδρος), the famous youth of Abydos, who, from love of Hero, the priestess of Aphrodite, in Sestus, swam every night across the Hellespont, being guided by the light of the lighthouse of Sestus. Once during a very stormy night the light was extinguished, and he perished in the waves. On the next morning his corpse was washed on the coast of Sestus, and Hero, on seeing it, threw herself into the sea. This story is the subject of the epic poem of Musaeus, entitled De A more Herois et Leandri, and is also mentioned by Ovid (Ov. Ep. 18.19), Statius (Stat. Theb. 6.535), and Virgil (Georg. 3.258, &c.)
[L.S]A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology
Smith, William
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. William Smith, LLD, ed. 1890