The katapontismos

Speranza


or leap into the sea.

If Leucatas thre himself into the sea to escape from Apollo, Cefalo does the same but for the opposite reason, namely because he is the disappointed lover of Pterelas, king of the Taphians.

The katapontismos was no doubt a magical act, whose purpose was to force the beloved to recognise that a love that could drive the lover to such extremes must be of a sacred nature.