A Comparative Study of Love Water and Tragedy in Hero and Leander Neithal Thinai (Sangam Poetry) and the Tamil Film Neerparavai across Time

Abstract

This paper undertakes a comparative study of three cultural texts from different times and traditions: the Greek myth of Hero and Leander the Neithal Thinai of Tamil Sangam poetry and the Tamil film Neerparavai (2012). Although emerging from distinct cultural contexts, classical Greek mythology ancient Tamil poetic conventions and contemporary Tamil cinema, these works share striking thematic continuities. Each narrative situates love and longing within the liminal space of the sea a setting that simultaneously sustains and threatens human life. The sea becomes both a metaphor and an active force shaping destinies and dramatizing the precarious nature of love. The myth of Hero and Leander presents the sea as a perilous boundary that lovers attempt to overcome only to be destroyed by its uncontrollable power. In Neithal Thinai the seashore is symbolic of uncertainty where fisherfolk lovers face separation danger and longing. In Neerparavai the Tamil fishing community continues to experience the same tension between livelihood and mortality with the ocean standing as both a source of sustenance and destruction. By comparing these three traditions this paper reveals both universal patterns and culturally specific representations of tragic love. While Hero and Leander exemplify mythic passion and fate Neithal Thinai conveys poetic melancholy and Neerparavai illustrates social realism. The study highlights how water functions as a recurring symbol of liminality sacrifice and tragedy across different cultures and media. Ultimately this research demonstrates that comparative literature allows us to recognize shared human experiences, love loss endurance, across myth poetry and cinema.