Tobias 1 Report post Posted April 11, 2006 (edited) G'day All Whilst reading through some notes today, I come across a reference to a 12th century poem called "Digenis Acritas", a Byzantine epic poem. Has anybody else come across this poem? What is it about? Edited April 11, 2006 by Tobias Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew Dalby 0 Report post Posted April 12, 2006 G'day AllWhilst reading through some notes today, I come across a reference to a 12th century poem called "Digenis Acritas", a Byzantine epic poem. Has anybody else come across this poem? What is it about? It's about the fighting on the borders between Christians and Muslims, between the Byzantines on one side and the Arabs or Turks on the other -- and not just fighting, but marriages and alliances across the border too. Set in eastern Anatolia, at a vague date maybe 8th to 10th centuries AD. Digenis is 'twice born' (a strange nickname) meaning that he had parentage on both sides -- he came from one of these Christian-Muslim marriages. There's a translation by John Mavrogordato, which is a bit dull to read (I think), and another by David Ricks (1990) which I haven't seen. The title can be spelt in different ways, but I expect these names would come up on Amazon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tobias 1 Report post Posted April 12, 2006 Ah, that'd fit in with the context of the notes. Thanks for that mate! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Emperor Goblinus 0 Report post Posted April 12, 2006 From what I've heard about it, it's quite a humanizing story. Both the Christians and Muslims are depicted as just regular people, with neither side being demonized. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tobias 1 Report post Posted April 20, 2006 That'd make a good source for writing about the Muslims then. I've been meaning to find a translated version and read it, as i like adding such random bits of information to my knowledge Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Uros 0 Report post Posted June 11, 2006 Very Nice poem. Digenis; the protagonist name means: of two races and Akrites the surname means: Landlocked soldier(or fines guardman) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites