Digenis Acritas
''Digenes Akritas'', ) is a variant of ''Akritas''. Sometimes it is further latinized as ''Acritis'' or ''Acritas''. ( el, Διγενῆς Ἀκρίτας, ) is the most famous of the Acritic songs and is often regarded as the only surviving epic poem from the Byzantine Empire. The epic details the life of the hero, Basil (Βασίλειος), whose epithet ''Digenes Akritas'' ("two-blood border lord" ) refers to his mixed Cappadocian Greek and Arab blood. The first part of the epic details the lives of his parents, how they met, and how his father, an Emir, converted to Christianity after abducting and marrying Digenes' mother. The remainder of the epic discusses, often from a first-person point of view, Basil's acts of heroism on the Byzantine borders. Manuscripts and versions The Digenes Akrites is an extensive narrative text, although it is not in a pure epic-heroic style. No fewer than six manuscripts have been found dedicated to stories about him. The oldest two are El Esc ...
[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]