The archaizing versions of the history of Digenis Acritas (from the MS of Trebizond) were the first to be edited, in 1875, and the first translation was made from the MS of Grottaferrata, in 1956. Both facts resulted in the poem being called a "novel". After Stilianos Alexiu published in 1985 his critical edition of the MS of El Escorial, the close relation of the text to a popular epic could for the first time be studied. The doubts concerning the epic character of the Digenis E have been similar to those which were set forth concerning the Poema de Mio Cid. The epic features of both poems are analyzed here as part of a longer research in which both the Cid and Digenis are considered heroes of an epic, not a novel.
Keywords:
Cid, Digenis Acritas, epic, novel.
Author Biography
Miguel Castillo Didier, Universidad de Chile
Email: micastilgriego@gmail.com Fono 2392292. Director del Centro de Estudios Griegos Bizantinos y Neohelénicos de la Universidad de Chile. Miembro de la Academia Chilena de la Lengua. Dirección postal: San Francisco 1141. Santiago de Chile
Castillo Didier, M. (2009). El Cid y Diyenís: ¿Héroes de Novela o de Epopeya?. Byzantion Nea Hellás, (28). Retrieved from https://rchd.uchile.cl/index.php/RBNH/article/view/1244
