Category: Parallels
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Erotokritos – Hidden Gem of Renaissance Literature
“When we think of Renaissance literature we think of prodigious poets and playwrights the likes of Shakespeare, Marlow and Racine or illustrious Italian masters such as Dante, Boccaccio, or Tasso. These names have become so familiar to us that to encounter them side by side such strange-sounding monikers as Vitsentzos Kornaros or Georgios Hortatzis is likely to cause a dribble of indignation…”
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From Cradle to Grave/ From Beast to Garden: The Journey of Digenis Akritas
“You can look at it this way: whether you realize it or not, epics are human. They are direct and simplistic but not crude. Behind every one of them is a living consciousness ticking and tinkering with bits of legend and lore – stories of people who lived and died hundreds of years ago, snippets of the one truly great story, the story of Us…”
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Of Birds and Seafarers: Exile/Ksenitia in Medieval Oral Traditions
“I first trod the paths of exile in sun-kissed Greece out of all places. The monsters I met on the way didn’t pray on my soul, as a matter of fact, they quickly became my friends. We were all strangers then, brought forth from our various homelands by the beguiling prospect of spending a year abroad in the port city of Thessaloniki. Yet, some of my loneliest hours were spent in that beautiful corner of the Aegean. I have stored vivid memories of the winding, narrow streets that I scaled endlessly, devoid of companionship, the shrub-laden hills adjacent to my house, where I sat contemplating sad truths…”
High Table 