The Slavic Homer: From Grigorios Stavridis to Grigor Prličev
The Slavic Homer: From Grigorios Stavridis to Grigor Prličev

Summary/Abstract: In 1860 Stavridis/Prličev’s poem Armatol unexpectedly won him the University of Athens poetry competition, which met with opposition from part of the Greek community and a smear campaign in the press. Despite his declarations of having a “Hellenic heart”, the author from Ohrid was not well received by Athenian society. He took part in the competition once more two years later, this time trying to match Homer himself and presenting an extensive though unfinished epic poem with Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg as the protagonist. The paper, which serves as an introduction to the Polish translation of Skanderbeg, contains extensive excerpts from the reports of both competition committees, chaired by Alexandros Rangavis, especially the second one, when the judges justified why they could not award Stavridis the prize despite being impressed with his poem. His disappointment at his cool reception and his failure in the competition most likely contributed to a radical change in the attitude of the Slavic Homer, who not only stopped “serving Greece” but began vigorously eliminating any Greek influences in his native Ohrid.

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