Szigeti veszedelem

by Miklós Zrínyi

In 1566, Croatian Count Miklós Zrínyi defended the Fortress of Szigetvár against an overwhelming Ottoman siege for 33 days. In the end, with troops and supplies exhausted, he led the remainder of his men in a last charge into the enemy lines, killing thousands before being killed themselves. Almost a hundred years later in 1651, Zrínyi's great-grandson, also Miklós Zrínyi and himself a famed general, composed an epic poem of some 1,500 stanzas recalling in vivid and often fantastic detail the events of the siege, the heroes on both sides, and the climactic final sortie that led to defeat for the Hungarians and painfully empty victory for the Turks.

The epic, written in the fashion of Homer and Tasso, does not content itself with just a historical retelling, however. Written when the Ottoman threat was again looming large over all of Europe, the poet sought to marshal his countrymen, and indeed all Christians, against the cause of the overwhelming forces from the East. He framed his story, therefore, in the larger context of God's burning anger against the apostasy of his followers, which he uses the Turkish invasion to punish. It is only with a return to piety that the Christians can restore God's favor, but if they do ― woe to their invaders! The hero, Zrínyi, is one such believer, who is as likely to give a moving speech on the righteousness and supremacy of God's will as he is to massacre those who would assault his home. God rewards him with a martyr's death, but not before giving him the glory of finishing off Sultan Suleiman himself, as the demons summoned by the Sultan's wizard battle the angels who have come to claim the defenders' souls.

Part chronicle of war, part theological treatise, the poem also has episodes of romance and adventure, as each side is at once humanized and made larger than life. The work is today considered to be one of the cornerstones of Hungarian literature, and one of most important works of the seventeenth century of any language, but has been virtually unknown and entirely inaccessible outside of Hungary ― until now.

Genres: Hungarian Literature, Classics, Poetry, Fiction, Historical Fiction, School, Literature

324 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1651

Reviews

[Joseph Raborg]

This has to be one of the greatest European epics. It’s too bad that not many people know about it.

[miriam]

fuck this 😵‍💫

[Attila]

An epic poem written in 1647 about the resistance of a small Hungarian army against the Turkish invasion at the castle of Sziget. Considered one of the major literary achievements of the 17th century; it was the first modern work to resurrect the classical epic. Studied it in 9th grade and loved it. I'm surprised to see that it has such an abysmal score here on Goodreads - obviously most students hated set texts, and this is their little revenge.

[Nv44]

Istenem, a diákokat is megsegíthetted volna...

[Exina]

No rating.

[Elizabet Lőrincz]

Fantasztikus!
Felve alltam hozza az olvasasahoz. Nos, lehet jobb volt igy, de annyira tetszett, hogy rovid idon belul kiolvastam. Minden tokeletes. Alapjaraton igenyelem egy konyvben a szerelmi szalat, de itt nem vartam. Erre.. Arulo vagyok, ha Deliman szerelme konnyekre kesztetett? Mert bar Deli Vid es Barbara viszonya is tetszett, de Deliman es C. viszonya volt, ami megerintett.
Abszolute 5*. Adnek tobbet is, de csak sajnos ennyi van.

[EyesOfTheReaper]

Néha nem lehet érteni, hogy mit akar elmesélni.

[Hannah San Juan]

The names are a little hard to keep up with at first, but it does come with a guide. It's beautifully written and it is refreshing to see an non western epic.

[Maria]

Is a hungarian poem about faight, courage , war and partriotism, i would not reccomand to everybody, is out dated and more suited for school studies

[Nyasara]

Életem legnagyobb hibája

[Lulu]

1651

[Maja]

Very difficult to follow beacuse of the old language. Boring... But it does have some good fight scenes, although a "bit" bloody...