Erotokritos (Greek Ερωτόκριτος) is a romance composed by Vikentios Kornaros in early 17th century Crete. It consists of 10,012 fifteen-syllable-rhymed verses.

Its themes are love, honour, friendship and courage. It is written in the Cretan variety of Greek language. A particular type of rhyming used in the traditional mantinades was also the one used in Erotokritos.

Direct model of the work is the French popular medieval romance Paris et Vienne composed by Pierre de la Cypède, that was printed in 1487 and was widely diffused, as it was translated in many European languages.

Erotokritos and Erophili by Georgios Hortatzis constitute the classic examples of Greek Renaissance literature.

It remains a popular work until today, largely due to the music that accompanies it when it is publicly recited. Several groups of renowned Cretan musicians have added selected parts of the poem to their music, often exploring the boundaries of their local musical tradition.

Vitsentzos Kornaros is considered to be the greatest of all the Cretan poets and one of the most significant and influential figures in the entire course of Greek poetry. He was the son of a Venetian-Cretan aristocrat and was born near Sitia, Crete in 1553. Later, when he married, he came to live in Candia (now Heraklion) where he joined the Academia dei Stravaganti. Kornaros died in 1617, thus he is an exact contemporary of William Shakespeare.

Erotokritos sets great store by true love, friendship, courage, and patriotism, and this is the reason for its later popularity all over Greece. It was a source of inspiration for Dionysios Solomos and influenced Greek poets as diverse as Kostis Palamas, Kostas Krystallis, and George Seferis. A complete translation to English was made by Theodore Stephanides in verse, and by Betts, Gauntlett and Spilias in prose.

source: Ερωτóκριτος

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Ο Ερωτόκριτος είναι μία έμμετρη μυθιστορία που συντέθηκε από τον Βιτσέντζο Κορνάρο στην Κρήτη τον 17ο αιώνα. Αποτελείται από 10.012 (οι τελευταίοι δώδεκα αναφέρονται στον ποιητή) ιαμβικούς δεκαπεντασύλλαβους ομοιοκατάληκτους στίχους στην Κρητική διάλεκτο. Κεντρικό θέμα του είναι ο έρωτας ανάμεσα σε δύο νέους, τον Ερωτόκριτο (που στο έργο αναφέρεται μόνο ως Ρωτόκριτος ή Ρώκριτος) και την Αρετούσα, και γύρω από αυτό περιστρέφονται και άλλα θέματα όπως η τιμή, η φιλία, η γενναιότητα και το κουράγιο. Μαζί με την Ερωφίλη του Γεώργιου Χορτάτση είναι τα σημαντικότερα έργα της κρητικής λογοτεχνίας. Ο Ερωτόκριτος πέρασε στην λαϊκή παράδοση και παραμένει δημοφιλές κλασικό έργο, χάρη και στη μουσική με την οποία έχει μελοποιηθεί.

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(h fwnh ths Krhths/the voice of Crete)