Acritic Songs - Origins

Origins

Most academics trace the origins of Byzantine acritic romance to the oral epic poetry of the 9th and 10th centuries. Greek scholar Socrates Kougeas (Σωκράτης Κουγέας) dates the earliest reference to oral epics of the 10th century to a speech given by bishop Arethas of Caesaria condemning the local αγύρται (agyrtae - the Greek counterpart of French troubadors) of Paphlagonia for glorifying violent acts instead of the saints and God. Kougeas aptly observed that Arethas suggests a tradition developed at that time exactly in central Asia Minor which was the cradle of acritic literature. The preservation of such important oral songs in Asia Minor up to 1922, when the entire region was depopulated of Greeks, proves that Kougeas's assumption is valid.

These folk singers may have been professionals, or semi-professionals that temporarily abandoned their jobs to sing their songs for pay. This tradition remains today in Cyprus with the ποιηταράδες (chanters) that sing regularly in festivals and holidays.

A famous theory from specialist Roderick Beaton is that the poem of Digenis Akritas was first written in the Imperial Capital, Constantinople, during the 12th century, using elements from the military landed aristocracy, originally from the empire's Asian provinces. These had fled to the capital after the Turkish invasion in the mid-eleventh century.

They made the songs to keep their culture alive, giving attention to skills in war, personal honour and courage, and an aristocratic way of life.