History
The song was composed in Asia Minor in the 9th century, during the time of the Byzantine Empire.
The Dead Brother's Song was widespread in the Greek-speaking world during the High and Late Middle Ages, as it can be seen by the many variants that have survived in various places of Greece. The song was adopted by the other Balkan literatures, notably by the Bulgarian and Serbian.
In 1962, Mikis Theodorakis composed a dramatic synthesis based on The Dead Brother's Song named The Ballad of the Dead Brother which referred to the Greek Civil War and the then oppressive political situation in Greece.
Read more about this topic: The Dead Brother's Song
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