Epic
Svatopluk
Svätopluk
Ján Hollý · 1833
Synopsis
A heroic epic in twelve cantos on the struggle of the Great Moravian empire for its independence. In it Svätopluk wages war on the Frankish king Carloman, after which he becomes sovereign and founds a Slovak kingdom. The prince, treacherous and greedy for power according to history, becomes a national hero in it, and the poem meditates on true freedom and the just use of power and government, presenting the Slovak people as an ancient people.
Context
The poem appeared in 1833 and opens a trilogy followed by the Cirillo-Metodiáda in 1835 and Sláv in 1839. It follows the model of the ancient epic, in quantitative verse based on the length of syllables, which Bernolák's language allows to be strung together without shortening. The Encyclopedia of Romantic Nationalism in Europe sees in the three epics a defence of Slovak national rights against growing Magyarisation. Charles S. Kraszewski translated them into English in 2025, under the title The Slovak Epics.
Who it is for
A long epic modelled on Virgil, which is read today in the English translation of 2025.
Prizes and reception
First part of the epic trilogy that made its author one of the great figures of the Slovak national revival.