Martyrdom Stories in the Syriac and British Poetical Traditions and Heritage.

Section: Research Paper
Published
Mar 1, 2019
Pages
69-102

Abstract

The concept of Martyrdom could be different from the Eastern and Western legacies beside being as an ambiguous term. Therefore, it needs clarification. For this reason, this study selects two poems one from the Eastern Syriac heritage organized by Jacob of Sargu and it is called "Habib the Edessan Martyr", while the second one is from British legacy of John Dryden which is "A Song for St. Cecilia's Day". In spite of the temporal and spatial distance between these two poets but they portrayed the painful conditions of martyrdom vividly besides delineating those miseries and agonies in their poetry clearly. They both work hardly to immortalize those two martyrs, man and woman; as an ideal model for all generations. They pictorialized the savage, fierceness and brutality of the rulers who used different kinds of tormenting to purge physically anyone who may represent a danger for their earthly vanished throne, crowns and glories. However, these Martyrs are causalities of their opinions, thought, faith, and confidence. The pagan and tyrant rulers obliged the martyrs by means of force to worship and venerate them as everlasting gods. The refusal of complying for those unfair orders caused a bitterly physical punishment and end in burning of St. Habib and beheading of St. Cecelia. The hero and heroine of these two poetical poems cheerfully accepted these sentences.

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How to Cite

Butrus K. Habash, F. (2019). Martyrdom Stories in the Syriac and British Poetical Traditions and Heritage. Adab Al-Rafidayn, 49(76), 69–102. https://doi.org/10.33899/radab.2019.164815