10,000 copies in its first day of publication. These tales led to the public perception of the Byronic hero. Some critics consider Leila as a personification of Greece, for the sake of which there was a war between the Ottoman Empire and Russia. Byron commented ironically on the success of these works in his 1818 poem Beppo: French painter Eugène Delacroix used the story as the inspiration of his 1827 painting Combat of the Giaour and the Pasha. So did Ary Scheffer who painted Giaour, today housed at the Musée de la Vie romantique, Paris. Influence The poem was an influence on the early work of Edgar Allan Poe. His first major poem, "Tamerlane", particularly emulates both the manner and style of The Giaour. Lithuanian-Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz translated the work into Polish. Mickiewicz wrote in November, 1822: "I think I shall translate The Giaour. Vampirism theme The Giaour is also notable for its inclusion of the theme of vampires and vampirism. After telling how the giaour killed Hassan, the Ottoman narrator predicts that in punishment for his crime, the giaour will be condemned to become a vampire after his death and kill his own family by sucking their blood, to his own frightful torment as well as theirs. Byron became acquainted with the concept of vampires while on his Grand Tour. The description of the vampire, lines 757–768: But first, on earth as vampire sent, Thy corse shall from its tomb be rent: Then ghastly haunt thy native place, And suck the blood of all thy race; There from thy daughter, sister, wife, At midnight drain the stream of life; Yet loathe the banquet which perforce Must feed thy livid living corse: Thy victims ere they yet expire Shall know the demon for their sire, As cursing thee, thou cursing them, Thy flowers are withered on the stem. The association of Byron with vampires continued in 1819 with the publication of The Vampyre by John William Polidori, which was inspired by an unfinished story by Byron, "A Fragment", also known as "Fragment of a Novel" and "The Burial: A Fragment", first published in Mazeppa in 1819. The lead character, Lord Ruthven, was based on Byron. Polidori had previously worked as Byron's doctor and the two parted on bad terms. Much to Byron's annoyance, The Vampyre was widely attributed to him and even included in the third volume of Byron's