Cyprus and Crete, some of which survive until the present day. In the later tradition Digenes is eventually defeated only by Death, in the figure of Thanatos/Charon, after fierce single combat on "the marble threshing floors". Thanatos had reportedly already wrestled with Heracles. The Greek-Canadian composer Christos Hatzis has used this text as the basis for a portion of his "Constantinople". The story of Digenes Akritas, defeated by Death personally, was used as a basis of a Russian bylina (a folk ballad) about Anika the Warrior. Form The Digenes Akritas is written in Early Demotic Greek and is composed in fifteen syllable blank verse. Rhyming occurs rarely. The poem does not diverge from the standard political verse of popular Byzantine literature. Each line holds its own and every hemistich is carefully balanced. The poem flows, is cadential, with no cacophonies with very scarce sound repetitions. Below is an excerpt from the translation of the Escorial manuscript, lines 32-55, by E. M. Jeffreys (pp. 240–3): See also Delhemma, the Arab counterpart Battal Gazi, the Turkish counterpart Prince Marko, a Serbian equivalent Beowulf, Anglo-Saxon equivalent Igor, Russian equivalent Sigurd, German-Norse equivalent El Cid, Spanish equivalent Notes References Sources Mavrogordato, John. Digenes Akrites. Oxford, 1956. The Grottaferrata version with parallel English translation. Beaton, Roderick and David Ricks (edd.). Digenes Akrites: New Approaches to Byzantine Heroic Poetry. Aldershot: King's College London, 1993. . Articles by Magdalino, Alexiou, Jeffreys, Mackridge and others. Beaton, Roderick. The Medieval Greek Romance. London: CUP, 1996. (hardback), 0415120330 (paperback). Much improved 2nd ed. Good discussion of the Digenes Acrites. Jeffreys, Elizabeth. Digenis Akritis. Cambridge: CUP, 1998. (hardback). Escorial & Grottaferrata versions with parallel English translation. Bartikyan, Hrach. "Armenia and Armenians in the Byzantine Epic," in Digenes Akrites: New Approaches to Byzantine Heroic Poetry (Centre for Hellenic Studies, Kings College London). David Ricks (ed.) Brookfield, Vt.: Variorum, 1993 . Further reading Vasilief, A History of the Byzantine Empire - The Macedonian epoch (867-1081) Includes an extensive discussion of the Digenis Acrites Hesseling, D. C. Le roman de Digenis Akritas d'après le manuscrit de Madrid, 1911–1912, 537pp. Bartikyan, Hrach. "Замeтки o Византийскoм эпoce o Дигeнce Aкpитe." Византийский временник, т. 25, 1964. Legrand, Émilie. Recueil de chansons populaires Grecques, Paris, 1904, 23pp. Epic poems in Greek Greek literature Acritic songs