Judita (Suzana, Molitva Suprotiva Turkom)

Judita is one of the most important Croatian literary works, an epic poem written by the "father of Croatian literature" Marko Marulic. Marulic's Judith has none of the decorative epithets typical of folk epics. Rather it is an epic poem notable for the Humanistic treatment of the subject and the author's Petrarchan descriptions of Judith's beauty. Thematically, the Judita deals with the story of the widow Judith who by her heroic act-the alleged treason, seduction and the murder of Assyrian general Holofernes-saves the city of Bethulia. It was no accident that Marulic chose the story of the Biblical Judith for literary treatment. The plot would seem to have contemporary parallels-a homeland invaded by foreigners, as the Balkans were being swept by the "eastern dragon"-the Ottoman Turks. This volume also contains two of Marulic's other famous poems - Suzana and Molitva suprotiva Turkom.