The Davidiad (also known as the Davidias) is the name of an heroic epic poem in Renaissance Latin by the Croatian national poet and Renaissance humanist Marko Marulić (whose name is sometimes Latinized as "Marcus Marulus"). Likely finished in AD 1517, the poem, as its Latin title suggests, details the ascension and deeds of David, the second king of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah, who is said to have reigned 970 BC.
Origins and style
The author of the Davidiad, Marko Marulić was a nobleman, born on August 18, 1450, in the Dalmatian city of Split. He came from the distinguished aristocratic family of Pečenić (Pecinić, Picinić), the 15th century family branch whose founder was Petar, and only began calling themselves again Marulić in the 16th century. When he grew older, Marulić practised law in the city of his birth, serving as a judge, examiner of notarial entries, executor of wills, prosecutor, plea bargainer, and advocate. Marulić was also a prolific writer, who penned both poetry and prose in three languages: Latin, Croatian and Italian. Prior to writing the Davidiad, Marulić composed the Croatian poem Judita in 1501, which most scholars today consider his most important work.
In addition to the small portions that attempt to recall Homer, the Davidiad is heavily modeled off Virgil's Aeneid. This is so much the case that Marulić's contemporaries called him the "Christian Virgil from Split." Serbian-American philologist Miroslav Marcovich also detects "the influence of Ovid, Lucan, and Statius" in the work.
A literary translation of the Davidiad into Croatian hexameters was made by Branimir Glavačić and published facing the Latin original by Veljko Gortan in 1974.
Contents
The Davidiad itself is a versification of portions of the Hebrew Old Testament, detailing the events starting with the persecution of David by Saul (1 Samuel 15) and ending with David's death (1 Kings 2:11). For the most part, the poem is faithful to the Old Testament, although Marulić expands, modifies, and extrapolates from the parent text in a few places. Marcovich argues that these changes are usually done "to achieve special effects: poetic, rhetorical, [...] or moralizing; and sometimes for simply misunderstanding the source." Completed in 1517, the Davidiad comprises 6,765 hexameter lines among 14 books. A little over one third of those lines (2,386) are portions of speeches (there are 242 speeches in the poem, given by 63 different individuals); Latin scholar Miroslav Marcovich argues that this heavy focus on rhetoric is due to the "rhetorical character" of the source material. The Davidiad also includes 32 instances of comparisons (likely in an attempt to imitate Homer), as well as at least 50 instances of "moral sentences, ethic digressions, and Christian propaedeutics." These are of particular importance, as they index the author's character as "more [of] a Christian preacher and enlightener than a humanistic poet."
Summary
Marulić opens the poem by stating his intentions "to tell ... the glorious deeds of David [the] pious king" (Davidis memorare pii gesta inclyta regis). Several lines later, the poet then distances himself from previous epic poems, maintaining that he does not want "to sing ... of the fall of Troy" (alluding to Virgil's Aeneid), "nor Thebes" (alluding to Statius's Thebaid), "nor of the fields of Thessaly, stained red with Roman blood in civil strife" (alluding to Lucan's Pharsalia) (ego dicere Troiae/excidium Thebasue paro nec sparsa cruore/Thessala Romano bellis civilibus arua). At line 11, Marulić explicitly invokes God, asking him to "aid his song" (mihi ... cantanda ministres). By contrasting his Davidiad with other famed Latin epics, the author is attempting to stress the "divine authority" of the Christian Bible at the expense of Classical mythology and the epic poetry inspired by Pagan religions.
Book I then shifts into narrative and details the events leading up to David's anointing: the prophet Samuel denounces Saul, the King of Israel for failing to obey the Lord; the prophet proclaims that Saul's kingdom will be taken away from him. Later, after Saul refrains from killing Agag, the king of the Amalekites, Samuel once again announces that Saul will be deposed as king and then Samuel himself hews the captive king into pieces. The Lord then leads Samuel to Jesse of Bethlehem, where the prophet discovers David and secretly appoints him as the future King of Israel. David eventually becomes the weapon-bearer of Saul, and during the war between the Israelites and the Philistines, he kills Goliath. After this loss, the Philistines flee the land.