The Siege of Sziget
The first Hungarian epic written was called, The Siege of Sziget, before translation titled, Szigeti Veszedelem. It was written in 15 parts in 1647 and published in 1651 by Miklós Zrínyi VII. Zrínyi chose to write about his great-grandfather, Miklós Zrínyi IV, who was a great general in the epic and real life, to tell the story of the political fight of the Hungarians, and to write the first Hungarian epic. It is amazing that this epic was written about the historical battle of Miklós Zrinyi's great-grandfather, which happened 100 years prior to writing the epic. In this epic we discover they also told stories about the family through the generations, but in the case of Miklós Zrinyi, wrote a family's story into an epic which was the first of its kind. This epic shows the importance of storytelling, sharing family stories and writing them down.
The Zrínyi territory was located between the Habsburgs (which they belonged to) in the Kingdom of Hungary under Matthias Corvinus and the Turks who were part of the Ottomans. The fight for power led to the famous battle against the Ottomans in 1566 called, Siege of Szigetvár. It began on August 5 and ended on September 8, 1566. The battle between these two led to the foundation for the storyline of The Siege of Sziget. The significance of the battle was that it stopped the Ottoman Empire from advancing towards Vienna and that the outnumbered Hungarian-Croation army kept fighting, and had great leaders to help them. The Turkish lost 20,000 men and the Hungarians lost 2,300. Even though the Turkish won, the famous Sultan Suleiman was killed by Miklós Zrínyi IV and many of their men died in the battle. It is known as the battle that saved the civilization of the western world.
In the prologue of the epic, Miklós Zrínyi VII includes the detail that his great-grandfather killed Sultan Suleiman, and remarks that he had to do some research on the death of Sultan Suleiman, which was both personal and national. He explains his reasons for only writing a first draft and why he did not go back to edit. He also lets the reader know he will mention love in the epic, as well as religion, legends, and famous authors, like the Greek poet Homer, and the ancient Roman poet, Virgil. The themes in the prologue show how the epic is personalized to him, his family, and the current socioeconomic status of the times.
The epic begins with Zrínyi commenting on the religious belief of the Divine Will in which the Turks believed. In the opening of the epic, God is angry with the Hungarians for their lack of faith and decides to make Sultan Suleiman’s heart evil, so he sends Archangel Michael to hell to suffer. Then Suleiman gathers his soldiers to attack Sziget, creating the battle and foundation of the story. The love triangle of the sultan's daughter, Cumilla, begins to be told near the beginning of the epic. This is where Zrínyi writes about his personal heartache that he mentions in the prologue, and turns them into characters in the epic. Before the battle begins in the epic, Zrínyi has the characters discuss the attack plans. His great-grandfather makes a pact with God which foreshadows that his requests will happen. Before the battle in the epic begins, Zrínyi sends his son away, who is the poet's father, because he knows of his death in the upcoming battle. This shows the family's personal history was embedded in the epic. Now the two armies battle each other over many days. Battle plans are changed, more love stories unfold, many deaths occur in battle, people are eternally sent to hell, and God sends help to aid the Hungarians. As the epic comes to an end, the Sultan is beheaded by Zrínyi. Zrínyi is shot and killed, which was part of his pact with God. The final stanzas are of angels carrying everyone's souls into Heaven. Closing with a special remark to give favor to his son, referring to Zrínyi’s great-grandson, the author of the epic. This is tying his family, once again, to the historical battle within the epic. The characters throughout the epic show themes from Zrínyi’s life and ancestors' lives.
At the time Zrínyi wrote the epic, the Hungarian’s were still trying to get the Turks out of Hungary, and he wanted the Hungarians to be reminded of the enemy. This epic also served as political persuasion for his people. He even goes as far as giving the opponent characters some brave, complex characteristics in order to not offend them too much and have them some after him.