The Legacy of Serbian Heroes

teenth century. In the poem The Marriage of King Vukasin, an actual
historical event where heroic Momcilo, initially a haiduk and than a
despot in Periteorije, a city near the rhodope Mountains, went to an
overwhelming battle against the greek and the Turkish armies.  and
when frightened citizens prevented him from entering the city, this
story was replaced by another non-historical legend about the conflict
of two Serbian leaders. However, the essence of the story has been pre-
served by both sides: a testament to the glory of loyalty against treason,
when evil is only magnified if it is coming from a person close to some-
one’s heart, in this case Ms. Vidosava, Momcilo’s love. In addition, she
has betrayed another big worrier by giving him to the midget, who was
able to overpower him and win by using trickery:

What was up to Momcilo’s knees,
Vukasin had falling on the ground;
What was a fit Al Kalpak to Momcilo,
Vukasin had it falling on his sholders;
What was a fit shoe to Momcilo,
Vukasin had both of his feet in it;
What was a fit ring to Momcilo,
Vukasin had three fingers in it…

Despite the comical approach the poet wanted to underline that the
virtue lies above the vice. That is why he compared unfaithful Vidosava,
who will pay for her betrayal with shame and with her life, to Mom-
cilo’s faithful sister Jevrosima. When her hair was tied to a post, “she
pulled hair out of her head” trying to help her brother at all cost. She
is the future mother of Marko Karaljevic, who will inherit his uncle’s
bravery:

Marko took after his uncle,
after his uncle, duke Momcilo

In the poem “Banovic Strahinja” and in other poems, Banovic Strahin-
ja was already among the heroes of Kosovo:

There was once a man, a ban Strahinja…
that once with the sharp sword waved,
with the sharp sword and with the right hand,
chopped off twenty heads…
Can’t find many of such heroes…

He is also a nobleman and son-in-law of Jug Bogdan, who became rela-
tive of prince lazar in poetry. nine of Jugovics, nine famous heroes are
all regarded as his brothers-in-law. His city, Banjska, was burned by
the Turkish army, who surrounded the entire Kosovo field in prepara-
tion for the battle; the city cried for Strahinja’s elderly mother while the
greatest Turkish warrior, Vlach alija, kidnapped his loved one. Having
learnt the news from his mother, Banovic Strahinja decides to set on a
journey to avenge and rescue his woman. The fear of the Turkish force
was so great that no hero would dare to go with him. He goes alone,
trusting only his sword, his horse and his greyhound Karaman, with
whom he speaks. He successfully defeated the Turkish army in a battle
sometimes referred to as a battle of giants that was filled with bitter
and irreconcilable hatred. He slew Vlach-alija and together with the
woman, who was helping the Turks, returned to his father-in-law’s
land. Jugovici, her father and brothers, wanted to tear the Turkish
woman to pieces for the betrayal but Banovic Strahinja did not allow it.
The last few lines devoted to this occurrence are somewhat vague due
to the poetic permeation:

I do not allow your sister to get thrashed, –
without you, I can piece her together
and I will piece my family together
I don’t have anyone to drink cold wine with;
so I bestowed it to my wife.

Several essays had been written about this poem interpreting its end
in most exquisite and beautiful ways. However, every interpretation
surpasses every deed of forgiveness and heroic mercy, which is the es-
sence of every heroic poem, as well as of the heroic legacy of Banovic
Strahinja. In another poem, he goes to the Battle of Kosovo:

Where there is blood to the knees,
this is where Banovic Strahinja has died.

Bosko Jugovic is the king’s standard-bearer, “always at his post, always
in pure gold,” with the flag in his hand he keeps standing even after the
Battle of Kosovo is over and all the Serbian warriors are fallen –

…still dispels the Turks to the crowds,
just as the hawk dispels the pigeon birds.

Such a man always existed in Kosovo and he managed to make an
appearance in the song by aleksa Santic, The Morning in Kosovo. ac-
cording to the poem, Jugovics are the brothers of empress Milica who
begs tsar lazar, after the Serbian army leaves Krusevac to go to the
Battle of Kosovo, to leave at least one brother in oath – Bosko Jugovic.
However the fate of the brotherless sister is the darkest. lazar hears her
plead and she welcomes Bosko before all the horsemen and begs him
to stay with her in Krusevac (the poem Tsar Lazar and Tsaritsa Milica).
Bosko’s answer, shared unanimously by all of his brothers, is dictated
by a centuries old testament: the fear of dishonor must prevail over the
fear of death, over the love for faith and for fatherland.

Go, sister, to the white tower;
and I shall not be returning to you,
nor shall I hand out a cross banner,
even if the tsar bestows upon me Krusevac;
even if my friends say to me:
look at the scared Bosko Jugovic!
He was afraid to go to Kosovo
to spill blood on behalf of the cross
and to die for his own faith.

Srdja Zlopogledja is portrayed in only four powerful verses; only this
much about him has been preserved in one segment of the forgot-
ten song from Kosovo. His name, which was gained in battle, evokes
fear in enemies for he fights with all his might and with superhuman
strength once acquired and now serving as his legacy:

What a great hero he was
that two and two he shows onto a spear
over himself he throws in  Sitnica
that was Srdja Zlopogledja.”

However, even those few words were sufficient enough for Dragoljub
filipovic to communicate to us the portrait of Zlopogledja with deca-
syllabic rhyme of his poem the Kosovo Peonies which begins like this:

The haired grizzle bear
on his scary shoulders he mantled
The head vessel mimics the snake
a cloudy storm fogged the eyes,
His two mustaches like two heavy arches
Grumbles the raven on the hat of the wolf.

Milos obilic, fearless and flawless, is the greatest Serbian knight. He is
made out of many heroic virtues and he is the only hero whose exem-
plary humane and moral conduct casts into the shadow even his own
magical defeats on the battlefield. He forgave prince lazar for his un-
fair and shameful suspicion, and was the first one to point out the
real traitor – Vuk Brankovic.  He swore to destroy the Turkish sultan
Murat (in the poem Prince’s Dinner), the only Turkish sultan that was
killed in the battle.
as it’s described in eponymous song, Milutin the servant, badly
wounded at the Battle of Kosovo, delivers the bad news to the empress
Milica:

Ma’am, Milos has died
at Sitnica, near the cold water,
where many Turks have perished:
Milos took the Turkish sultan Murat
and twelve thousand Turks;
may the Lord have mercy on the one who birthed him!