Erotokritos; a Cretan Renaissance Masterpiece, a verse romance written by Vincenzo Kornaro (1553-1613), a poet born in Sitia and raised in Chandax (Heraklion)

The protagonists, Erotokritos (also named as Rotokritos) with Aretousa and an unfulfilled love for one another.

Erotokritos on his horse is bidding farewell to his beloved Aretousa; the tension and dramatic scene is expressed by the multiple forms of the hero and his horse.

The love story by Kornaros is still alive in the Cretan culture and it has been compared with Romeo and Juliette by William Shakespeare.

A tale that has become very popular to this day. This 10.000 line poem was written in Cretan dialect and speaks for the highest level of love and devotion.

The statue that depicts Erotokritos saying good by to his loved one, is dominating the Kornarou Square and proudly stand for the past decades, providing an extra flair to an always busy street.

— Concluding with a note by thegreekvibe.com

“The Greek Nobel laureate Seferis, said that true love, honor, friendship and courage – all praised in the verse of Erotokritos – have shaped the Greek character and “the fate of a nation. Always on the borderline of place and time, always preparing for a time of brilliance, always threatened by disaster…”.”

Kornarou Square was named after the Cretan Poet Vincenzos Kornaros, one of the great representatives of the Cretan Renaissance, mostly known for his work “Erotokritos and Aretousa”

— Artist of the sculpture: Yannis Parmakelis

In Greek Ερωτόκριτος και Αρετούσα
Πηγή