#Herodotus

Mihai Eminescu's poem centering on Mircea the Elder and Bayezid is analyzed through the lens of Aeschylean hubris theory, tracing how the sultan's transgression of cosmic boundaries — marked by the Danube as a symbolic limes — triggers the reversal of his own heraldic signs and attributes. The study demonstrates how cleidomancy, symmetrical imagery, and elemental animism structure the poem's deeper argument: that Mircea, as instrument of universal order, restores the cosmic equilibrium shattered by Ottoman expansion.

The study analyses the sources and poetic technique in Eminescu’s ‘Letter III’, examining how the Herodotean motifs of Cyrus, Darius and Xerxes, as filtered through Jordanes and Aeschylus, structure Mircea’s address to Bayezid as an apotropaic formula, whilst key terms such as ‘towering’, ‘tree’, ‘earth’ and ‘water’ are stylistically adapted to turn the invader’s symbols against him.

D. Caracostea’s study analyses the literary and historical sources of Eminescu’s ‘Letter III’, examining the influences of Aeschylus, Herodotus and the manuscript translation from Coșula Monastery on the poetic structure of the dialogue between Mircea and Bayezid. Using a comparative approach, the author demonstrates that the poem’s organic vision synthesises ancient models and medieval Romanian chronicles, going beyond a mere borrowing of text.