Davtak Kertogh () was a 7th-century
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
n poet who authored the first known work of Armenian poetry on a secular subject.
He is the author of "Elegy on the Death of the Great Prince Jevansher" (""), dedicated to
Juansher
Juansher was the Mihranids, Mihranid prince of Caucasian Albania, ruling the principality from 637 to 669. He was the son and successor of Varaz Grigor ().
During his reign, Juansher changed his allegiance thrice. He started out as a subject to ...
, a 7th-century prince of
Caucasian Albania
Caucasian Albania is a modern exonym for a former state located in ancient times in the Caucasus, mostly in what is now Azerbaijan (where both of its capitals were located). The modern endonyms for the area are ''Aghwank'' and ''Aluank'', among ...
who was murdered by a traitor,
The only information that has survived about Davtak comes from the
history
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
attributed to
Movses Kaghankatvatsi, in which Davtak's elegy for Juansher—his only known work—is recorded. According to Movses, Davtak was a guest at the royal court in
Partav, the capital of Caucasian Albania, when Juansher was assassinated (669). This indicates that Davtak was a figure of some renown in Caucasian Albania. Movses praises Davtak, but gives no other details about his life.
concludes that Davtak was a travelling poet who "perform
dthe function of a court poet" at Juansher's court, and that he may be considered a Christian
''gusan'' (bard). He was a Christian, or at least composed a Christian poem.
The poem is written in alphabetical acrostic verse. It has been described as "in effect, a pagan lament over a fallen hero."
In the elegy, the author shows a familiarity with Greek mythology and the Homeric epic.
In van Lint's view, the work represents a merging of the oral and written traditions of Armenian poetry.
References
External links
*
English translation of Davtak's "Elegy" by Charles Dowsett on Internet Archive
7th-century Armenian poets
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
Armenian male poets
{{Armenia-poet-stub