Ctirad and Šárka - Vyšehrad, Prague, Czech Republic
Posted by: vraatja
N 50° 03.834 E 014° 25.095
33U E 458363 N 5545897
Monumental statuary of Ctirad and Šárka, central protagonists of "The Maidens' War", a Czech legend about an uprising of women against men in 7th century AD.
Waymark Code: WMRJAG
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 06/27/2016
Views: 42
In the peaceful grounds of the ancient fort of Vyšehrad stand four monumental statues by Josef Myslbek depicting characters from early Czech mythology. One of them named "Ctirad and Šárka" depicts central protagonists of a CZech legend describing so called "The Maidens' War" - a tale in Bohemian tradition about an uprising of women against men. It first appeared in the twelfth-century Chronica Boëmorum of Cosmas of Prague, and later in the fourteenth-century Dalimil's Chronicle.
According to the legend Šárka was the chief actor in a drama of betrayal which took place in the seventh century AD. After the death of princess Libuše, the women of the tribe decided to run things in their own way, and set up a fortress of their own on the opposite bank of the river from Vyšehrad. They were led by a fearsome amazon called Vlasta, but despite a number of gory victories over their masculine counterparts, they had not yet managed to dispatch the noble knight Ctirad.
It was therefore arranged that Šárka should be tied to a tree, in apparent distress (railway tracks had not yet been invented), and that when Ctirad took pity on her, she should reward him with a cup of mead, which she conveniently had with her despite having been ambushed. When he was suitably drunk, Šárka persuaded Ctirad to blow on her horn for help, and thus he sealed his own fate at Vlasta's merciless hands.
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