MODELING POTENTIAL OF EPIC HEROES – THE CASE OF THE DUKE MOMČILO
The Bulgarian hajduk (rebel) and later Byzantine despot and sebastokrator, the
epic „Duke Momčilo“, is a figure who left a big mark on South Slavic epic singing, among other
things, as a fictional uncle of Marko Kraljević. He is one of the few people who remained
in folklore memory for over six centuries. Biographical elements determined the later singing
about this hero („tall as a minaret“; death at the gates of a closed city), and key details of the
established epic biography undoubtedly determined the range of Momchil՚s domains and his
further appearance in epic patterns, mostly in Bulgaria.
