The Reading of Epic Poetry: A Breakdown of El Cid.

Roderigo Ruy Diaz of Vivar is one of the great folk heroes of all time. He is undefeated even by history. By this I mean he has withstood the inspection of his enemies throughout time. This speaks loudly about the actual man, Roderigo, and the mythic campeador, el Cid. There is humble faith in the poem and there is arrogant megalomania and the greedy are constantly vanquished. They are unlucky and not in favor with God. God is the pivotal point of the poem. All things done that could be construed as unethical or ungodly are punished. El Cid is the instrument of that punishment. The poem serves as a goal for which the ethical should strive for and, also, the concept of redemption for all injustices.

The poem is broken into three cantars, sections, that each represent a period of change in the life of Roderigo and the Spanish kingdom overall. Cantar one introduces us to el Cid in the beginning of his exile from King Alfonzo for having taken a bit too much liberty with the tax collection. Roderigo is still loyal to the king and plans on proving it. He has a buffer period of ? days to leave the kingdom or his life will be forfeit. On his journey from the kingdom , with sixty of his knights who remain loyal to him, he continues to gather a following. He has the respect of the people for he has really done nothing of consequence wrong. El Cid’s righteousness while under persecution is the thing that saints are made of and the lasting quality of the story to the Spanish realm and her subsequent colonies is the power given to the good and godly.

Roderigo fools two nobles into giving him money for two chests full of sand that he says are full of gold from his tax collecting career. This lie seems to be acceptable because it allows him to build his holy army. It is important to note that the lies told for the benefit of God are acceptable lies. The fact that this poem is put to paper by a monk seems more than understandable. The nobles take the chests and never looks in them because Roderigo asks them not to, simple as that. This too is respect and power, it is also fear. This can easily be related to the fear of God. Many faiths have this concept but the monotheistic triumvirate of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism make certain that their one god is feared by all others. The Christians and the Judaic people even have a hard time with the idea that their god is also Islam’s god. It is an illogical battle, using this fear, with allegiance to the same god but under different leadership. Suffice It to say that within any faith there is the liberty to say what must be said and to do what must be done if it can be attributed to the one’s god.

Roderigo has money and more men and horses and begins to rampage in the south. He is fighting the Moors . These people are considered infidels by the northern Christians. These are enemies of the king. He wins battle after battle and his second in command, his “right arm, Minaya Alvar Fanez is sent back to Alfonzo’s court with booty for the king. King Alfonzo is very pleased with the compeador’s winnings but cannot see fit to allow Roderigo back into his good graces. This could be a motivational factor, a way of saving face for the king, or a way to continue with the story itself. Historically speaking these people all existed. Were they all that we see within this poem? We cannot be sure. We must understand the bias of a monk writing at this time. The early thirteenth century was a time of great uncertainty as to where the world stood or even how big it may be and how it worked. God was the only thing that many people could be sure of. The Catholic Church was the voice of the Christian God on earth and it had an immense amount of influence over the people. When life was short and brutal then the promise of a blessed afterlife held much sway. This monk, in 1207, knew that propaganda was the way to the people’s hearts and souls. If they were given hope in a better life, and a way to live this life they had in a better way, the Church could be assured of allegiance in a time of trouble. With the Moors knocking on Europe’s door, and in some places making themselves at home, trouble was at hand.

El Cid builds himself a very nice little kingdom to the south of King Alfonzo but he never threatens the king’s authority. With every battle won he send Minaya north with horses and saddles and swords as a percentage of the spoils. He proves himself to be a loyal vassal and the king, after first forgiving Minaya, forgives Roderigo. It is not a simple affair. It takes much rebuilding of trust and proof of loyalty. This seems to be a teaching point in the poem. When challenged one must work as hard as one can to defeat the foes in a faithful and loyal way. We are meant to see Roderigo as a fortunate son. The words “fortunate” and “luck” find their way into many sections of this poem. They are often found near the descriptions of battle and conflict. They are often very near any mention of the Christian God. Again, it cannot be stressed enough that good fortune is a direct result of faith and good dealings with the men of God. Although Roderigo is exiled without cause it can be looked at as a test of faith.

It is in the second cantar that Roderigo takes Valencia as his own and defeats a massive Moorish force with but a few hundred men. This is when the king truly forgives him his very minor offence. It is the section of the poem where we learn of the nobility of the realm in a little better detail. These people existed but were they the same people as we see in the poem? Historically we begin to find some flaws in the story. That is fine when the poem is read as an ethical folktale and not as history but the lines often blur. They are blurred for reasons. The author, again being a monk, has a very good reason to show that the monarchy and nobility can be small minded. Only God can be perfect. However, even men of God must be careful in calling out the nobility. The Infantes of carrion do not hold up to historical inspection in reality. Roderigo’s daughters marry well as a matter of historical record but the use of the brothers as an example for which to serve some ethical lessons has some basis in reality. There were, in our monk’s time, some seedy nobles. It is certain. The idea could also be to keep all the nobles in check so as not to challenge the church authority. Whatever the case the poem is not completely accurate from an historical perspective but it is, likely, the most accurate of the epic poems that remain today.

The third cantar is basically a lawsuit. The Infantes of Carrion have married the daughters of Roderigo. Now they prove themselves cowards and petty men. This section begins with a lion escaping its confines at the court and the Infantes hiding. One ruins his tunic, which can be taken one of two ways I think, by hiding behind the wine press while the other hides beneath the couch. This is not just a monk’s representation of the nobility, or the Churches, but the society at large. The oppressed commoners and lesser nobility have their feelings about the powerful and those feelings are expressed through oral and, eventually, written folktales. This third cantar is very interesting in that it shows the intellectual workings of justice as opposed to the physical battles. The heroes use their minds and rhetoric to vanquish their less intelligent and fairly evil foes. This is also a lesson to the society at large. The mighty can be taken to court. It is important to remember that, technically, the Infantes are of a higher social status through their bloodline than Roderigo. Although this is the case, just as in the unfair treatment of Roderigo by the king, the people support el Cid. This makes a good amount of sense because the people have very little power and can project themselves into the role of el Cid in their daily disputes with those of higher standing within their own lives. This is the everlasting power of a document like this poem. As an oral tail it carries great weight when it is told at festivals and gatherings but as a book it can be read for all time and it becomes difficult to manipulate the story from the words on the page.

The poem closes with Roderigo winning his suit and the subsequent championed battles that come from it. His daughters marry better and the Infantes are publically shamed for their cowardice and arrogance. El cid continues to live a godly and blessed life and it is historically accurate that much of the royalty of future European monarchs can be traced to his daughters, in reality, marrying into princes within the monarchy of Leon. As an historical document the poem is more accurate than it is not and this is a true feat of scholarship and entertainment. It proves that the actual feats of the compeador were awe inspiring and life changing events to the point of remaining legendary throughout the centuries.

This church had a hand in this legend that was easy to see but it is very interesting to think of the poem as a challenge to power and what that could have potentially meant to the church. If the nobles had power and the church had similar power and that authority was shown to be corruptible would it not be logically possible that the church could also be major purveyor of injustice? This, to me, is a monk with great faith in the likelihood of right always defeating wrong that has no fear of offending any higher powers if those powers go against his god. This poem and this character el Cid reflect, if nothing else, the infinite triumph of good over evil. It is an ethical discussion between a real monk, a real knight, that knight’s legend, the society it was written for, and the one that it helped shape. Because of these layers of meaning and perspective it becomes, truly, epic.