15 FEBRUARY 1930, Page 31

A popular mediaeval epic, familiar, apparently, to every dweller in

Crete, but otherwise only known to curious scholars, will provoke the interest of many. For in the form in which it is given us The Erotobritos, by John Mavrogordato, with an ' introduction by Stephen Gaselee, M.A. (Humphrey Milford, 3s.), is attractive. There is a brief and scholarly introduction placing the poem chronologically and explaining its Cretan authorship and first Venetian printing. Then comes a de- lightful running resume of the poem in which 10,000 lines take less than forty pages without, apparently, leaving any lacunae in the story. Finally, Mr. Mavrogordato discusses the various theories of the origins of the story and establishes his own theory of its common origin with " Romeo and Juliet " in an Italian novel by Bandello, belonging to the first half of the sixteenth century. Altogether a charming and scholarly, if .whimsical, little book.