The Man in the Panther’s Skin In the Context of Medieval Literature

The Man in the Panther’s Skin, the most significant text of Georgian Literature, is written by Shota Rustaveli in the late Middle Ages (12-13 centuries). It is the gripping book of adventure and romance. The narrative develops against the background of loss-quest-discovery – the basic motif of the medieval chivalrous romance. Some details of Rustaveli’s ethical concept bear a clear imprint of medieval European culture as well as oriental literature. So The Man in the Panther’s Skin organically unites the cultural traditions of the Christian West and Muslim East. However, unification does not imply an artificial reconciliation of these different traditions or their rough imitation. This word implies the integration of all streams and trends in one entity and organic reconciliation of various elements taken from the cultural environment of the Middle Ages.