This article is about the poem by Lord Byron, for other uses see Mazeppa
Mazeppa is an epic poem written by Lord Byron in 1819. Its hero is a Ukrainian page who is tied naked to the back of a horse that is set loose, following involvement with the wife of a gentleman. Later, Mazeppa rises from near death to becoming hetman (leader) of the Cossacks of Ukraine. This poem set off a flurry of interest in the subject of Mazeppa as a symbol of the Romantic spirit. It was followed by dramas, poems, musical compositions, paintings etc. In 1861 the drama Mazeppa or the Wild horse of Tartary was played by a female, Adah Menkin. Mazeppa became the most widely performed drama in the American west from the 1860s until the turn of the century, all dating back to Byron's poem.
