Originally posted by KenJ:
El Cid is a story about a Spanish General/conqueror from the 1600a or earlier I believe. Lots of horses and swords. When he was killed in battle his troops tied him to his horse with a framework to keep him upright and he led the final charge that way.
El Cid was Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (1043-1099), is the national hero of Spain, a leading figure in driving the Moorish domains further south (I avoid saying "driving out the Moors", since Moors remained behind in areas that went to Spain, and Morrish domains remained in Spain until 1492). Although actually at times he fought for the Moors as well.
The 17th-century French drama "Le Cid" is based on the story of El Cid, which is why the quote above has a variant of Rodrigo as his name. The "El Cid" film mentioned above is probably the 1961 version staring Charleston Heston and Sophia Loren. Loren's character is Jimena, which is the same name as Chimene, mentioned above. Of course since El Cid's actual wife was Ximena/Jimena, who succeeded him as ruler of Valencia, it is probably not surprising that she consistently appears in various dramatizations of his life. Although the Wikipedia article on her is under Jimena Diaz, possibly suggesting that not much is known of her early life (although maybe her last name was Diaz before she married El Cid, that is not at all clear from the article). Actually I went and looked at the Spanish Wikipedia articles, and figured out that her father was Diego Fernandez, so there is a lot more known about her, even if it has not been fully translated. On further reading, I figured out her brother went by Fernando Diaz, so Diaz seems to be the patronymic for Diego, and I have become convinced 11th-century Spanish naming practices are way too complex.
The movie holds closer to the original Spanish names, and from what I have read explains the falling out of El Cid and Jimena differently.
Her line about "I do not hate you", is more complex though, since in the play at one point she calls for Rodrigue's execution.
