Peter Hektorović was born in 1487 in Stari Grad on the island of Hvar, where he spent most of his life. He was born into a noble family and had the kind of life expected by a man of his station, mixing the care of his family’s wealth with the study of literature, philosophy and architecture.
Hektorović was a learned man: schooled in Latin and Italian, he knew also the local Croatian vernacular and his main work "Ribanje I ribrasko prigovaranje" ("Fishing and Fishermen’s Talk") was written in 1557 during one of the most fecund periods of Croatian literature.
According to Hektorović, the text is the result of a boat trip to the islands of Hvar, Brač and Šolta, together with two fishermen. Sailing and fishing were the main industries of the time in that area, and Hektorović had a genuine interest in them: his fascination with the sea brought him to describe the surroundings in great detail, to the point that modern scholars could exactly re-trace the route of his peregrinations, since the places’ names have not changed during the centuries.
The essay examines the three days of the journey narrated in the text and focuses as well on the bugarštica, two of which are accompanied by their melody: it is the first musical notation of Dalmatian popular songs.
