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In this paper, we have analyzed the similarities between the poems Tri hajduka / The Three Giaours by Jovan Jovanović Zmaj and Spomen na Ruvarca / In Memory of Ruvarac by Laza Kostić, which share a certain number of common motifs. At the center of our interpretation were the statements of Laza Kostić from the part Knjiga o Zmaju in which he analyzes Tri hajduka. Kostić breaks down Zmaj's poem into structural elements and examines each from the point of view of logic and common sense, but also established literary tradition. Speaking about Zmaj's treatment of the representatives of the world of the dead, Kostić makes the following poetics claims: 1) the mediator should speak clearly and succinctly; 2) the mediator should have the form he had during his lifetime; 3) the atmosphere must not be humorous but scary. These demands, together with Kostić's remark about how Feruz pasha resembles a doll, have allowed us to offer innovative readings of these two poems, where the automated Feruz pasha is positioned as the opposite of the diabolical figure in Kostić's poem. This contrast represents a shift in the anthropological development continuum which led to the birth of a modern understanding of death, which leads us to the conclusion that Kostić's objections primarily stem from a significantly different philosophy of death, and not from the objective shortcomings of Zmaj's poetry.