Nikos Kazantzakis was born in the town ofKandiye (nowHeraklion) inCrete, with origins from the village ofMyrtia. Crete had not yet joinedthe modern Greek state (which had been established in 1832), and was still under the rule of theOttoman Empire.[8][9] Based on family records, Kazantzakis was born on 18 February 1883 (OS), in contrast to thecensus of Heraklion which listed his birthyear as 1881; this discrepancy was settled by Kazantzakis himself in one of his epistles.[9]
From 1902 to 1906 Kazantzakis studied law at theUniversity of Athens; his 1906Juris Doctorthesis was titledΟ Φρειδερίκος Νίτσε εν τη φιλοσοφία του δικαίου και της πολιτείας[1] ("Friedrich Nietzsche on the Philosophy of Right and the State"). Now also an initiatedfreemason[10] he went to theSorbonne in 1907 to study philosophy and fell under the spell ofHenri Bergson.[11] In 1909 he graduated with a reworkeddoctoral dissertation:Friedrich Nietzsche dans la philosophie du droit et de la cité.[1]
Upon his return to Greece Kazantzakis began translating philosophical works. In 1914 he met the writerAngelos Sikelianos. Together they travelled for two years through places where Greek OrthodoxChristian culture flourished, largely due to the enthusiastic nationalism of Sikelianos.[12]
Nikos Kazantzakis marriedGalateia Alexiou in 1911; they divorced in 1926. Two years earlier Kazantzakis had met Eleni Samiou (Helen).[13] A romantic relationship between them began in 1928 but they did not marry until November 1945.[10] Samiou helped Kazantzakis with his work, typing drafts, accompanying him on his travels, and managing his business affairs.[13] They remained married until Nikos' death in 1957. Samiou died in 2004.[14]
Between 1922 and his death in 1957, he sojourned in Paris and Berlin (from 1922 to 1924), Italy, Russia (in 1925), Spain (in 1932), and then later inCyprus,Aegina, Egypt,Mount Sinai,Czechoslovakia,Nice (he later bought a villa in nearbyAntibes, in the Old Town section near the famed seawall), China, and Japan.
While in Berlin, where the political situation was explosive, Kazantzakis discoveredcommunism and became an admirer ofVladimir Lenin. He never became a committed communist but visited theSoviet Union and stayed with theLeft Opposition politician and writerVictor Serge. He witnessed the rise ofJoseph Stalin, and became disillusioned withSoviet-style communism. Around this time, his earlier nationalist beliefs were gradually replaced by a more universalist ideology. As a journalist, in 1926 he interviewed Prime Minister of SpainMiguel Primo de Rivera and the Italian dictatorBenito Mussolini.
During theSecond World War he was in Athens, where he and the philologistIoannis Kakridis translated theIliad. In 1945 Kazantzakis became the leader of a small party on the non-communist left, and entered the Greek government asMinister without Portfolio. He resigned this post the following year. In 1946 he became the head of theUNESCO Bureau of Translations, the organisation which promoted translations of literary works. However, he resigned in 1947 to concentrate on writing, and indeed produced most of his literary output during the last ten years of his life.[15][16]
In 1946 the Society of Greek Writers recommended that Kazantzakis andAngelos Sikelianos should be awarded theNobel Prize for Literature. In 1957 he lost the Prize toAlbert Camus by a single vote. Camus later said that Kazantzakis deserved the honour "a hundred times more" than himself.[17] In total, Kazantzakis was nominated in nine different years.[18]
Epitaph on the grave of Kazantzakis inHeraklion. It reads "I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free."
Late in 1957, even though suffering fromleukaemia, Kazantzakis set out on one last trip to China and Japan. According to one theory, while in China he had to be vaccinated, possibly due to symptoms ofsmallpox andcholera. The vaccine, however, causedgangrene, and at the expense of the Chinese government he was transported first toCopenhagen and then toFreiburg im Breisgau inWest Germany. His gangrene was cured, but he had contracted a severe form ofAsian flu in China, which eventually led to his death.[19][20]
Kazantzakis died on 26 October 1957 in Freiburg at the age of 74. He is buried at the highest point of the Walls of Heraklion, theMartinengo Bastion,[21] looking out over the mountains andsea of Crete. Hisepitaph reads "I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free." (Δεν ελπίζω τίποτα. Δε φοβούμαιτίποτα. Είμαι λέφτερος.) Kazantzakis developed this famously pithy phrasing of the philosophical ideal ofcynicism, which dates back to at least the second century CE.[22]
The 50th anniversary of his death was selected as the main motif for a high-value euro collectors' coin; the €10 GreekNikos Kazantzakis commemorative coin, minted in 2007. His image is on the obverse of the coin, while the reverse carries theNational Emblem of Greece, with his signature.[23]
Kazantzakis's first published work was the 1906 narrative,Serpent and Lily (Όφις και Κρίνο), which he signed with the pen nameKarma Nirvami (Κάρμα Νιρβαμή). In 1907 he went to Paris for his graduate studies and was deeply influenced by the philosophy ofHenri Bergson, primarily the idea that a true understanding of the world comes from the combination of intuition, personal experience, and rational thought.[24] The theme ofrationalism mixed with irrationality later became central to many of Kazantzakis's later stories, characters, and personal philosophies. Later, in 1909, he wrote a one-act play titledComedy, which was filled withexistential themes, predating the post-Second World War existentialist movement in Europe spearheaded by writers likeJean-Paul Sartre and Camus. After completing his studies in Paris, he wrote the tragedy, "The Master Builder" (Ο Πρωτομάστορας), based on a popularGreek folkloric myth.
Medallion honoring Kazantzakis in the Venetian loggia of Heraklion
Through the next several decades, from the 1910s through the 1930s, Kazantzakis traveled around Greece, much of Europe, northern Africa, and to several countries inAsia. Countries he visited include: Germany, Italy, France, The Netherlands, Romania, Egypt, Russia, Japan, and China, among others. These journeys put Kazantzakis in contact with different philosophies, ideologies, lifestyles, and people, all of which influenced him and his writings.[25] Kazantzakis would often write about his influences in letters to friends, citingSigmund Freud, the philosophy ofFriedrich Nietzsche,Buddhist theology, andcommunist ideology as major influences. While he continued to travel later in life, the bulk of histravel writing came from this time period.
Kazantzakis began writingThe Odyssey: A Modern Sequel in 1924, and completed it in 1938 after fourteen years of writing and revision.[25] The poem follows the hero ofHomer'sOdyssey,Odysseus, as he undertakes a final journey after the end of the original poem. Following the structure of Homer'sOdyssey, it is divided into 24rhapsodies and consists of 33,333 lines.[24] While Kazantzakis felt this poem held his cumulative wisdom and experience, and that it was his greatest literary experience,literary critics were split, "some praised it as an unprecedented epic, [while] many simply viewed it as a hybristic act," with many scholars still being split to this day.[25] A common criticism ofThe Odyssey: A Modern Sequel was aimed at Kazantzakis's over-reliance on flowery and metaphorical verse, a criticism that is also aimed at his works of fiction.[24]
The scholar Peter Bien argues that each story presents different aspects of post-World War II Greek culture such as religion, nationalism, political beliefs, theGreek Civil War, gender roles, immigration, and general cultural practices and beliefs.[24] These works also explore what Kazantzakis believed to be the unique physical and spiritual location of Greece, a nation that belongs to neither the East nor the West, an idea he put forth in many of his letters to friends.[25] Bien writes: "Kazantzakis viewed Greece's special mission as the reconciliation of Eastern instinct with Western reason," thus echoing the Bergsonian themes found in many of his novels wherelogos is balanced againstemotion.[24]
During the time when Kazantzakis was writing his novels, poems, and plays, the majority of "serious" Greek artistic work was written inKatharevousa, a "pure" form of the Greek language that was created to bridgeAncient Greek with Modern,Demotic Greek, in order to "purify" Demotic Greek. The use of Demotic, among writers, gradually started to gain the upper hand only at the turn of the 20th century, under the influence of theNew Athenian School (or Palamian).
In his letters to friends and correspondents, Kazantzakis wrote that he chose to write in Demotic Greek to capture the spirit of the people and to make his writing resonate with the common Greek citizen.[24] Moreover, he wanted to prove that the common spoken language of Greek was able to produce artistic, literary works. "Why not show off all the possibilities of Demotic Greek?" he argued.[24] Furthermore, he felt that it was important to record thevernacular of the everyday person, including Greek peasants, and often tried to include expressions, metaphors, and idioms he would hear while traveling throughout Greece and incorporate them into his writing for posterity.[24][25] At the time of writing, some scholars and critics condemned his work because it was not written in Katharevousa, while others praised it precisely because it was written in Demotic Greek.
Several critics have argued that Kazantzakis's writing was too flowery, filled with obscure metaphors, and difficult to read despite being written in Demotic Greek. The Kazantzakis scholar Peter Bien argues that the metaphors and language Kazantzakis used were taken directly from the peasants he encountered when travelling through Greece.[24] Bien asserts that, since Kazantzakis was trying to preserve the language of the people, he used their local metaphors and phrases to give his narrative an air of authenticity and preserve these phrases so that they were not lost.[24]
Throughout his life, Kazantzakis reiterated his belief that "onlysocialism as the goal anddemocracy as the means" could provide an equitable solution to the "frightfully urgent problems of the age in which we are living."[26] He saw the need for socialist parties throughout the world to put aside their bickering and unite so that the programme of "socialist democracy" could prevail not just in Greece but throughout the civilised world.[26] He described socialism as a social system that "does not permit the exploitation of one person by another" and that "must guarantee every freedom."[26]
Kazantzakis was anathema to the right-wing in Greece both before and after the Second World War. The right waged war against his books and called him "immoral" and a "Bolshevik troublemaker" and accused him of being a "Russian agent".[27] He was also distrusted by both theCommunist Party of Greece and theSoviet Union as a "bourgeois" thinker.[27] However, upon his death in 1957, he was honoured by theChinese Communist Party as a "great writer" and "devotee of peace."[27] Following the war, he was temporarily leader of a minor Greek leftist party, while in 1945 he was, among others, a founding member of theGreek-Soviet friendship union.
Religious beliefs and relationship with the Greek Orthodox Church
While Kazantzakis was deeply spiritual, he often discussed his struggle with religious faith, specifically his Greek Orthodoxy.[28] Baptised Greek Orthodox as a child, he was fascinated by thelives of saints from a young age. As a young man he took a month long trip toMount Athos, amonastic retreat and major spiritual center for Greek Orthodoxy. Most critics and scholars of Kazantzakis agree that the struggle to find truth in religion and spirituality was central to many of his works, and that some novels, likeThe Last Temptation of Christ andChrist Recrucified focus completely on questioningChristian morals and values.[29] As he traveled Europe, he was influenced by various philosophers, cultures, and religions, like Buddhism, causing him to question his Christian beliefs.[30] While never claiming to be anatheist, his public questioning and critique put him at odds with some in the Greek Orthodox Church and many of his critics.[29] Scholars theorise that Kazantzakis's difficult relationship with many members of the clergy and with more religiously conservative literary critics, came from his questioning. In his bookBroken Hallelujah: Nikos Kazantzakis and Christian Theology, author Darren Middleton theorises that, "Where the majority of Christian writers focus on God's immutability, Jesus' deity, and our salvation through God's grace, Kazantzakis emphasized divine mutability, Jesus' humanity, and God's own redemption through our effort," highlighting Kazantzakis's uncommon interpretation of traditional Orthodox Christian beliefs.[31]
Many Orthodox Church clergy condemned Kazantzakis's work and a campaign was started toexcommunicate him. His reply was: "You gave me a curse, Holy fathers, I give you a blessing: may your conscience be as clear as mine and may you be as moral and religious as I" ("Μου δώσατε μια κατάρα, Άγιοι πατέρες, σας δίνω κι εγώ μια ευχή: Σας εύχομαι να 'ναι η συνείδηση σας τόσο καθαρή, όσο είναι η δική μου και να 'στε τόσο ηθικοί και θρήσκοι όσο είμαι εγώ"). While the excommunication was rejected by the top leadership of the Orthodox Church, it became emblematic of the persistent disapprobation from many Christian authorities for his political and religious views.[32]
Modern scholarship tends to dismiss the idea that Kazantzakis was being sacrilegious or blasphemous with the content of his novels and beliefs.[33] These scholars argue that, if anything, Kazantzakis was acting in accordance to a long tradition of Christians who publicly struggled with their faith, and grew a stronger and more personal connection to God through their doubt.[29] Moreover, scholars like Darren J. N. Middleton argue that Kazantzakis's interpretation of the Christian faith predated the more modern, personalised interpretation of Christianity that has become popular in the years after Kazantzakis's death.[31]
Plaque for Kazantzakis, 13 rue Du Sommerard, ParisA bust in HeraklionPostcard from Nikos Kazantzakis to his physician Max-Hermann Hörder, 13 September 1957,Chongqing
Translations ofThe Odyssey: A Modern Sequel, in whole or in part
Japan, China, trans. George C. Pappageotes, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1963; published in the United Kingdom asTravels in China & Japan, Oxford:Bruno Cassirer, 1964; London:Faber and Faber, 1964.
England, trans. Amy Mims, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1965; Oxford, Bruno Cassirer, 1965.
Journey to the Morea, trans. by F. A. Reed, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1965; published in the United Kingdom asTravels in Greece: Journey to the Morea, Oxford,Bruno Cassirer, 1966.
Journeying: Travels in Italy, Egypt, Sinai, Jerusalem and Cyprus, trans. Themi Vasils and Theodora Vasils, Boston and Toronto:Little, Brown and Company, 1975; San Francisco: Creative Arts Books Co., 1984.
Russia, trans. A. Maskaleris and M. Antonakis, San Francisco: Creative Arts Books Co, 1989.
Zorba the Greek, trans. Carl Wildman, London: John Lehmann, 1952; New York: Simon & Schuster, 1953; Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1959; London & Boston: Faber and Faber, 1961; New York:Ballantine Books, 1964; andZorba the Greek: The Saint's Life of Alexis Zorba, newly translated by Peter Bien, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2014.
The Greek Passion, trans.Jonathan Griffin, New York, Simon & Schuster, 1954; New York, Ballantine Books, 1965; published in the United Kingdom asChrist Recrucified, Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1954; London: Faber and Faber, 1954.
Freedom or Death, trans. Jonathan Griffin, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1954; New York: Ballantine, 1965; and in the United Kingdom Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1956; London: Faber and Faber, 1956.
The Last Temptation, trans. Peter A. Bien, New York, Simon & Schuster, 1960; New York: Bantam Books, 1961; Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1961; London: Faber and Faber, 1975.
Saint Francis, trans. Peter A. Bien, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1962; published in the United Kingdom asGod's Pauper: Saint Francis of Assisi, Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1962, 1975; London: Faber and Faber, 1975.
The Rock Garden, trans. from French (in which it was originally written) by Richard Howard, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1963.
The Fratricides, trans. Athena Gianakas Dallas, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1964; Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1964.
Toda Raba, trans. from French (in which it was originally written) by Amy Mims, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1964.
Report to Greco — see underMemoirs, essays and letters
Alexander the Great: A Novel [for children], trans. Theodora Vasils, Athens (Ohio):Ohio University Press, 1982.
At the Palaces of Knossos: A Novel [for children], trans. Themi and Theodora Vasilis, ed. Theodora Vasilis, London: Owen, 1988. Adapted from the draft typewritten manuscript.
Father Yanaros [from the novelThe Fratricides], trans. Theodore Sampson, inModern Greek Short Stories, vol. 1, ed. Kyr. Delopoulos, Athens:Kathimerini Publications, 1980.
Report to Greco, trans. Peter A. Bien, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1965; Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1965; London: Faber and Faber, 1965; New York: Bantam Books, 1971.
Friedrich Nietzsche on the Philosophy of Right and the State, trans. O. Makridis, New York:State University of NY Press, 2007.
From The Saviours of God: Spiritual Exercises, trans. Kimon Friar,The Charioteer, No. 1 (Summer 1960), pp. 40–51; reprinted inThe Charioteer 22 and 23 (1980/1981), pp. 116–129 {57}.
The Suffering God: Selected Letters to Galatea and to Papastephanou, trans. Philip Ramp andKaterina Anghelaki Rooke, New Rochelle (NY): Caratzas Brothers, 1979.
The Angels of Cyprus, trans. Amy Mims, inCyprus '74: Aphrodite's Other Face, ed. Emmanuel C. Casdaglis, Athens:National Bank of Greece, 1976.
Burn Me to Ashes: An Excerpt, trans. Kimon Friar,Greek Heritage 1, No. 2 (Spring 1964), pp. 61–64.
Drama and Contemporary Man: An Essay, trans. Peter Bien,The Literary Review 19, No. 2 (Winter 1976), pp. 15–121 {62}.
The Homeric G.B.S., "The Shaw Review" 18, No. 3 (Sept. 1975), pp. 91–92. Greek original written for a 1946 Greek-language radio broadcast byBBC Overseas Service, on the occasion ofGeorge Bernard Shaw's 90th birthday.
Hymn (Allegorical), trans. M. Byron Raizis,Spirit 37, No. 3 (Fall 1970), pp. 16–17.
Two Dreams, trans.Peter Mackridge,Omphalos 1, No. 2 (Summer 1972), p. 3.
A Tiny Anthology of Kazantzakis: Remarks on the Drama, 1910–1957, compiled by Peter Bien,The Literary Review 18, No. 4 (Summer 1975), pp. 455–459 {61}.
^abcdeKimon, Friar (1979).The Spiritual Odyssey of Nikos Kazantzakis: A Talk. Stavrou, Theofanis G., 1934-, Σταύρου, Θεοφάνης Γ. 1934-. St. Paul, Minnesota: North Central Pub. Co.ISBN0935476008.OCLC6314676.
^abcMiddleton, Darren J. N. (2007).Broken Hallelujah: Nikos Kazantzakis and Christian Theology. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.ISBN9780739119273.OCLC71322129.
^Middleton, Darren J. N. (24 June 2010). "Nikos Kazantzakis and Process Theology: Thinking Theologically in a Relational World".Journal of Modern Greek Studies.12 (1):57–74.doi:10.1353/mgs.2010.0139.ISSN1086-3265.S2CID146450293.
^abMiddleton, Darren J. N. (1 October 1998). "Kazantzakis and Christian Doctrine: Some Bridges of Understanding".Journal of Modern Greek Studies.16 (2):285–312.doi:10.1353/mgs.1998.0040.ISSN1086-3265.S2CID142993531.
^Antonia Kyriatzis,Η Εκκλησία στην Ελλάδα και το Καζαντζακικό Ζήτημα. Ιστορική αναψηλάφηση με βάση τις πηγές, ed. Ostracon Publishing p.c., 2016, p. 193
Howard F. Dossor,The Existential Theology of Nikos Kazantzakis, Wallingford, PA (Pendle Hill Pamphlets No 359), 2002
Kimon Friar,The Spiritual Odyssey of Nikos Kazantzakis. A Talk, edited and with an introduction by Theofanis G. Stavrou, St. Paul, MN.: North Central Pub. Co., 1979.
Helen Kazantzakis,Nikos Kazantzakis. A biography based on his letters, trans. Amy Mims, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1968; Bruno Cassirer, Oxford, 1968; Berkeley: Creative Arts Book Co. for Donald S. Ellis, 1983.
James F. Lea,Kazantzakis: The Politics of Salvation, foreword by Helen Kazantzakis, TheUniversity of Alabama Press, 1979.
Morton P. Levitt,The Cretan Glance: The World and Art of Nikos Kazantzakis, Columbus, OH:Ohio State University Press, 1980.
Darren J. N. Middleton and Peter Bien, ed.,God's Struggler: Religion in the Writings of Nikos Kazantzakis, Macon, GA:Mercer University Press, 1996
Darren J. N. Middleton,Novel Theology: Nikos Kazantzakis' Encounter with Whiteheadian Process Theism, Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2000.
Darren J. N. Middleton,Scandalizing Jesus?: Kazantzakis' Last Temptation of ChristFifty Years On, New York: Continuum, 2005.
Darren J. N. Middleton,Broken Hallelujah: Nikos Kazantzakis and Christian Theology, Lanham, MD:Rowman and Littlefield, 2006.
Lewis Owen,Creative Destruction: Nikos Kazantzakis and the Literature of Responsibility, Macon, GA:Mercer University Press, 2003.
Pandelis Prevelakis,Nikos Kazantzakis and His Odyssey: A Study of the Poet and the Poem, translated from the Greek byPhilip Sherrard, with a preface by Kimon Friar, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1961.
Colin Wilson and Howard F. Dossor,Nikos Kazantzakis, Nottingham:Paupers, 1999.
