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Greek writer, b. Crete. After obtaining a law degree he studied philosophy under Henri Bergson in Paris and traveled widely in Europe and Asia. Attracted to communism early in life, he grew disillusioned with revolutionary materialism and rationalism. As the Greek minister of public welfare (1919–27) and minister of state (1945–46) he vainly tried to reconcile the factions of left and right. Intensely poetic and religious, Kazantzakis wrote interpretative works on Bergson and Nietzsche.
Reading
The Odyssey, a Modern Sequel (1938, tr. 1958), a verse tale, begins where Homer’s Odyssey ends; the new adventures of Odysseus explore the worldviews of Jesus, Buddha, Lenin, Nietzsche, and others.
Zorba the Greek (1946, tr. 1952)
Christ Recrucified (1938, tr. The Greek Passion, 1953)
The Last Temptation of Christ (1951, tr. 1960)
The Poor Man of God (1953)
Saint Francis, (1962).
Writing available on the net
Commentaries
- The Cretan Glance, The World and Art of Nikos Kazantzakis, Morton P. Levitt, Ohio State University Press, Columbus, OH, 1980.
- Kazantzakis: The Politics of Salvation, James F. Lea, foreward by Helen Kazantzakis, University of Alabama Press, 1979.
- P. Prevelakis (1958, tr. 1961)
- Peter Bien (1989).
Quotations
Δεν ελπίζω τίποτα. Δε φοβάμαι τίποτα. Είμαι λεύτερος (I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.)