Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek

Ken Hada (East Central University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.7.1.02: Greek Writing and Culture: Modern and Contemporary, 1453-present.
Vol. editors: Vaios Liapis (Open University of Cyprus)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1946

Places

Greece (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Zorba the Greek, originally titled The Saint’s Life of Alexis Zorba, by Nikos Kazantzakis, is the story of a charismatic, unabashed character (Zorba) whose experiences with the participant- narrator unleash a dialogized commentary concerning major questions of human existence. Establishing a Dionysian – Apollonian contrast within and around his two main characters, Kazantzakis explores various tensions (acts and consequences) provided within this primary contrasting frame, including: fate/freedom, orthodoxy/heterodoxy, antiquity/modernity, body/soul, individual/institutional, reason/intuition, and detachment/action.

Set in Crete, the novel is based on Kazantzakis’s real-life experience with …

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3168 words

Citation: Hada, Ken. "Zorba the Greek". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 January 2019 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23221, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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