Nikos Kazantzakis – Νίκος Καζαντζάκης A True Cretan
Guest post by Christina Hutchinson
Nikos Kazantzakis is most famous for writing Zorbas the Greek, a brilliant depiction of the quintessential Greek character, defiant, generous, brave, and cavalier at the same time!
Mexican Anthony Quinn starred as Zorba in the film version of 1964, directed by Micheal Cacoyiannis, and many Greeks are convinced that Quinn was Greek to this day, so convincing was his performance.
The scene of Greek dancing on the beach where Zorba lets the haunting Bouzouki chords of Mikis Theodorakis inspire his soulful dance defined the Greek struggle against the then Papadopoulos dictatorship of the sixties.
Nikos Kazantzakis was born in Crete February 18, 1883 and became one of its most famous modern writers and philosophers’ in his time. He narrowly missed receiving the Nobel Prize by one vote, and the winner Albert Camus later acknowledged that Kazantzakis should have won!
Heraklion airport, the main airport of Crete is named after him, and he is regarded as a true son of Crete, although he exiled himself from Crete and spent much of his life in France after the Greek Orthodox church excommunicated him and ruled that he could not be buried in a cemetery.
The book that caused outrage for religious reasons was “The last temptation of Christ” considered containing “absurd Christian views” by the Greek Orthodox Church; it was filmed by Martin Scorsese in the eighties and attracted a lot of controversy.
A €10 coin was minted in Greece for the 50th anniversary of the death of Nikos Kazantzakis with his image on the obverse of the coin, and on the reverse the Greek National emblem and his signature in 2007.
As a result of strict adherence to the Greek Church’s ruling, Katzanzakis is buried in the wall surrounding Heraklion city near the Chania gate. On the shrine is his most famous epitaph: Δεν ελπίζω τίποτα. Δε φοβούμαι τίποτα. Είμαι λεύτερος. “I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.” Today, much of the spirit of a true Cretan is enshrined in those words. He died October 26th 1957.
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