Greeks have always been good with words.
Greeks practically invented literature, with their ancient theatrical works whose timeless themes were so brilliantly incisive that they are still being staged two and a half thousand years later. They were also skillful orators, and were also adept at transmitting complex philosophical ideas in written form.
So it is little surprise that this nation, which represents a little more than 1/10th of 1% of the world's population has garnered not one but two of the so far 118 awarded Nobel prizes for literature. Three others were nominated multiple times. Below we have thumbnail sketches of 9 of Greece’s best modern authors.
1. Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1957)
The author of Zorba the Greek, Nikos Kazantzakis was the most renowned of all modern Greek writers. The general consensus is that he deserved the Nobel, but it was denied him due to lobbying from the Orthodox Church, which hated his views of the Church. Ironically, Kazantzakis is considered the most religious modern Greek writer. He was nominated 9 times for the Noble. When the 1957 prize was awarded to Albert Camus, Camus wrote that Kazantzakis deserved the prize “100 times more” than Camus.
Zorba the Greek
The Odyssey: A Sequel
Alexander the Great
The Last Temptation of Christ.
2. Konstantinos Cavafy (1863-1933)
Cavafy spent his formative years in England, where he acquired a thorough knowledge of English literature. He then spent his entire adult life in Alexandria, Egypt, where he worked as a journalist and spent 30 years as a clerk in the British-run Ministry of Public Works, composing poetry when he could. Well-known in Greece later in life, he exerted great influence on and was promoted by such English authors as E. M. Forster, T. S. Eliot, and Arnold J. Toynbee. One of the most original and influential poets of the 20th century, Cavafy is known for his homoerotic and historical poems, which allude to the classical Hellenic and Byzantine eras.
Cavafy’s Complete Poems, translated by Daniel Mendelsohn
The Collected Poems: with parallel Greek text, translated by Evangelos Sach
3. Dionysios Solomos (1798-1857)
Author of the poem Hymn to Liberty, which was adapted to music and became the Greek national anthem, Dionysos Solomos is considered Greece’s national poet. Born on the Ionian island of Zakynthos, Solomos studied law in Italy, where he began writing poetry in Italian. As a young man who moved back to Zakynthos, where he lived until his death at age 59 in 1857. He was the first Greek literary figure to write in Demotic Greek, the common language of the people, eschewing Katheravousa, the language of literature, which was a simplified form of ancient Greek. This was tremendously influential on modern Greek literature.
Collected Works
4. Adamantios Korais (1748-1833)
Korais was a leader of the Greek Enlightenment (precursor to the Greek Revolution of 1821), and a founder and standardizer of the modern Greek language. His breadth of influence on modernizing Greek has been compared to that of Dante on Italian, or Martin Luther on German. Born in Smyrna, Asia Minor, Korais was an exceptional student, especially in philosophy, literacy, and linguistics. Instrumental in promoting the Greek case for independence throughout Europe, he envisioned a highly literate modern Greek state rejecting Ottoman influence and returning to the Age of Pericles. He was instrumental in the development of the Greek legal system, and of the Greek constitution. He is considered the Father of modern Greece.
Translations: Herodotus, Marcus Aurelius, The Iliad
Anthology: The Library of Greek Literature (17 volumes)
Political: War Chant, Military Bugle Call, Report on the Present State of Civilization in Greece, What Should Greeks Do In The Present Circumstances?
5. George Seferis (1900-1971)
Like Adamantios Korais, George Seferis was born in Smyrna, Asia Minor. He supported the use of Demotic, or Modern, Greek over Katheravousa. His family moved to Athens when he was 14, and after completing high school, he studied law in Paris at the Sorbonne. The capture of Smyrna by the Turks in 1922 led to his lifelong feeling of being an exile, which in turn informed much of his poetry. He served as a diplomat in Turkey, the U.K., and the Middle East. He published journals and novels, but is chiefly known for his poetry. His influences were Cavafy, T.S. Eliot, and Ezra Pound. His citation for being awarded the Nobel in 1963 cites “his eminent lyrical writing, inspired by a deep feeling for the Hellenic world of culture."
Six Nights on the Acropolis, translated by Susan Matthias
Collected Poems, translated by Edmund Keeley
6. Odysseus Elytis (1911-1996)
Greece’s second Nobel prizewinner was born in Crete. His ancestors were probably from Aleppo, Syria, as “Elytis” was a pen name, while his birth name was “Alepoudelis.” (Many Greek surnames indicate place of origin). At age 3 his family relocated to Athens. His father, an industrialist, also wrote poetry but was never published. He died when Elytis was 13, which possibly gave him the motivation to write. Bedridden at age 16 with TB, he read constantly, discovering Cavafy and other Greek poets. Elytis studied law, but desired to be a poet instead. His best-known work, Axion Esti, was set to music by Zorba the Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis in 1964. In 1979, he was awarded the Nobel for literature.
Axion Esti
What I Love
Sovereign Sun: Selected Poems, translated by Kimon Friar
Eros, Eros, Eros: Selected and Last Poems, translated by Olga Broumas
Open Papers: Selected Essays, translated by Olga Broumas
7. Yannis Ritsos (1909-1990)
Born within 10 years of Elytis and Seferis, Ritsos was nominated twice for the Nobel. Born in Monemvasia, off the southeast Peloponnesian coast, Ritsos’ mother and eldest brother died early from TB, his wealthy family went bankrupt, his father and sister went insane, and he himself spent time in a TB sanitorium. In 1934 he joined the Greek Communist Party (KKE), and changed the structure of modern Greek poetry with Epitaphios (Epitaph), memorializing a protester killed during a tobacco workers demonstration in 1936. He fought in the Resistance against the Nazis during WWII, and spent time in prison camps during the military dictatorship of ’67-’74. The Times Literary Supplement said that "Yannis Ritsos is the old-fashioned kind of great poet. His output…enormous, his life heroic and eventful, his voice is an embodiment of national courage... His poems…testify to the courage of at least one human soul in conditions which few of us have faced..."
Poems
Selected Poems 1938-1988
Diaries of Exile
8. Alexandros Papadiamantis (1851-1911)
Born in the Sporades on the island of Skiathos, setting for much of his fiction Papadiamantis was the son of an Orthodox priest. He spent 7 months in a monastery before studying philosophy at the University of Athens. Originally a journalist and translator, his popular historical novels were serialized in daily newspapers. He gained literary respect after he began to publish short stories and novellas. The poor and the spiritual were his favorite subjects. He drank and smoked to excess, lived a solitary life, and turned down high monetary reward if he thought he was being paid too much. He gave much of his earnings to the poor and was dubbed “the saint of modern Greek literature.” He never married, and lived in Athens rooming houses much of his life before moving back to Skiathos and dying of pneumonia two years later.
Serialized works; The Gypsy Girl, The Emigrant, The Merchants of Nations
About 170 short stories featuring either country life in Skiathos, or urban life in poor areas of Athens
9. Kostis Palamas (1859-1943)
Another significant figure in the Demotic (Modern Spoken Greek) movement, Palamas was born in Patras, and studied law, economics, and political science to the University of Athens. He worked as a journalist in his 30’s, and promoted written expression in Demotic Greek, the language of the people. His poem, Olympic Hymn, set to music, became the official anthem of the Olympic Games. He was nominated for the Nobel 14 times. He died during the Nazi occupation of Athens, and his funeral occasioned a spontaneous public demonstration against the occupiers, who, when they came to lay a wreath at Palamas’ tomb, where greeted with thousands of Athenians singing the Greek national anthem, and shouting “Long live freedom!”
Multiple poetry collections, including Songs Of My Fatherland, Hymn to Athena, The State and Solitude, and The Nights of Phemius
Prose: Death of a Youth, Novels
Theatre: The Thrice-noble
In addition, he was one of the more respected literary critics of his time, and was credited with raising the level of Greek literary criticism.
Final Thoughts
To understand the mind of any people, it is beneficial to read their literature. These authors plumb the complex recesses of the modern Greek mind, but at the same time reflect accurately the human condition in all its complex permutations. The works of many of these authors are available in English translations online.
