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The writer of today, if he is truly alive, is someone who suffers and worries at the sight
of reality. He is led to co-operate with all the surviving powers of light to advance mans
burdensome destiny a little. The modern writer, if he is true to his mission, is a fighter.

Excerpt from Pierre Sipriots interview with Nikos Kazantzakis: French radio, May 6, 1955

Introduction
Zorba the Greek is a novel of great depth. On its surface it can be enjoyed as a journey of
two very different men through a series of comic and tragic situations. The beauty of the story,
however, is to peel it like an onion. There is always one more layer, another perplexing thought
or unanswerable question. It is a journey into the meaning of existence.
Taking a singular approach to analyzing such a novel is not a simple task. This paper will
approach the novel through a connected flow of related ideas. It will first look at the structure of
the story, noting key influences and the influence of Dante in particular. Within the structure
themes are revealed; the central theme of dualities will be explored in detail. These dualities
challenge us to look deeply at the philosophy that underpins the whole novel. This philosophy
will be identified and defined. Ramifying from the philosophy will be important philosophical
questions and symbols. This paper will discuss in detail the philosophical question of hope, and
will look at the symbolic nature of woman, Buddha, and nature as they relate to the authors
philosophical intent.
This paper will conclude that Kazantzakis as an author belongs in the same esteemed
class as his existentialist contemporaries, and Nobel Prize winners, Jean-Paul Sartre, Samuel
Beckett, and Albert Camus. It will also posit that Kazantzakiss superior literary skills have
actually hurt the novels ability to be recognized for the modern classic that it is.
The Influence of Dante
In Zorba the Greek, many different authors and philosophers, from both the ancient and
modern world, have influenced Kazantzakiss development of structure and content. Some clear
influences are Plato, Homer, Buddha, Neitzche, Dante, Shakespeare, Cervantes, and Goethe
(Beacham 1994-2005; Levitt 1980). Even Jane Austen can be seen, as Zorbas letters from his

silly brother regarding the family honor, after the despoilment of Zorbas daughter, clearly
harken to Mr. Collinss letters about the Benet family honor after the despoilment of Lydia in
Pride and Predudice. Further, Kazantzakiss tutelage under Henri Bergson in Paris becomes
evident as we journey into the struggle between mans human instincts and the nature of God.
This time, however, the vital force of the human spirit (Haught, 2003, p. 63), or lan vital, will
be on equal footing, propelled, articulated, demonstrated, and embodied by one Alexis Zorba. In
pointing out influences, one must not underestimate the influence on Kazantzakis of his real-life
friend, George Zorbas.
Dantes The Divine Comedy, in particular, had a profound influence on the structure and
specific imagery used in Zorba the Greek and is worth a detailed analysis. Kazantzakis was a
prolific author who translated many classics including The Divine Comedy. Dantes influence on
Zorba the Greek is established in the very first scene as our narrator draws out his small edition
of The Divine Comedy. He refers to Dante as his traveling companion, hinting at the parallel
structure that will emerge between the two stories. The parallel is intended to position Zorba the
Greek as a counterpoint to The Divine Comedy: a journey through the moral, religious, and
philosophical landscape with a different destination in mind entirely.
The similarities between the two stories are stark. Like Dante, our narrator is a writer.
Like Dante, our narrator is forlorn, having lost his most loved companion. However, we perceive
immediately that the parallel structure will be an antithesis, a perversion of Dante, rather than a
faithful rendition. Our narrators lost companion is a man, not a woman: a dear friend for whom
he has longed since their Great Separation, as Dante had longed for his true, natural love,
Beatrice. Kazantzakiss use of capital letters is important, indicating that this separation is one of
revered, even spiritual, magnitude, despite the fact that it is an earthly separation. Just as Virgil

appears to Dante halfway through Canto I of Canticle I in The Divine Comedy, to serve as guide
and mentor, so our narrators muse appears halfway through chapter 1 of Zorba the Greek.
However, our narrators guide for his spiritual quest will be a man quite unlike Dantes Virgil. If
Virgil represents human reason in Dante (Ciardi, 1982), then Alexis Zorba represents a new type
of human reason, or perhaps anti-reason: a celebration of the passions of man. Zorba will
challenge traditional reason at every turn.
Literarily, Zorba is an amalgam. On the simplest level, he could be seen to combine the
innate intelligence of Virgil and the earthy simplicity of Sancho Panza, although Zorba has been
compared to many characters including Falstaff, Odysseus, and Sindbad (Lehmann, 1952;
Beacham, 1994-2005). As the story unwinds, we see that, like Dante and Virgil, our protagonists
take their places as two kindred poets: one a poet of words, the other a poet of life. Similarly,
their relationship is clearly that of pupil and master (Beacham 1994-2005). Zorba the Greek
wrestles with Dantes age-old questions of heaven, earth, life, afterlife, and hell, but the answers
are not be so simple this time, not with Alexis Zorba leading the charge.
Kazantzakiss homage to The Divine Comedy goes well beyond simple structural
framework or facile counterpoint. It goes to the heart of the novel. Zorbas philosophies
challenge accepted Church doctrine at every level. Using Dante as a foil, Zorba questions the
meaning of life while wrestling the dark demons of The Inferno, in particular, shining light on
them and daring us to seenothing. Kazantzakis takes pains to demonstrate that his references
to Dante are more than skin-deep. Our narrator says of Zorba: Youre like a lion, shall we say,
or a wolf. That kind of beast never behaves as if it were a sheep. (p.69). The reference is
clear. Zorba has committed the Dantesque sins of the lion (e.g., violent sins, sins against God)
and the sins of the wolf (e.g., carnal sins, gluttonous sins) (Chiardi, 1982). Yet this is a great

compliment. The narrator is holding up Zorba in a heroic light. Two important implications are
that Zorba has not been accused of the sins of the leopard (e.g., fraudulence, malice) which
constitute Dantes deepest bowels of hell, and that Zorba is being positioned as the opposite of a
sheep; he is clearly not a lamb of God, a blind follower of the shepherd, Jesus Christ. The
imagery of God/Jesus as shepherd also permeates the novel.
Important parallels to Dante also include specific images of symbolic temporal
retribution and remembrance, which provide a bridge to Zorbas temporal philosophy. In Zorba
the Greek, old Anagnosti is born with a weak ear due to his fathers blasphemy. Similarly, Zorba
bemoans the fate of men and women who refuse to sleep with those who desire them: Maybe all
the mules we see in the world are those same people, the maimed, the deserters, who during their
lifetime were men and women (p. 107). In The Divine Comedy, punishment is likewise
presented in real, physical terms, directly or inversely, related to specific sins. For example, in
Canto XX of Canticle I, the fortune tellers and diviners heads are twisted backwards, so in
death they can only see what is behind them: I saw the image of our humanity distorted so that
the tears that burst from their eyes ran down the cleft of their buttocks (Alighieri, 2001, p.175).
Likewise, in Dante, those who have died and gone to hell desire nothing more than to be
remembered on earth: But when you move again among the living, oh speak my name to the
memory of men! (Alighieri, 2001, p.68). Old Anagnosti again fits the prototype when he says:
And may one of his [sons] children be like me, so that the old folk exclaim: I say, doesnt he
look like old AnagnostiGod sanctify his soul! (p. 60). In The Divine Comedy as in Zorba
the Greek, Gods punishment or grace is a temporal or pseudo-temporal experience. The
inability of Dante, Christians, or even the Church to define paradise, purgatory, or hell in
anything but human terms softly affirms the validity of Zorbas world-view, which turns human

experience into paradise itself. By comparison, Zorbas view is potentially self-evident. But
Zorbas Dionysian outlook is not the only point of view offered. The authors Apollonian view
holds it in balance (Beacham, 1994-2005). The struggle between the two creates the central
duality of the story: a duality that allows a novel so devoid of plot to maintain tremendous
forward momentum (Lehmann, 1952). As always, even Dante gets into the act. Dante is also a
duality. Although The Divine Comedys structure, imagery, and theology are continually
assaulted by Zorba, our narrator hails Dante as a savior: From generation to generation, all
communed with the soul of the poet and so transformed their slavery into freedom (p.33).
If Dante can be said to go right to the heart of the story, he can also be said to go right to
the heart of the author. According to Antonakes (1989) in his review of Kazantzakis: Politics of
the Spirit: Like Dante, one of his many mentors, Kazantzakis was concerned with that which
made man eternal, and his political engagement was the means by which he actualized his own
non-political potential (p.1). This potential was channeled into a story that suggests that
asceticism is an insufficient way for man to appreciate his humanity (Beacham, 1994-2005). The
exploration of asceticism versus sensual fulfillment as a central duality ushers in a dizzying
series of accompanying spiritual, natural, physical, and emotional dualities. Dualities, their
exploration, and their attempted resolution can be claimed, as much as anything, to be a central
theme of the existential fight for meaning called Zorba the Greek.
Dualities
Zorba the Greek can be said to be an exploration of dualities. Throughout the story,
dozens of contradictory characters, symbols, philosophies, etc. are brought into opposition.
Because the story is essentially a psychological journey and philosophical dialogue, these
contrasts are not just opposed; often the same dualities are, at different times, opposed, paired,

and even combined. These dualities are the main characters and authors struggle incarnate. The
struggle at the center of the story, therefore, justifies itself even if the result is inevitably fruitless
(Haught, 2003).
The most obvious duality in Zorba the Greek is the heretofore-mentioned contrast
between the main characters: one ascetic and one sensual. But this contrast also serves to
provide a platform for numerous dualities to be debated and explored. The list of dualities is
long, including: man vs. God, God vs. the devil, man vs. woman, belief vs. agnosticism, freedom
vs. slavery, wrath vs. forgiveness, lifes drudgery vs. miracles, reality vs. dreams, madness vs.
sanity, searching vs. finding, man vs. himself, etc. In this litany of dualities, one is especially
intriguing: God vs. no God. Our narrator is searching for lifes meaning through Buddhism.
Zorba is searching for lifes meaning by embracing the beauty of life as it has been laid out in
front of him. But the specter of God looms large. Each man ponders the soundness of his
approach vis--vis God. Zorba summarizes his internal struggle with God nicely by saying that
if there is a God, were done for, and if there isnt a God, were done for. The duality here is
mind-numbing on face value. At one moment, God is praised as the creator of all that is
beautiful and sensual in the world. The next moment he is the devil himself: the God-Devil.
Next, he doesnt exist. At one point in the story, Zorba tells us: The devil was dragging me one
way, God the other; and, between the two of them, they split me down the middle (p. 72).
Later, he laments the change in the priest Zaharia: His devil is dead. And now hes empty, poor
fellow, completely empty, finished! He will be just like everybody else from now on! (p. 277).
Like Dionysus and Apollo, the implication is that the best life is one where man balances a little
bit of God with a little bit of the devil. But this does not solve for Zorba the question of the
nature of God. In perhaps the most striking passage in the entire book, Zorba blurts out: Is there

a Godyes or no? The sheer audacity of this question astounds the reader. It is the question
we all want to ask, need to ask, are afraid to ask, and of which we afraid to know the answer. Yet
Zorba charges right to the point: the ultimate point.
Only by exploring every possible angle and combination of duality can our characters
propel this apparently desultory story forward, keeping the reader thinking, wondering,
struggling, ourselves, to find meaning. No reference in Zorba the Greek, no matter how
insignificant, is free of duality. Even Kazantzakiss frequent mentions of St. Minas and the
church of St. Minas are not innocent. St. Minas becomes a meaningful duality. St. Minas
church is associated both with one of the most infamous episodes of local history, when the
Turks slaughtered the metropolitan bishop, churchmen, and civilians inside, as well as the
Miracle of 1926 when the Turks were thwarted in a similar attack by, legend has it, the
intervention of St. Minas himself (www.heraklion-city.gr, n.d.).
Just as each duality is clearly seen, Zorba challenges us to see the contradictions as easily
reconciled. When Zorba feels waves of contradictory impulses, upon Madame Hortenses
refusal to eat, he says: Have pity on the poor pig, my lovely, and eat this sweet little trotter (pp.
126-127). The readers mind immediately reacts: Eat a pig to show him pity? We react again
when we are told to pity women by ravaging them. We recoil when told: God enjoys himself,
kills, commits injustice, makes love, works, likes impossible things, just as I do (p. 235).
Eventually, the mind settles and we are left with the uncommon realization that Zorba could be
reasonable, even right. The dualities might just make sense if we accept that the world does not.
Acceptance of the world as an unreasonable and unexplainable labyrinth is the first step to
embracing Kazantzakiss philosophy. This philosophy is not just a battle between the Dionysian
view and the Apollonian view, but rather a synthesis of the two that he saw as the noblest of

historical Greek arts. Underlying this philosophy is the thought that without Dionysus Apollo
would have been anemic (Friar, 1958).
The Cretan Glance
Kazantzakiss philosophy can be expressed nicely by a concept known as the Cretan
Glance. Liappas (2004) describes this as more an attitude than a detailed philosophy: A heroic
attitude towards accepting everything that comes along. Doing the best you can with what
youve got. Another aspect of this attitude is articulated by Kazantzakis (1998) as the
Primitive Glance, which he describes as a creativity and a freshness brought to each day and
event: a way of continually seeing the ageless elements as if for the first time. These are two
sides of the same coin and can be said to form a singular point-of-view. Kazantzakis traces the
origins of the Cretan Glance to Minoan Crete and the games the Minoans played by confronting
the Bull-God. They did not kill the Bull, but played with it at their ease, transforming terror into
a triumph of mans virtue. Kazantzakis saw this as a synthesis of both the ancient Oriental view,
as associated with Dionysus, and the ancient Greek view, as associated with Apollo (Friar, 1958).
This created for the ancient inhabitants of Crete, the heroic and playful eyes, without hope yet
without fear, which so confront the Bull, the Abyss. (Levitt, 1980, p.4).
The Cretan glance is an attitude that permeates Zorba the Greek. Our narrator is
constantly challenged, and clearly seduced, to live as Zorba does: to work the best you can when
you work, to love with alacrity when you love, to dance with passion when you dance, to play
the santuri with feeling when you play. This is how to stare down the Bull, or as Zorba says: A
yawning abyss in front, a precipice behind (p.163). A more contextualized view of the Abyss,
and a more important one because it comes from the narrators lips, thus showing synthesis, is
the analogy of the leaf. People are seen as grubs. Only some of the grubs are brave enough to

look over the edge. Of those who do, many tremble. But some look over the precipice calmly
and bravely and say: I like it. (p. 270). These intrepid souls embody the Cretan Glance.
For a brief interlude, our narrator embraces the Cretan Glance. On Easter, he sleeps with
the widow, marking his symbolic resurrection. He has looked into the Abyss and found solace:
My mind, a body too in its way, was resting, contented. It seemed to have found a marvelously
simple answer to the vital, complicated problems which tormented it (p. 237). This is a view of
human freedom. But this proves a fleeting tryst, physically, emotionally, philosophically, and
spiritually. As Kazantzakis (1998) would write in the novels prologue: The great turn-around,
the radical change of battleground, the purification by fire and renewal didnt happen. It was
already too late (p. 242). In our narrators words: the terrible enemy who had penetrated the
outer walls had been held in check.(p.297). Ultimately, this ephemeral acceptance of the
Cretan Glance is equivalent to an acceptance of Kazantzakiss definition of God: the Darwinian
creativity of life experimenting with species and individuals to reach new levels of liberation
(Friar, 1958). With this acceptance, we see a glimmer of hope. That glimmer of hope spreads
like a sticky residue on the denouement of the novel. Here is another irony, or duality: the
Cretan Glance is a look at once without hope for eternal salvation, but laden with hope of a life
worth living.
Hope
Zorba the Greek explores the concept of hope on many different levels. Kazantzakis
forces the reader to question whether hope indeed exists, and whether hope has any meaning if
life itself may not. The novel can be seen as a rollercoaster ride whereby our narrator searches
for hope, finds hope, loses hope, and finds it again. Similarly, the other main characters,

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including Zorba, Madame Hortense, and the widow, struggle at various times to find and retain
hope.
The narrators journey through hope is the most illuminating as a means of understanding
Kazantzakiss philosophy. In the beginning of the story, our narrator is on a quest. He is
searching for a more complete and meaningful life, first through his books and his Buddha
manuscript, and increasingly through Zorbas zest for life. As he and Zorba begin their nightly
dialogues, hope is kindled. Hope then takes on a tangible, human form in the shape of the
widow. The widow comes to represent the narrators most forlorn hopes. As soon as this hope is
grasped, Kazantzakis then brilliantly dashes it. The literary tools he uses leave the reader both
shocked and in no doubt that hope, for the time being, is quite dead. The physical symbol of the
narrators hope, the widow, is brutally murdered. Equally shocking are the narrators actions
during the slaying and soon after. The narrator acts as little more than an observer to the murder
of his erstwhile lover. He feebly asks Sifakas to have pity, but does nothing to offer and physical
protection or succor. Soon afterward, the narrator emotionally loses all hope: Once more [I]
began in my wretched, inhuman way, to transpose reality.I came to the awful conclusion that
what had happened was necessary (p. 248). The narrator consummates his loss by taking the
hands of Zorba and Manolakas and bidding them: Shake hands.You are both good, stout
fellows, you must patch up this quarrel (p. 252). Again, the reader feels a sense of repugnance.
How can the narrator treat one of his lovers attackers with such equanimity? How can bygones
be bygones after only three or four days? This behavior is perplexing, even maddening.
However, if we view this as the equivalent of our narrator shaking hands with fate and releasing
hope, then his actions make perfect sense. For if he has lost all hope, and things are fated to
happen whether he likes them or not, why would he act otherwise? It would be a waste of effort

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and emotion. As if to put a fine point on the loss of hope, the Narrator begins portending the
death of his friend and alter ego, Stavrodaki. In keeping with the dualities of the story, at the
moment when hope is symbolically dying, it is at the same time, emotionally re-emerging. The
disaster of the overhead cable railway becomes a cathartic experience that leads our narrator to
embrace hope once again, and dance! He dances and expresses his love for Zorba in a way in
which he had been previously incapable.
The re-emergence of hope at the end of the novel juxtaposed to the actual death of
Stavridaki represents the authors struggle: Is there hope, or is there not hope? We will never
know. Kazantzakis will not give us the answer because his philosophy is to explore such
questions for meaning, not pat solutions. Kazantzakiss optimism that life itself has the potential
for meaning is affirmed, however, with the very last words of the story, using a now familiar
image: a woman, a widow.
The widow begs you, therefore, if you ever pass through our village, to be good enough
to spend the night in her house as her guest, and when you leave in the morning, to take
the santuri with you. (p. 311)
These words are pregnant with the hope of love and life recaptured. They create a twinkle in the
eye of the Cretan Glance.
Woman
Woman plays a vital role in Zorba the Greek that goes beyond simple duality. She is a
kaleidoscope through which we view Kazantzakiss entire literary landscape. Woman represents
not a simple duality, but all dualities. She represents every question that cannot be answered.
She is the ultimate synthesis. Women are, to Zorba, a sacred mystery, the sacred mystery.
We see through the eyes of Zorba a confounding array of views towards women. One
minute they are powerful, the next weak; now at one with God, next with the devil. What is

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clear is that Zorba sees woman as the earthly place to search for lifes answers. On one level of
course is prurient interest, but Kazantzakis raises this interest in importance. The sexual union is
not just lustful, but rather a place where life can reach ecstasy, where for a fleeting moment life
seems most meaningful. This reminds us again that we must embrace the Dionysian to
maximize the potential of life (Beacham 1194-2005). Against the backdrop of the 1940s, this
sexually charged message would have been powerful and controversial, something not easily
ignored. Beyond the urges of the flesh, women are a tangible symbol of the questions of God
and the Abyss. We are told that woman is not human, she is an everlasting business, she is
something incomprehensible. To Zorba, God and the Abyss can only be explored only so far
before the mind reaches a frustrating enigma. Yet he feels he can find the answers to the same
questions by searching into woman. He searches and searches, and although we are sure that he
will never find the answer, the learning along the way satisfies his mind that he is closer to an
answer. Woman again serves to remind us that to search for the answers to the universe, we must
look here on earth, right into ourselves and right into the eyes of other human beings.
Women in Zorba the Greek also play important symbolic roles. As noted, the widow
becomes more than an object of desire, but a symbol of hope. Madame Hortense, on the other
hand, is a clear symbol of Crete, or even Greece, having once been desired and wooed by the
great powers, and ultimately having to settle for indigenous peasant poverty (Beacham 19942005). Perhaps the most powerful female symbol in the novel is the Holy Virgin of Revenge.
She combines a core female duality (at once loving and fierce) with the religious superstition that
clouds ones view ofor search fortrue meaning. The contradictions and questions
surrounding this figure echo the central questions of the novel as a whole. The Virgins putative
role in the death of the monk Zaharia is intended to lampoon the religious superstition, reminding

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the reader to see the Holy Virgin of Revenge for what she is: a man-made icon that cannot help
us in our search for meaning or God. Kazantzakis believed strongly that man creates God in his
own image, and that God is really the search for God, which in turn makes mans life noble. In
Zorba the Greek then, women can be said to symbolically represent the search for God.
Buddha
Like just about everything in Zorba the Greek, the search for God has a counterweight, a
balance more important than the one-dimensional and traditional symbol of the devil. This
juxtaposition is an intellectual one personified by Buddha. Buddha represents an alternative to
traditional western approaches to come to terms with the meaning of life and of God.
Our narrator presents Buddha to us as an almost purely Apollonian figure. Buddha
represents reason, asceticism, and the mind over the body. Buddha is pitted directly against the
shepherd (i.e., Christ) as a deity that has no need for worldly pleasures or profits: I have neither
oxen, nor cows, I have nothing, I fear nothing (p. 19). Christ on the other hand has a desire
for worldly goods and profits as does, by association, the Church: I have oxen, I have cows. I
have my fathers meadows and a bull who covers my cows (p. 19). Buddha is seen by the
narrator as another way to peer into the Abyss, or as Buddha is called: the Void. We see that
one way to look at the Abyss is the opposite of the Cretan Glance. Rather than look at it and
laugh, as Dionysus would, we can empty ourselves and become one with the void. We become
the last man on earth who is distracted by nothing. We experience the void as preparation for our
eternal journey into it.
Buddha is not that simple, however; nothing in Zorba the Greek is. We are told a story of
Buddha when the Tempter appears to him in the shape of a woman, pressing her breasts against
his knees. In a synthesis with Christ, who was similarly tempted by the devil in the desert,

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Buddha mobilized all his powers and routed The Evil One (p. 113). A deeper look into
Buddhas teachings shows an even more interesting duality, one that supports Zorbas Dionysian
view equally with the narrators Apollonian/ascetic view: Each of us is God, Buddha said. Each
of us knows all. We need only open our minds to hear our own wisdom. (Brown, 2000). The
implication is liberating. We decide the meaning of life; we have all the answers already.
Zorbas answer is no less relevant than the narrators answer. Asceticism isnt more correct
because it is more disciplined. Discipline, in the end, only has value if you believe it can give
your life meaning. Buddha and his teachings validate both approaches.
Nature
In Kazantzakiss philosophy, the search for meaning and God is enhanced by a true
appreciation of, and sense of wonder about, nature. In order to look at the world, and for God,
each day with a freshness and creativity, one must recognize natures essential dynamism: the
Darwinian creativity that turns relentless variation into earthly progress. In order to capture the
essence of nature itself, Zorba anthropomorphizes nature, comparing and contrasting it to the
essence of mankind. This allows the reader to explore nature in terms that are familiar, if no less
mysterious. This exploration helps the reader recognize that an observation and appreciation of
natures spirit is as essential in the search for God as the acts and deeds of men, perhaps even
more so. In addition to natures philosophical role in the story, nature is also symbolic. Often,
the images of nature are reflecting, or sardonically inverting, the emotions of the human
characters.
The reader gains an immediate sense of Kazantzakiss appreciation of nature from the
very first paragraph. We are told not just that the weather is stormy, but rather: A strong sirocco
was blowing the spray from the waves and The fish, dazed by the blows of the raging

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waters, had taken refuge in the depths. As the novel progresses we see that both animate and
inanimate objects of nature share some of the same characteristics as man. Zorba puts a fine
point on this when he says: Its beyond me. Everything seems to have a soulwood, stones,
the wine we drink and the earth we tread on. Everything, boss, absolutely everything! (p.77).
At times, nature actually becomes human. Hills become a womans face; daytime becomes man,
night becomes woman; sea, sky and earth copulate. Zorba himself represents mans harmony
with nature. We see him by the light of the moon adapting himself to the surrounding world,
where all thingswomen, bread, water, meat, sleepblended happily with his flesh to become
Zorba. (p. 132). Kazantzakiss infatuation with nature stems from his belief that man is an
intrinsic part of nature, not something different, removed, isolated, or better. The depth with
which he explores the nature of man cannot, in his philosophy, be any different from a deep
understanding of nature. Another Kazantzakis idol and mentor, Charles Darwin, instilled this
belief deeply in him.
It is clear in Kazantzakiss descriptions of nature that the author does not just observe it;
he relishes nature. He tries to capture it in all its glory, in all its beauty, in all its fierceness, in all
its anger. Compare an evocative passage such as The sun was already high when we entered the
pine forest. The air there smelled of honey, the wind was blowing above us like the soughed
sea. (p.188) to Cavafys Morning Sea, for example. Cavafy sees the brilliant blue of the
morning sea, of the cloudless sky, of the yellow shore. But what has the reader experienced?
We see colors in our minds eye; we see a lack of clouds. We see something, but experience
nothing. For Cavafy there is always an overriding element of despair. Sensual pleasure exists
only in vague memories of furtive glances. Kazantzakiss glance is wide and deep, taking in all
of nature, trying to capture every layer of experience in every moment and, perhaps most

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importantly, trying to integrate, no, enmesh, man into the natural rhythms of God and the
universe. As an integral part of nature, like Zorba, man has a potential path to God and meaning.
As a caustic observer of nature, like Cavafy, man is isolated, impassive, and hopeless.
Two specific symbols of nature are pervasive and important in Zorba the Greek: birds and
the sea. Birds come in a dizzying array. We see parrots, gulls, owls, gallows birds, nightingales,
swans, cranes, blackbirds, birds of steel, etc. Each of these birds serves a specific symbolic
purpose, sometimes portending doom, sometimes representing the colorful history of certain
characters, and sometimes reflecting soaring feelings of joy. What is important about birds is
their wings. Kazantzakis does not stop with birds, but also utilizes insects with dampened wings
and even nuns with benjamin-scented wings. Wings are an important symbol of freedom.
They also allow a different perspective: a perspective that sees the world in vast vistas, covering
large distances. Birds can do what our narrator only dreams of: to touch and see as much of the
earth and sea before I die. Yet they have no answers, just an instinctual need to live in their own
unique way, different from other birds, and also the same. The symbol of the sea is more precise.
Kazantzakis uses the sea to mimic and sometimes mock the emotions of man. For example, as
Anagnosti explores the underlying despair of life, as represented by the recent suicide of the
lovesick youth, he looks at the darkening sea. Later, after the narrator couples with the widow,
he returns home to bed and hears the sea quietly, rhythmically breathing, acting out his
emotions and feelings. The symbolism of the sea is best personified however in the lovesick
youths suicide: he drowns himself in the sea. It is the sea of life, the sea of emotions.
In a lengthy passage, which is worth quoting in its entirety, our narrator, in one of his
most lucid moments, brings together the appreciation of nature with the search for God:
I was tired, I had not slept well, and I stretched out on the grass. The wild violets, broom,
rosemary and sage made the air redolent. Insects buzzed continually as in their hunger

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they plunged into the flowers like pirates and sucked the honey. In the distance the
mountains sparkled, transparent, serene, like a moving haze in the burning light of the
sun.
I closed my eyes, soothed. A quiet pleasure took possession of meas if all that green
miracle around me were paradise itself, as if all the freshness, airness and sober rapture
which I was feeling were God. God changes his appearance every second. Blessed is the
man who can recognize him in all his disguises (p. 208).
Here is a true baring of the authors soul.
Conclusion
Zorba the Greek is a novel of great importance. It succeeds brilliantly on two levels: as
an enjoyable adventure story and as an existential exploration into the meaning of life and God.
Important to any appreciation of the novel is an understanding of its influences. Influences from
ancient Greece (e.g., Plato), the middle ages (e.g., Dante), the Renaissance (e.g., Cervantes), and
both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (e.g., Darwin, Neitzche, Goethe), among others, give
Kazantzakiss work a deep historical, intellectual and even naturalist context which make it truly
unique. Understanding the influential role of Dante, in particular, as a foil for the religious and
philosophical arguments to be made in the novel, is vitally important.
Within the layered structure of Zorba the Greek, There are themes and symbols which
define the purpose of the work. First there are the dualities that stretch the readers mind, forcing
us to compare, contrast, combine, and ultimately synthesize contradictory thoughts. This process
allows us to understand Kazantzakiss core philosophy toward life and the meaning of God, best
described as the Cretan Glance, a heroic attitude that allows us to look into the face of the
unknown with creativity and freshness that embraces the moment; each moment giving life
meaning. Although this look is at once without hope for salvation, it does create hope for a life
worth living. Kazantzakis explores hope as a key theme. Our narrator, in particular, becomes a
symbol of hope sought, lost, and regained. Woman becomes a key symbol of this hope and

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serves a deeper purpose as a synthesis of all dualities, representing the search for meaning and
God. In the search for meaning and God, Buddha is introduced as an alternate path to the same
end, but also as a reminder that the answers are ultimately within us. In Kazantzakiss view,
once we realize that the answers are within ourselves, we can stop creating God in our own
image and start looking at the search for meaning as a goal in and of itself. In short, God is
personified in man, the struggle between the two is the search for God, mans soul is in search
for itself, and the search never ends until death (Calian, 1971). Kazantzakis also shows us that
the search for God and meaning cannot be complete without an appreciation for nature. Nature,
and mankind as part of it, is the manifestation of God. A deeper understanding of nature may be,
in the end, as deep an understanding of God as we will ever achieve.
Perhaps the greatest travesty to befall Nikos Kazantzakis has been the
frivolization of one of his most important works. Zorba the Greek has become a parody of itself.
Zorba in now for the image of Greeks what Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof has become for the
image of Jews: a bloated stereotype. Unfortunately, Kazantzakiss literary gift has worked
against him. Unlike other great existentialist writers of the twentieth century, such as Albert
Camus, Samuel Beckett, and Jean-Paul Sartre, who wrote plays and novels of deep existential
meaning, such as The Plague, Waiting for Godot, and No Exit, Kazantzakis had a superior gift
for entertainment, characterization, and storytelling. This was a skill the others could not match.
This allowed the character of Zorba to become so popular that it has become distorted, sullying
the meaning and memory of Kazantzakiss work. Camus, Beckett, and Sartre all received the
Nobel Prize; Kazantzakis never did. This is a testament to his brilliance rather than his futility.
People will be reading and finding meaning in Zorba the Greek long after people stop waiting for
Godot to arrive.

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References
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Lehmann, J (1952, September 6). New novels: Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis. The New
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