Greek Literature

A

Classical Versus Demotic Greek

Under Turkish domination the education of all Greeks was undertaken by the Church. Instruction was conservative, and the language used preserved the antique forms of Byzantine Greek. Furthermore, many of the Greek patriots writing abroad, assuming that ancient Hellas was about to arise from its ashes, forced the modern idiom into unnatural antique patterns. Adamantios Korais, a learned classicist living in Paris, urged the use of a combined language, one that was neither ancient nor modern.

The language dichotomy can easily be traced in the area of poetry. Since the Middle Ages a rich, orally transmitted, self-perpetuating folk poetry had flourished as the real poetry of Greece. It was written in demotic Greek, a natural medium for narrative and lyrical verse. In the 18th century some poets began following the classical tradition instead. Among these were Konstantinos Rhigas and Iakovos Rhizos Neroulos. A number carried on the classical tradition in the 19th century, among them Alexandre Rizos Rangabé, poet, historian, and novelist. In the 19th century, however, poets tended increasingly to use the more expressive demotic Greek, and for decades fierce controversy raged. Today demotic is used for literature and a more classical form of Greek for professional and scientific writing.

B

Literature of the Liberation Movement

In the first decades of the 19th century, literature, and particularly poetry, was mainly patriotic. The rousing verse of the leader of the Ionian school of poetry, Dionysios Solomós, encouraged the nation emerging from Turkish bondage. His fine Hymn to Liberty (1823) has become the national anthem of Greece. Perhaps the best poet of the Ionian school was Andreas Ioannides Kalvos, a great classical scholar; his stirring poems, in a dialect of his own making and of singularly harmonious texture, resound with echoes of the ancient Greek paeans.

Following the emergence of Greece as an independent state in 1832, literature developed with new vigour, expressing the spirit of a highly articulate people. Prominent writers of fiction in the 19th century included Emmanuel Roidis, whose earliest work was the novel Pope Joan (1865), translated into English in 1954 by the British writer and translator Lawrence Durrell. Roidis was also a satirist, a literary critic, and an important translator of English and French authors. Alexandros Papadiamantis, novelist and short-story writer, wrote lyrical vignettes of village life and island scenery. Papadiamantis's work was completely free of foreign influence. A posthumous collection of his best stories, Ta rodina akroyialia (The Roseate Shores), was published in 1913. Another author of pure Greek inspiration is the Ionian story-writer Argyris Eftaliotis. His best-known work is Nisiotikes istories (1897; Island Tales).

Outstanding among the 19th-century poets of the postliberation period was Aristotelis Valaoritis, a poet noted for his vigour and descriptive imagery who wrote in demotic Greek. Another important writer of the period is the Symbolist poet Ioannes Papadiamantopoulos, who wrote in French under the name Jean Moréas. Moréas had a considerable influence on younger Greek poets, among them Konstantinos Hadzopoulos, a fine writer of fiction as well as poetry, and Miltiades Malakasses, who started his career writing in French but soon turned to Greek. Important also is Georgios Souris, the great political satirist in the tradition of Aristophanes; Souris published in verse a weekly journal that proved a lively and caustic commentary on public affairs.

The first important Greek dramatists of the 19th century, Demetrios Vernadakis and Spyridon Vasiliadis, wrote in the classical manner. The realistic and satirical dramas of Ioannis Kambisis about Athenian life were written in the vernacular. Influenced by Russian Realism, novelist and playwright Spyros Melas wrote the dramas Ios tou iskyou (1907; Son of the Shadow) and Kokkino poukamiso (1908; Red Shirt). The plays of Gregorios Xenopoulos, particularly Stella Violanti (1909), were influenced by the 19th-century Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. The Greek Symbolist movement found its expression in plays such as Zontani ke pethameni (1905; The Living and the Dead) by Demetrios Tangopoulos.

C

Early 20th-Century Poetry and Prose

One of the most popular poets in the early part of the 20th century was Georgios Drosines. Drosines began writing in the purified literary dialects but later adopted and advocated the use of the vernacular. His work includes the volumes of poems Photera skotadia (1903-1914; Light Through Darkness) and Klista vlephara (1914-1917; Closed Eyelids).

Ranked by critics as one of the most important poets in Europe was Drosines' contemporary, Kostis Palamas, some of whose best poetry is contained in Asalephti zoi (1904; Immutable Life). Palamas's long poem Phloyera tou vasilia (1910; The King's Flute) presents a pageant of Byzantine history. His epic poem and masterpiece The Twelve Words of the Gypsy (1907; trans. 1964) expresses the hopes and aspirations of the Greek people.

Constantine Cavafy is acknowledged by critics as one of the greatest and most influential poets of modern Greece; his work is internationally recognized. He was born and lived most of his life in Alexandria, Egypt. The city was the centre of Greek culture at the turn of the 20th century, as it was in the Hellenistic period, and forms the background of many of Cavafy’s disturbingly nostalgic historical poems. A Baudelairean melancholy pervades both his homoerotic poems and those that evoke deeply moving human tragedies of ancient times. “Ta vimata” (before 1911; “Footsteps”), for example, is an impressive poem about the Roman emperor Nero, lying asleep as the Furies, who pursue the wicked, approach. Cavafy’s verse is written in a blend of literary and demotic Greek—harmonious, lyrical, and pleasing to the ear.

Also worthy of mention is Angelos Sikelianos, whose poetry is somewhat ritualistic and often Pindaric in mood (see Pindar). He was one of the first modern Greek poets to write in free demotic verse, which often recalls the mood of ancient lyrics and choric odes. Among his finest works are Aphierosi (1922; Consecration); the poetic drama Christos sti Romi (1946; Christ in Rome); Thanatos tou Digeni (1948; The Death of Digenis); and Lyrikos vios (1947; The Lyric Breath of Life, 3 vols.), a collection of lyric poems. Together with his American-born wife Eva (née Palmer, 1885-1952), Sikelianos organized the Delphic Festival in Athens and the impressive production and direction of the plays of Aeschylus at the sanctuary of Apollo on Mount Parnassus.

One of the most widely recognized Greek writers of the 20th century was Nikos Kazantzakis, the Cretan novelist and poet, whose works, written largely in his own adaptation of Cretan dialect, have been translated into several languages. His best-known poem is The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel (1938; trans. 1958), a long epic beginning where Homer’s Odyssey ends. Among his most popular novels, available in English, are Zorba the Greek (1943; trans. 1952), later made into a film and a musical, The Greek Passion (1948; trans. 1954), and The Last Temptation of Christ (1951; trans. 1960).

Other novelists also contributed to the literature of this period. Elias Venezis, a superb master of style and realistic description, wrote Galene (1939; Serenity) and Beyond the Aegean (1943; trans. 1955). Stratis Myrivilis, a novelist of great romantic charm, produced The Teacher with the Golden Eyes (1932), on the first World War, Small Flames (1942), and The Mermaid Madonna (1955). Kosmas Politis, an accomplished stylist, proved himself an idealist with a fine insight into the character of women. Politis manages to combine 19th-century Romanticism with a sense of 20th-century realities; chief among his novels are Lemonodasos (1928; The Lemon-Tree Grove), Hekate (1933), and Eroica (1938). George Theotokas was a novelist and dramatist, and director of the National Theatre of Greece. Among his works are The Demon (1938), an analysis of the modern Greek temperament; the novel Leonis (1940); and two volumes of plays (1944 and 1947).

D

Post-World War II and Late 20th-Century Trends

During and following World War II many writers, reflecting their participation in the struggle of the Greek people for survival, began a new kind of literary activity. Themos Kornaros described in Haidari (1946) the attempts of German soldiers during World War II to break the morale of Greek prisoners. Other documentary works of literary merit were written about the Greek Resistance movement, as well as several patriotic poems dealing with the Resistance and the ensuing civil war.

Pandelis Prevelakis, dramatist, novelist, essayist, poet, and former follower of Kazantzakis, wrote such dramatic works as In the Hands of the Living God (1955) and The Last Tournament (1956); his collected poems were published in 1969. Important among contemporary Greek writers is I. M. Panayotopoulos, poet, novelist, essayist, critic of literature and art, and recorder of his travels. Panayotopoulos was a prolific writer, producing more than 30 works, and an influential contributor to the cultural life of Greece. His Captive (1951) is a story extending from pre-war days through the German occupation of Greece.

Among the writers who emerged to carry on the work of Nikos Kazantzakis after his death in 1957 was Vassilis Vassilikos, the author of over 20 novels, including the protest novel Z (1966), which was translated into English in 1968 and later made into a compelling film. This work concerns the violent tactics of the corrupt politicians and army officers who protected the Greek monarchy. Later works include three lengthy novellas, published under the title Kroup Ellás (1976). The title story concerns a vast munitions factory (the Krupp works) that controls the lives of its workers and makes possible mass war deaths.

Several novelists began, in the 1950s, to turn away from fiction specifically about the war and its aftermath to novels dealing with other aspects of existence. Stratis Tsirkas described the life of Greeks exiled in Egypt during the war in his trilogy The Club (1960), Ariagni (1962), and The Bat (1965). Antonis Samarakis wrote of individuals caught in the pressures of modern society, as in The Flaw (1965; trans. 1966); Galatia Sarandi dealt with the contemporary psychological stress of women; and Nestoras Matsas has written about the Jews in wartime Greece.

After the war a vigorous group of inspired poets appeared in Greece. Their modernity was not impaired but rather enhanced by their continuation of an old tradition of nostalgic sentiment—expressed in fresh new ways. George Seferis, whose evocative symbolism, quiet understatement, and nostalgic touch excite the intellect and stir the emotions, won the Nobel Prize in 1963. His Collected Poems, 1924-1955, which was translated into English by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard, was published in a bilingual edition in 1967. The work of the political radical Yannis Ritsos dating from 1957 may be found in English translation in Selected Poems (1974). Later poetry appears in Eighteen Short Songs of the Bitter Motherland (1974). Odysseus Elytis, born in Crete, a painter and translator as well as a poet, was one of the few Surrealists in Greek literature. His major theme is the redemption of human beings despite all obstacles, and his work conveys the special light and architectural features of the Greek landscape. For his achievements Elytis was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1979. His major works include The Sovereign Sun (1943; trans. 1974) and Axion Esti (1959; trans. 1974)—a title taken from the first words of a hymn: “It is worthy.”

Manolis Anagnostakis, a poet who wrote in the 1950s, received both popular and critical attention after the 1970s, influencing many younger Greek poets. The Target: Selected Poems (1980) presents his works in the original Greek and in English translation. Other notable poets since the 1970s include Tzene Mastoraki, Rhea Galanaki, Kiki Dimoula, and Maria Laina. Selected works by Mastoraki, Galanaki, and Laina have been translated into English by Karen Van Dyck in The Rehearsal of Misunderstanding: Three Collections by Contemporary Greek Women Poets (1998).

Drama, which up to the end of World War II had remained untouched by international developments, began to change in the 1950s. In contrast to the tragedies of Sikelianos and Kazantzakis, set in antiquity and Byzantine times, plays of younger writers dealt with contemporary problems. Notable playwrights of the second half of the 20th century include Loula Anagnostaki and Maria Laina. Many of Anagnostaki’s works, including Diamantia kai mplouz (1991; Diamonds and Blues), depict a sense of fragmentation of time and place in the modern world.

In the late 20th century, modern Greek prose diversified to incorporate new perspectives. More women writers appeared, more writers challenged tradition in their works, and more authors focused on the present rather than the past. The novelist Costas Taktsis received international acclaim with the translation into English of his The Third Wedding (1963; translated 1967), a portrait of Greek life as seen through the eyes of two women from Athens. Galateia Sarantë wrote novels, short stories, and children’s fiction. Many of her works, including the title story of her 1982 collection Elene, emphasize family and love relationships. Margarita Karapanou’s O ipnovatçs (1986; The Sleepwalker) challenged the status quo of the upper middle class in contemporary Greek society. A 1985 novella and a 1992 collection of short stories by Thanasis Valtinos were translated into English as Deep Blue, Almost Black in 1997. The volume offers glimpses of modern Greek life from the early and mid-20th century through to the mid-1990s. Fiction writer and poet Rhea Galanaki wrote the historical novel Life of Ismail Ferik Pasha (1996; translated 1996), based on a 19th-century Cretan revolutionary.

As 20th-century Greek writers found a wider audience in Greece and worldwide, the fables of the ancient Greek author Aesop experienced a renaissance as a result of a new English translation published in 1998. Based on the last complete Greek edition of the work, which was published in 1927, the uncensored 1998 version was controversial because of its sometimes coarse and graphic language.