Who is Nikos Kazantzakis?
Nikos Kazantzakis was a playwright and novelist born on Crete in 1885. He lived to see both world wars played out in his beloved Europe, and his writing became his template for philosophy. He called writing his “battlefield” for political change. Kazantzakis is best known to English language readers for his novels, Zorba the Greek, and The Last Temptation of Christ. In fact, the publication of the latter was long ignored until Martin Scorsese made a film version of it in 1988. The film set off a firestorm of criticism about the portrayal of Jesus as a quite ordinary man, caught in an existential struggle of belief and denial. It also more than hints at a sexual relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The film was banned in most Greek theaters and the Roman papacy condemned it. Condemnation of the film probably resulted in higher box office returns than expected. It further stirred an interest in the writer, and the book enjoyed higher sales than any other of the Kazantzakis nove
Nikos Kazantzakis was a playwright and novelist born on Crete in 1885. He lived to see both world wars played out in his beloved Europe, and his writing became his template for philosophy. He called writing his “battlefield†for political change. Kazantzakis is best known to English language readers for his novels, Zorba the Greek, and The Last Temptation of Christ. In fact, the publication of the latter was long ignored until Martin Scorsese made a film version of it in 1988. The film set off a firestorm of criticism about the portrayal of Jesus as a quite ordinary man, caught in an existential struggle of belief and denial. It also more than hints at a sexual relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The film was banned in most Greek theaters and the Roman papacy condemned it. Condemnation of the film probably resulted in higher box office returns than expected. It further stirred an interest in the writer, and the book enjoyed higher sales than any other of the Kazantzakis n
The proverb says, You know a man by the friends he keeps. Who are the friends of Nikos Kazantzakis? If he were forced to designate those who had left their traces embedded most deeply in my soulhe would name Homer, Buddha, Nietzsche, Bergson, and Zorba. (1) Who is Nietzsche? Nietzsche is one of the philosophical forerunners of National Socialism. Nietzsche posited God is dead. He is the foundation of the philosophy of Nihilism. It is the superman of Nietzsche that the SS is based on. Part of the formation of the SS was the imprinting of animalistic characteristics in men. Kazantzakis also anthropologizes the weather and inanimate objects in his books. Nietzsches philosophy of Nihilism is the perfect counterpart to the scientific materialism of Marxist socialism. Hitler called his movement the fulfillment of Marxist doctrine. (2) Kazantzakis wrote several articles on Nietzsche for the Athenian newspaper Neon Asti between l907 and l909, the precise period in which he studied under Bergso
ad_unit_target=’mainAdUnit’; X Close this window Nikos Kazantzakis was a playwright and novelist born on Crete in 1885. He lived to see both world wars played out in his beloved Europe, and his writing became his template for philosophy. He called writing his â  battlefieldâ  for political change. Kazantzakis is best known to English language readers for his novels, Zorba the Greek , and The Last Temptation of Christ . In fact, the publication of the latter was long ignored until Martin Scorsese made a film version of it in 1988. The film set off a firestorm of criticism about the portrayal of Jesus as a quite ordinary man, caught in an existential struggle of belief and denial. It also more than hints at a sexual relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The film was banned in most Greek theaters and the Roman papacy condemned it. Condemnation of the film probably resulted in higher box office returns than expected. It further stirred an interest in the writer, and the book
