Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1957) was a Greek, Cretan writer who became world-famous for his fascinating novels and their film versions, such as Zorba the Greek, Christ Recrucified / The Greek Passion and The Last Temptation [of Christ]. A conspicuous feature of his immense oeuvre is its spiritual and religious character, which expresses itself in the writer’s continuous search for the Divine. Having been raised and saturated with the Greek Orthodox tradition, he has undergone numerous other influences and crafted his peculiar synthesis. My talk will especially examine the impact of Orthodoxy and the way how the writer has tailored it to his own insights, adopting and adjusting some elements, while rejecting other ingredients.
