creativity – Page 4 – The English Introvert

C G Karyotakis 1896-1928 Greek poet

I’m sure your all getting the feeling now that the area surrounding Lefkás known for its poetry because of the amount of poets I have so far covered. Also, I rather like poetry which is not a thing you would initially think considering I’m quite logical and a scientist.

This poet deserves a post because I was struck by the beauty of his poetry and he lived such a short life.

He also talks about Preveza, the biggest town in the area. Which from everything I’ve ever heard and seen about the place, hasn’t changed at all and will inspire the same melancholic poetry in yourself. (The poet committed suicide shortly after writing that poem).

Kostas Karyotakis suffered the fate of most people born before there time in that his work was only appreciated after he died. He knew his brilliance but couldn’t convince others so this gave him great pain. This is sometimes reflected in his work especially later on.

He was highly intelligent, studied law and became employed in clerical work which he highly disliked. This comes across in his poems but he was able to revolutionise the way poetry was written so there is always a silver lining to everything in life.

He had syphilis which at the time couldn’t be cured which is mainly responsible for his suffering, inability to settle into any position and therefore constant changing of where he was living.

He was sad, suicidal and unfulfilled for the majority of his life so it’s no surprise that he ended his life rather quickly by shooting himself through the heart under a eucalyptus tree.

This is the sixth post in the series of Greek but mainly Lefkádian writers and poets which includes a bonus post from Sententiae Antiquae on Sappho.

Best wishes

Angela

Karia and it’s heritage museum

This is a small village well known for its embroidery. It has a style unique to Lefkás invented by a lady called Maria Standraka who was unable to stitch in the normal way due to an acquired disability. She came to be known as a Koutsochero because of that disability. Not to be defeated by this obstacle she came up with the Karsaniko style. There are samples of her work displayed inside for you to admire. Ladies here to this day practice it but it is a dying art I believe due to the age of the practitioners. However it’s being kept alive in the internet age by there being a video on YouTube and images on Pinterest. So all is not lost here just yet.

This is similar to the article that I wrote on Eva Palmer Sikelianos who practised weaving and the art of making all of your own clothes by loom.

I haven’t managed to view this yet but I’ve passed by it many times even eating in the village itself. It is well known for its rugs. The Wikipedia article isn’t very helpful here as it makes no mention of anything I have said in this post. Karia.

Do you have any unique artisanal workmen and women in your cultural history?

I like making series and connecting my posts together so that they make sense to you the viewer and reader. This is the first part of my rural Lefkás village series.

Eglouvi

Other series include Greek poets, authors, Musicians, Famous Greeks and Foreigners who have become interested and or benefited Greece in some ways. All the links can be found here Series links.

Best wishes

Angela

Eva Palmer-Sikelianos

She was born in New York, emigrated to Paris and here she met her future husband Angelos Sikelianos . She then became his wife and moved to Lefkás to live there and learnt weaving of which there are examples of in the museum.

She in fact had learnt this much earlier but she learnt the traditional styles endemic to Lefkás while she lived there.

While reading this post you will have to remember that like all good poets and artists; they like their life to be presented in a certain way which is not necessarily the truth. They have employed artistic license or spin as we might call it now to how there life is displayed for prosperity. As politicians say never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

There is also an element of historical correction/heavy censorship involved to make there lives fit in with what we now deem appropriate for that era. In short they miss out a lot of their social lives because they wish to be remembered purely for their artistic endeavors.

She (Eva), famously said after visiting her ailing mother “I decided that I would never ever wear another thing made by a machine again!” She then proceeds to throw a trunk full of couture clothing from Paris out of the train window.

In truth, she had abandoned wearing western dress long before this moment and it was only her mother that caused her to occasionally wear it so that she would not upset her anymore.

She was also friends with Nikos Kazantzis and George Serefis. Angelos and Eva lived together in a house in the south of Lefkás as well as the one in Lefkás town that houses the museum you see above.

She was responsible along with her husband for the 1st and 2nd Delphic festivals but these were to prove the undoing of the couple as the economic cost was too great.

She also helped to revive and prevent the loss of some of the weaving techniques for her clothing. She taught them to Angelos’s second wife Anna Karameni when she was finally able to return to Lefkás just before her death in 1952. Anna lived to be over a 100 dying in 2006.

This museum is more a testament to the Sikelianos family and Anna rather than an accurate portrayal of the lives of Eva and Angelos as it’s so heavily edited. They didn’t live virtuous lives either of them. It’s probably why there is no museum to Byron that I can think yet he is memorialized everywhere. The Greek memory is highly selective and hypocritical given what we know about the sex lives of classical Greeks.

For some more personal details which are extremely lacking in the museum visit here – Eva Palmer Sikelianos. Or if you want an uncensored version from her point of view as opposed to the Greek masculine dominant view that is presented here read or listen to Eva Palmer-Sikelianos-A Life in Ruins.

After listening to the above book I really felt the need to edit this article as previously it only provided one side of the story. So I felt the heavy bias needed to be corrected. This is despite the fact the museum takes up the entirety of the 3 story house it’s contained in.

She is part of my foreigners who helped Greece series:-

Other series include Greek Poets, Authors, Musicians, Famous Greeks and Rural Villages in Lefkás. All the links can be found here Series links.

Do you have any notable power couples from the past in your country?

Best wishes

Angela

Some pictures of Lefkás

As the weather continues to be abysmal here I thought I would share with you some of my art. I know I said that I would cut down on the amount of time that I would spend on here but the weather hasn’t really assisted me here. I have been drawing from photographs in case your wondering why the images don’t match up to what I’m saying. Easter Fireworks charcoal

Easter fireworks charcoal

Nidri bay watercolour pencils

Kathesma beach watercolour

Princess Islands pastel

Nidri bay watercolour pencil

Nidri bay pastel

Nidri bay watercolour paint

Agias Nikitas watercolour

Yes I have painted the same image in watercolour paint, pastel and water colour pencil. Just in case you were curious about what you were viewing. I’m rather scientific in my approach to art as I like to see what works best. I also like to look at my progress in blogging and art.

Best wishes

Angela

Mikis Theodorakis

Since he is such an influential figure in Greek musical history I decided he needed his own post. Here is the link to the Rebetika post that I did earlier which inspired this.

Mikis Theodorakis wrote the musical score for the most famous Greek movie Zorba the Greek and as soon as you hear it you know what it is. For those that don’t know it’s called Syrtaki and it’s based on old Cretan dances. It’s that kind of recognition that Mikros Theodorakis has that makes him such a legend.

He has the most extraordinary collection of music, theatre productions, books, ballets, film scores and operas that he was coordinated on with such famous names as Angelos Sikelianos and Nikos Kazantzakis leading there expertise to assist him. I could go on but then this article would never end.

His personal details are here Mikis Theodorakis.

It seems to me that these series of posts are documenting the history of British involvement in Greece during the 1930’s and afterwards. I am featuring all the major players and since this is a critical part of Greece’s history just after the war of independence in 1922; it’s rather fitting as all of my interests are coming together. Literature, language, history, culture, the arts.

Yes you could say I have slight bourgeois tastes in things. Except my interest in Russian things but Greece and Russia are more connected than most people realise due to shared religious history, language and culture.

As a result of that idea I have decided to allow my hyper connected brain to link everything together to its heart’s content. Yes its a bit of a mixed metaphor but it brings colour into my writing I believe.

Mikros Theodorakis is part of the Music and Musicians series.

The music of Ancient Greece

Rebetika

Other series include Greek Poets, Authors, Musicians, Famous Greeks, Rural Villages in Lefkás and Foreigners who have become interested and or benefited Greece in some ways. All the links can be found here Series links.

Best wishes

Angela

6th Baron, Lord (George Gordon) Byron 1788-1824 English poet

By T Philips in English National Gallery — By T Philips, English National Gallery

No article on Brits that had an interest in Greek matters would be complete without a reference to Lord Byron. He assisted greatly with the Greek war of independence by financing a lot of it and is buried at Missolonghi, Greece after he became ill while living there.

He was another flamboyant, eccentric English gentleman who travelled widely, wrote romantic poetry and was a bit of a dandy. He also indulged in all manner of sexual pursuits. This was pretty standard behaviour for an aristocrat in the 19th century. He lived fast and died young at only 36. There are many busts and statues across Greece dedicated to him and there are also many streets bearing his name like here in Lefkás.

Now that the introduction is over, time for the real information.

Byron first visited Greece in his Balkan tour for his coming of age tour starting in 1809. He met the most important man in the area at the time, Ali Pascha first in Albania. He had journeyed from Ioannina or Janinina as he writes via Missolonghi, Delphi, Parnassus and Patras finally to Athens. He left in March to visit Smyrna for a month and then continued on to Constantinople. He next sojourn was to Troy. By this time it was May and warm enough for him to swim the Hellespont.

Byron had by this point fallen in love with Greece as he abandoned his well made and intentioned plans to visit Persia and India to return to Athens. He even left his traveling companion who wished to return home to England. Byron was to spend the next year touring the country, staying in a monastery at the foot of the Acropolis or studying Italian and Greek. By November he had arrived in Preveza.

When in the Spring of 1811 he left to visit Malta he was filled with a great sadness and a great many STD’s as he had rather overindulged in all manner of sexual escapades. Within 3 months he had returned to the UK.

Here is the Wikipedia article on his personal life Lord Byron.

He is the fourth part of my series of articles on writers that are connected in some way to Greece.

Lawrence Durrell

Virginia Woolf

Henry Miller

Other series include Greek Poets, Painters, Authors, Musicians, Famous Greeks and Rural Villages in Lefkás. All the links can be found here Series links.

Best wishes

Angela

Henry Miller

He was friends with Lawrence Durrell and an inspiration to him. They had a life long friendship upon meeting and he was also another prolific writer. He wrote novels, poetry and plays of the slightly scandalous variety. At least by 1930’s standards anyway.

His most famous works are Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn and The Colossus of Maroussi which was written about the couple of years he spent in Greece with Lawrence Durrell in the 1930’s.

I haven’t actually read any of his work nor do I have any copies of it. However for a man who had to publish in France because his work was banned in the USA and England until at least the 1960’s due to the provocative content. With some not even being published until after his death in 1980; this isn’t surprising. His work isn’t in circulation as much due to its risqué content and his first novel has never been published.

For details by someone who is more familiar with his work read Cristian Milai’s article here Henry Miller.

Here are the details of Miller’s personal life.Henry Miller.

He is part of my series of articles on writers that are connected in some way to Greece.

Lawrence Durrell

Virginia Woolf

Lord Byron

Eva Palmer-Sikelianos

Best wishes

Angela

Virginia Woolf

She was a well known society lady who was well connected and widely read. She also wrote many books. She fought for the right of ladies to study Greek as previously this was a subject that only men were able to study. It was thought not right that women should be so educated as they wouldn’t know there proper place in the world. A very patriarchal attitude that was extraordinarily prevalent in the Victorian era.

Victoria Woolf was flamboyant in the way that only the landed gentry could be in those days. She also indulged in various sexual aspects which may be why she was interested in Sappho. She was said to be a lesbian also but who knows. She did come from the island of Lesbos (sometimes now known as mytliene) though and she apparently died on the island of Lefkáda hence there is a place called Sappho’s leap here.

Here is her Wikipedia article for the background details of her life. Virginia Woolf.

This is a new series I have started on writers who have an interest or have written about Greece.

Eva Palmer-Sikelianos

Are there are any similarly notorious characters in your culture that you can think of?

Best wishes

Angela

Rebetika – Traditional Greek music from the 1920’s onwards

1920’s Turkish style Rebetika is most famously sung and played by Mikis Theodorakis. His music is often referenced in Victoria Hislop books (my effort is here A life of Halcyon Days) as there set in either the same era or afterwards as he has had such an influence on the music of the area. It’s often comprised of guitars and bouzouki. Sometimes containing bouzoukia which are smaller versions as well. Literature from the period details very little from the musical point of view. Even in Captain Corelli’s Mandolin there isn’t much about this. The mandolin must be only in Corfu as I’ve never seen one here Lefkás before. I’ve also not come across mention of the music in the books I’ve read about the Durells family. I think Gerry was too interested in his animals and although Lawrence was interested in a great many things, it doesn’t seem that music was one of those.

I got a bilingual book on this subject as shown above. So it was good for me to learn about this evocative style of music that has been so influential on Greek culture. Rebetika has changed so much over the years through the many musicians that have practiced it. The instruments changed into electronic versions, the venues changed drastically as did the clientele and the amount of money that could be made improved significantly. However, all things have there dips also and many rebirths mean that the style will always evolve to suit its circumstances. Sometimes simpler and covert, other times flashy and ostentatious.

For a taste of even older Greek music see here Ancient Greek music.

This is part of my series on Greek music and musicians.

Mikis Theodorakis

Other series include Greek Poets, Authors, Famous Greeks, Rural Villages in Lefkás and Foreigners who have become interested and or benefited Greece in some ways. All the links can be found here Series links.

Do you have any similar styles of music in your country?

Best wishes

Angela

Good Friday

I’m learning about Greek Easter traditions so along with taking your decorated candle to church and dying your eggs red/painting them; we now have a new tradition. The Easter tree!Καλό Πάσχα! Happy (Greek) Easter.

Angela

Sententiae Antiquae

Here is a list of SA posts that I have previously shared and since they generally have good posts I frequently get tempted to share them.

Lyric, love and translation

The first is an ancient Lefkás poet Sappho and the only woman too unless you count the wife of Angelos Sikelianos, Eva. For my series on Lefkadian poets check here :-

Aristotle Valaoritis ,

C F Cavafy,

Angelos Sikelianos,

Lefkadia Hearn.

Formal and informal language

An article on different styles of writing and why you might perhaps want to use one over the other.

The pleasure of reading

Why you should indulge in this hobby.

Best wishes

Angela

Panos Karnezis

Author of the Maze, the Birthday Party and Little Infamies. He has also written the Fugitives and the Convent. Here is the Wikipedia article on himself Panos Karnezis

I was reading the maze on a cruise I was on last year and I was tempted to nick it since there were two copied but I was good and bought myself a copy off Amazon when I got home. It’s always good to support authors since they put so much effort into their work. It’s there livelihood and we need them to maintain their creative focus so that they can continue to entertain us with their words.

The Maze is a book about the Ottoman war and it’s very evocative of an era that was in the recent past but most of us don’t really know what it was like because we weren’t alive then. I love the way he draws you in so you can’t put the book down and you just want to continue reading one more page!

I have previously read Little Infamies and it had the same effort on me. This might be a little more fictional but it’s still based in reality and those stories still could happen today.

The Birthday Party is set in time of Aristotle Onassis but I haven’t read that one yet. It’s probably just as good as the others given the standard of the previous books.

The Convent I have just found out about by researching for this article and it’s set in a Spanish nuns convent. I think this will be quite different to the other books so it will be intriguing to see how this one plays out.

The Fugitives is another I was unaware of and it takes places in South America. It again has quite a religious lean to it by dealing with Catholic’s but it is a big part of life over there so I think he will do the themes in the novel justice.

Are you the type of person like me who when you find an author you like, devour everything that they have written as quick as possible?

This is the second post in my Greek author series.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Other series include Greek poets, Rural villages in Lefkás and Foreigners who have become interested and or benefited Greece in some ways.Series links

Best wishes

Angela

Nikos Kazantzakis – Zorba the Greek

He is the author of Zorba the Greek the most famous Greek movie. It has spawned many restaurants of this name and for most people this is in fact all they know about modern Greek culture.

For those that don’t know this is based on a book. It’s an amazing book that puts the movie into the shade. While the movie is very good when you have read the book you can see how much has been missed out a bit like with the LOTRs trilogy.

The prose, philosophy and humour that he injects into his main character Alexis Zorba is astounding. I have a feeling I’ve written this before but a little deja vu is ok here. He makes a very good counterpart to show how much you can know about the world in terms of academic learning yet know nothing about what matters in life. He makes it his mission to teach his rather staid English companion how to loosen up and enjoy life. It’s a rather entertaining jaunt throughout the story learning about the adventures that they get up to together. They make a great partnership and there is also a purpose that they fulfil. I adore the insight into Greek culture and history that you get from this story. I don’t want to repeat myself too much but this really is a must read book.

He has also written many other books but they are not quite as well known so are more difficult to get hold of. I have some of them, but I haven’t read them yet so I can’t comment on there content. I believe they will be just as good.

Christ Recrucified
Captain Michalis
The last Temptation of Christ
Freedom and Death
This is a sampling of the works that are usually available. Try Amazon if you can’t find him in your local bookstore.

Here is the Wikipedia article on him if you want some background in his life. Nikos Kazantzakis. If you want even more info go here Nikos Kazantzakis.

He ties in nicely with my series on Greek (mainly Lefkadian) poets as he happened to have not only met Angelos Sikelianos, but the 2 became great friends along with Angelos’s wife Eva Palmer-Sikelianos.

This is the first post in the Greek author series.

Panos Kanezis

Other series include Greek Poets, Painters, Musicians, Famous Greeks, Rural villages in Lefkás and Foreigners who have become interested and or benefited Greece in some ways. All the links can be found here Series links.

Do you have any favourite novelists?

Best wishes

Angela

Lefkada Hearn – Lefkadian poet

Lefkadia Hearn Lefkádian National Gallery

(Patrick) Lefkáda Hearn or Paddy Hearn as he is also called is another famous Lefkás poet that also made a life for himself that is well documented in an exhibition dedicated to him in the Cultural Centre. It’s free to enter and it’s open 8am-3pm every day.

He lived in many places during his life including Britain, Cincinnati and New York in the United States, the Caribbean and finally settling in Japan. He loved Japan to the extent he also has a Japanese name Iakumi Koizumi.

These pictures are upstairs in a room dedicated to Takis P Efstathiou at the Cultural centre. It’s a part of the floor dedicated to the yearly folklore festival not in his exhibition downstairs. This next image is why.

Lefkáda Hearn taught English and literature while he was living in Japan and wrote many books about Japanese fairytales. He was quite a prolific author and there are copies of all of his work on display when you visit. I have now managed to get hold of his Japanese ghost stories from penguin but his life story is a bit different to the version told here or on Wikipedia.

He converted to Buddhism while he was over there and married a Japanese wife Setsuo. The couple had 4 children together, 3 boys and 1 girl. He died relatively early in life at 53 having been complaining of heart and chest trouble.

This is a poem dedicated to him inside the Takis P Efstathiou room mentioned earlier.

This is a statue by his Japanese great granddaughter to commemorate his life.

He is another poet that has a statue in the waterfront garden in Lefkás town known as Poets square.

He has a picture of himself in the Lefkádian National Library Here are directions to the Lefkás town museums including the Lefkadia Hearn exhibition. Lefkadia Hearn Lefkás National Gallery

Lefkadia Hearn Lefkás National Gallery

Finally he has a street named after him in Lefkás town completing the trinity of statue, museum and road.

Here is what Wikipedia has to say on the matter which is woefully inadequate once you have absorbed all of the material on offer at the Cultural centre which is what I have now done. Lefkadia Hearn.

This is the third of my posts on famous Greek but mainly Lefkádian poets as I have also covered :-

Aristotle Valaoritis,

C F Cavafy,

Angelos Sikelianos ,

The bonus post is one on Sappho by Sententiae Ancientae.

Other series include Greek Authors, Painters, Musicians, Famous Greeks, Rural Villages in Lefkás and Foreigners who have become interested and or benefited Greece in some ways. All the links can be found here Series links.

Best wishes

Angela

On getting the right mindset

I like gardening as it gives me time to think and to be on my own. It enables me to analyse things in the depth that I want. It allows me to think of ideas for this because I was at a loss for a while so I just let it be.

Today’s thoughts included the fact that I’m getting better as Russian without even trying as my mates girlfriend is Russian. I also happened to be fascinated by various aspects of the culture, history, architecture and dystopian novels. Some of my favourite books have there origins in the soviet style of government- 1984 and a Clockwork Orange.

Russian is a distinctive sounding language that is phonetic and if you know Greek then it is much easier because they share some aspects. The grammar is going to be a pain in the ass but it’s going to be like this in any language I want to learn because that’s my nemesis. I used to think that I would be mad if I wanted to learn Russian but it’s all about the motivation and finding out why you feel drawn to certain things and not others.

It’s popular right now to learn Russian but that’s not why I’m doing it. I have wanted to for about 20 years but I was so focused on getting my Greek done that I didn’t have time for anything else. I don’t need to focus so much on that now but I also know the shortcut to learning is conversation. Watching subtitled movies is a close second. So I’m going to evolve into a social butterfly to perfect my language learning skills.

Wish me luck.

Angela

Another inspiring blogger

http://breakawayindividual.com/2019/04/05/breakaway-individuals-throughout-history-the-individual-the-trailblazers-you/

This is another person that I like to read as they post about intellectual topics that don’t get enough coverage on here. They are often in depth articles do you gotta be in it for the long haul.

None of this tldr bs.

Is there any blogs that you would personally recommend I read?

Be well

Angela

Aristotle Valaoritis 1824-1879 Lefkadian Poet

https://greatestgreeks.wordpress.com/2018/10/15/aristotelis-valaoritis/

This Reblog goes into great detail about the life of the man Aristotle Valaoritis Lefkadian National Library

Aristotle Valaoritis Lefkadian National Library

Aristotle Valaoritis National Library

who wrote the Greek national anthem. He also wrote many poems. If you want to see where he born Aristotle Valaoritis birth plaque

Aristotle Valaoritis birth plaque

there is this plaque on the wall in Lefkás town commemorating the spot. He later lived on the island of Madouri Madouri by Wilhelm Dörpfeld

Madouri by Wilhelm Dörpfeld

near Lefkás you will find a shrine dedicated to him. Aristotle Valaoritis Shrine by Wilhelm Dörpfeld

Aristotle Valaoritis shrine by Wilhelm Dörpfeld

Aristotle Valaoritis shrine

His family still live in the area and are going to stay there forever. Even Aristotle Onassis with all his money and charm couldn’t persuade them to sell their land. This is what Wikipedia has to say about the matter. Aristotle Valaoritis

He also has a statue dedicated to himself with a lengthy description in Lefkás town. Aristotle Valaoritis statue

Aristotle Valaoritis statue

Angelos Sikelianos poem on Aristotle Valaoritis tomb

This is the first of my series of posts on famous Greek but mainly Lefkádian poets. With a bonus post on Sappho from Sententiae Ancientae.

Ioannis (Nanos) Valaoritis

Other series include Greek authors, Painters, Rural villages in Lefkás and Foreigners who have become interested and or benefited Greece in some ways. These can all be found here Series links.

Do you have any favourite poets? Drop me a line so we can discuss in the comments.

Hope your enjoying yourself,

Angela

Lyric Love, Translation and Transformation

Lyric Love, Translation and Transformation

Lyric Love, Translation and Transformation
— Read on sententiaeantiquae.com/2019/02/15/lyric-love-translation-and-transformation-2/

Another Greek perspective on love this time from the famous Sappho who was said to live on Lefkás for a short period of time.

I have just watched Love and Life – Sappho on Lesbo. This is a bbc 4 program with Dr Margaret Mountford. It details some of the new evidence that has come to light about Sappho and gives a much richer view of her life than we had previously gained. It also unpeeled some of the ancient jokes that have been written about her and treated as facts. Quite informative in its content it’s shows how our perception of her and women in general has morphed quite dramatically over the centuries.

Any there any relatively unknown female empowerment figures lurking in your culture?

Best wishes

Angela

A rest from cerebral matters

Today I wasn’t sure what to do so I got creative and made some fairies. I also looked up the Greek for the phrases that I wrote. By the way the word Eirini while meaning peace is also a girls name.

You can also see a book I’m reading, Max Tegmark’s Our Mathematical Universe, My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality. So you see that I can’t always be intellectual. Sometimes I need a break to be a little more childish.

Literature

I am a keen reader of books of all kinds as I love words. This makes it fitting that I also have a love of the Greek language as so many words in the English language originate from there. In a bid to help me learn all about the Greek culture I read every book and watch every movie that I can get my hands on to further my knowledge of this fascinating culture.

To acquire this bounty it includes such classics as Zorba the Greek (book and movie), as well as Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres (so far only the movie); and some of the vast media catalogue on the Durell’s for instance, the TV show about their lives as a family on Corfu and books like The Bitter Lemons of Cyprus by Lawrence or the well known My Family and Animals by Gerald. However, no list could be complete without also adding in more recent books like all of Victoria Hislop‘s books and to have another Greek point of view, I’m going to start on Panos Kanezis books, The Maze etc shortly.

I can usually be found with my head stuck in a book and since I read at an astonishingly quick pace if the book is well written, I’m soon to be found in want of a person to tell them all about the book I just devoured with great relish. These are my latest interests but I do have a book on how Virginia Woolf et al fought to learn the Greek language as it was the language of the learned people and an anthology of Greek poetry from the last 2000 years as Lefkás has Sappho and the poet Aristotle Valaoritis island nearby and his shrine.

I wish to have a balanced viewpoint of people and their cultures through time hence there are books by the English living in Corfu and various other Greek Islands from the 30’s-50s (Durell’s), some of whom could speak Greek (Lawrence in particular) but there is also Victoria Hislop who has written on many aspects of Greek life as she can also speak Greek. It helps to lend an authentic air to her stories when you know she has mixed with the locals to gain inspiration for her stories. There is nothing quite like reading a Nikos Kazantzakis novel though with the gravitas that he lends to his writing. It is truly a spectacular talent that he had as he lifted all that read his masterpieces to a higher plane of thought. There should be greater appreciation of his work outside of his native lands but if I praise him too much that means the books will go up in price and I will not be able to buy them so cheaply anymore 😉

Best wishes

Angela

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