The Terrestrial Gospel of
Kazantzakis: Inspiration for Saving the Earth
“Good
is this earth, it suits us”1
Thanasis Maskaleris
Abstract
The
terrestrial dimension in the work of
Kazantzakis, crowned by the paeans he sang to
the infinite beauty of the earth and to the
human life rooted in the soil, is as intensely
depicted as his momentous struggle to achieve
spiritual ascent. Scattered in his writings we
find innumerable passages on the fundamental
importance of the material realm combined with
his humanistic commitment to mankind's
terrestrial habitat—to live and "flower" in it;
and his spiritual
growth, the ascent, is crucially linked with and
depends on the material base.2
These passages, often
a surging lyricism and ritual adoration, can
provide for us today, our threatened planet, not
only inspiration for ecological concern and
action but also an ethical base that could
strengthen the panoplies for such action. A
selection of the best of such passages could
become an eco-pulsing gospel in our struggle for
survival.
Using passages from
several of his works I will attempt to
demonstrate the significance of the Kazantzakian
embrace of the earth and suggest how it can
inspire and nurture committed ecological action,
especially if combined with his principle of
χρέος/
ευθύνη--
dutiful service/responsibility-- the central
animating force of his ethical humanism.
Before I proceed to my thoughts
on the subject I have chosen for this
presentation, I would like to define a principle
for approaching Kazantzakis’ complex life and
work, the various dimensions, στρώματα και
υποστρώματα, of his mind and spirit. My belief
is that all dimensions of his inner life and
created work are essential and each one should
be fathomed both in itself and in relation to
the others.
Kazantzakis’
socio-political concerns and commitments, his
humanistic fire that aims at preserving and
enhancing human dignity, his never-abating
struggle for freedom—both individual and
pananthropic—and his spiritual struggle on the
ascending path are all essential, all sacred to
him. Individual readers and critics may
emphasize and elevate a particular realm as
more significant to them, but should be open to
views on the other parts of his profound
experiences and his vision. It’s best that
hierarchizing is avoided, if possible, because
it may lead to narrowing his world and, also, to
dogmatism over which realm of the Kazantzakian
universe is more important.
My students,
throughout my many years of teaching
Kazantzakis, have perfectly demonstrated the
validity of the above principle by responding to
and emphasizing a chosen theme or dimension of
the Kazantzakian world, always receiving
plentiful humanistic nurturing from him, for
their inner development.
The realm in the work
of Kazantzakis that I have chosen to mine for
this celebratory occasion is the terrestrial—his
passionate embracing of the earth and his
hymning of the life and beauty of Nature. All of
Kazantzakis’ works contain a vast number of
passages about rocks, soil, seeds, rain, air,
rainbows, the sea, flowers, and flowering. I
believe no other modern writer has written so
extensively about the cosmogonic energies of
Nature, with as much poetic brilliance. And what
is more, he constantly integrates the
terrestrial, the material womb of life, with
human life in all its manifestations -- and this
with insights and a dynamism that only mythology
can surpass. Human life, he passionately
declares, is rooted in the earth’s soil and its
growth parallels the essential life of Nature.
As
André
Mirambel has observed:
<<… κάθε λογοτεχνική δημιουργία
του Καζαντζάκη πάντα πηγάζει από την
πραγματικότητα, την παρατήρηση και την ανάλυση
που περιβάλλοντος, τη σχέση του ανθρώπου και της
γης.>>3
[… each literary creation of
Kazantzakis always has reality as its source—is
based on observation and analysis of the
environment, the relationship of the human being
with the earth.”
]
Speaking about the future of
humanity in one of his letters Kazantzakis
writes:<<…μα
και πιο πέρα, η μακρινότερη στιγμή θα είναι
περίλαμπρη.
Ακόμα είμαι βέβαιος, το ανθρώπινο
γένος δέ φανέρωσε όλες τις πλούσιες μέσα του
πιθανότητες, η κοιλιά της γης είναι ακόμα γεμάτη
αυγά…Αυτά τα γήινα αυγά πρέπει να να σωθούν…>>4
[ “…but on into the future, the
most remote moment will be supremely luminous. I
am certain the human race has not yet manifested
all the rich inside it possibilities; the womb
of the earth is still full of eggs…and these
eggs must be saved.” ]
As Kazantzakis depicts them, the
gifts of the earth are boundless : the great joy
of
the senses, the heart and the
soul, as they take in her beauty; then there is
the gift of nurturing all living things and
sustaining all growth. But Kazantzakis does not
stop there. He derives from Nature, especially
those who work the soil, essential lessons that
can become foundations in building individual
character and communal life. Together with the
fruits of the earth, comes the earth-hewn wisdom
of farmers, shepherds, artisans and all those
who work earth’s infinite matter.
A few examples from the body of
the earth-hymning passages will reveal more than
my description or assessment of this
Kazantzakian realm: In a letter, written when he
was 65, he writes:
<<Κυττάζω από τα δύο παραθυράκια
τον κόσμο και δε χορταίνω να τον βλέπω. Τι θάμα
είναι τούτος ο κόσμος!>>5
[ “I look at the world from these two little
windows and never get enough of it. What a
miracle this world is!”]
<<Ελαμπε
η μέρα αχάραγο διαμάντι>>.
Οσο ανεβαίναμε, ανέβαινε
κ’ η ψυχή, καθάριζε. Δοκίμαζα πάλι τί ψυχικήν
αξία έχει η λαγαράδα του αγέρα, η αλαφράδα της
αναπνοής, το πλάτος του ορίζοντα. Θαρείς κ’
είναι η ψυχή ένα αγρίμι, με πλεμόνια και
ρουθούνια, έχει ανάγκη από πολύ οξυγόνο…
>>6
[
“ The day shone like an uncut
diamond. As we climbed the soul climbed too,
getting more pure. Once again I felt the impact
on the soul of pure air, of easy breathing, of
the great expanse to the horizon. You would
think that the soul, too, was a wild animal with
lungs and nostrils, needing lots of oxygen…” ]
<<Πόσo
είναι όλα, συλλογίστηκα, τέλεια συνταιριασμένα
απάνω στη γής! Και πόσο καλά η γης είναι
συνταιριασμένη μετη καρδιά που ανθρώπου!>>7
[“How
perfectly everything is harmonized on this
earth, I thought!. How well the earth is
harmonized with the human heart!”]
“We’re taking root, my children,
we’re once more getting hold of the earth, we’re
sprouting afresh, we’re growing trunks and
branches; have confidence.”8
“Last night I saw him [St.
George] in my dream; he stretched out his arm
and placed in my hand the seed of a village—a
tiny village in my palm, with its church, its
school, its gardens—and he said to me: plant
it!”
9
“All this time the earth below
and the sun above were working in concert
without rest to ripen the grain. The ears,
swollen with milk, became hard. The plain was
red with poppies. The singing birds had gathered
hair, straw and mud and had built their nests;
the female, with outstretched wings was warming
up the eggs. In front of her, perched on a
branch, the male sang to give her courage. From
time to time longed-for and rare showers brought
some coolness, but soon the sun re-appeared and,
chasing away the clouds, went on with his task,
old as the world, of helping men and birds.”
10
As I worked on this
presentation, with the terrestrial Kazantzakis
in me, the following idea came to my mind: to
anthologize earth-passages from his opus, and
publish them as a terrestrial gospel
to be read by the growing ranks of
ecologists in the different lands of our planet.
I am certain that it would give them inspiration
and strength to continue their struggles to save
the earth. Our environment and too many people
across the globe are in critical situations,
threatened by extreme poverty or disasters due
to recent climate changes ; every kind of
panoply is needed in the fight to reverse the
present catastrophic course. Flooded with
excessive, soulless technology and driven by
greed our world needs the teachings of
Kazantzakis: the harmonization of Man and
Nature, together with his humanistic ethical
stance based on duty and responsibility --χρέος
και ευθύνη--in our lives. Passages like the
following from The Saviors of God : Spiritual
Exercises, may significantly spearhead a new
wave of ecological concern and much needed
action:
“This vineyard of earth is ours,
our own flesh and blood.”
“Every man has his own circle of
trees, animals, men, ideas, and he is in duty
bound to save this circle. He, and no one else.
If he does not save it, he cannot be saved.”12
“Love responsibility. Say: It is
my duty, and mine alone, to save the earth. If
it is not saved then I alone am to blame.”13
Kazantzakis the great
combatant would certainly join today’s fighters
for our earth, since he believed that the
saviors of God must first be saviors of the
Earth.
NOTES
1Nikos
Kazantzakis,The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel,
Prologue
2
This is not the place to discus the great
dialectical paradox in Kazantzakis; his being
rooted in the material world while at the same
time he is struggling to rise above and beyond
it— the coexistence in him of mud and spirit.
3
Καινούρια Εποχή. Φθινόπωρο 1958, σ. 173
4
Letter to Börje Knös, in Νίκος Καζαντζάκης,
Ο Ασυμβίβαστος,(Athens,1977) σ.574
5
Letter to Börje Knös Καινούρια Εποχή.
Φθινόπωρο 1958, σ. 151
6
Βίος και η Πολιτεία του Αλέξη Ζορμπά, (Athens,
1954 ) σ. 244-5
7
Ibid. σ. 158
8
Christ Recrucified, ( London, 1954 ) p.
172
9
Ibid. p. 91
10
Ibid. p.193
11The
Saviors of God : Spiritual Exercises,
p.56
12
Ibid. p. 121-2
13
Ibid. p. 68
I have already begun work on this anthology,
aiming to finish it as soon as possible.
This paper was presented at the
Kazantzakis conference in New York—March 3, 2007
( Submitted to the
Journal of Modern Greek Studies )
Thanasis Maskaleris
Professor Emeritus of Comparative
& Modern Greek Literature
Founding Director, Center for Modern Greek
Studies/ Nikos Kazantzakis Chair
San Francisco State University
Co-translator of Kazantzakis’
Russia
and co-editor of Modern Greek
Poetry—An Anthology (Talisman House,
Publishers, 2004)
