synopsis and notes by Kimon Friar, — The Odyssey a Modern Sequel.

NY, Simon & Schuster, 1958. 1st ed 3rd ptg. VG in G DJ. This work by the renown author of Zorba the Greek has been acclaimed as one of the towering achievements of contemporary. literature. It is not a new version of Homer but a modern sequel, an epic in its own right. Kazantzakis takes up the story of Odysseus at the point in the narrative where Homer left off. His hero cleans the blood of Penelope's suitors from his body and leaves Ithaca once more. He abducts the full-blooded, still-beautiful Helen, destroys the decadent civilization of Crete, and sets off on voyages and adventures which carry him to Egypt, the southern tip of Africa, and finally to the remotest regions of the Antarctic. A work of rich narrative evocation of the spirit of timeless Greek legend, it communicates a pagan delight in the joys of total abandon to life, all the more poignant as Odysseus renounces the world of the senses and turns ascetic. Through the entire epic runs a rich Homeric music, fused with a strong, simple, spacious narrative told boldly and often with naked simplicity. Author Kazantzakis has been proclaimed by Schweitzer and Thomas Mann as one of the great writers of modern Europe. He was born in Crete in 1883 and studied at the University of Athens where he received the Doctor of Law degree, and later studied in Paris under the philosopher Henri Bergson. DJ rubbed and edge wear.