Sunday, August 15, 2021

Modern Greek Poetry


Bantam's Modern European Poetry (1966) is a herculean effort undertaken by seven editors (one for each of the major languages of Europe) and many more translators, including Richard Lowell and Samuel Beckett. Representing Greek Poetry is Kimon Friar, who writes in his Introduction: 

"The Western World has made Greek myths part of its culture, but only the Greek himself, of whatever time, may use them with genuine validity, not as adornments of an outmoded religion, but as symbols still alive in the land and consciousness of the people. The best example of this is in Kazantzákis's The Odyssey: a Modern Sequel, or in the poems of Seféris." (188)

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