TEHRAN -- Iran’s former chargé d’affaires in Greece believes that the Greek author and translator Nikos Kazantzakis (1885-1957) was influenced by the subculture of Crete, where he grew up.

Mahmud Fazeli described Kazantzakis as “a real Cretan” in a message sent to a ceremony which was organized by the National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI) in Tehran on April 13.
The ceremony was held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of the Greek writer, whose best-known works are the books “Zorba the Greek” and “The Last Temptation of Christ”.
“His birthplace and visits to various countries influenced him. He had a multifaceted character because Crete was home to… Christians and Turkish Muslims and this factor was influential in shaping his personality,” the message read.
“Although many remember Kazantzakis for his banned book ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’, his world is not confined to a book or a certain line of thought.
“His works feature a wide variety of thoughts, which sometimes contradict each other. On one occasion he considers himself a radical Bolshevik and on another he claims that he has no ideology.
“Because he believes that a creative soul stands above all ideas, he is on a permanent odyssey searching for a common destination, searching for God…
“Many, who have read ‘The Greek Passion’ (also known as Christ Recrucified) and several of his other books, regard him as a Christian, but this is not very correct. Simultaneously or consecutively, he has been a Christian, an irreligious person, an anarchist, a humanist, and a stoic. However, he does not belong to any school and also is not the founder of any school. Above all else, he is a Greek, he is a real Cretan.”
A number of Iranian officials and Greek Ammbassador to Tehran Merkourios Karafotias attended the ceremony, during which Karafotias presented a collection of Greek books to the National Library and Archives of Iran.