WIT Essay_Zorba the Greek_Personification of Dyonisian and Epicurean Values in Zorba

        The other significant aspect of Epicureanism is the indifference toward death; according to Epicureanism there is no after life. Freidrich Nietzsche believed humanity should work to enhance the life of the individual and focus on the realities of the present world. Zorba consistently contemplates death; he brings up something an elderly man once said to him “My son, I carry on as if I should never die” (35) and then counters it with his own view, “And I carry on as if I was to die any minute” (35). These two statement are essentially opposite but they lead to the same thing: you should be bold, live life to its fullest, and ignore death; because if you spend your life anticipating it, you would have missed out on all the days preceding it. It is better to experience one moment fully than to live a whole life incompletely, which is what a man of true Epicurean and Dionysian nature would do.

On the final page of the novel there is a striking manifestation of Zorba’s Epicurean and Dionysian nature. After speaking his last words, Zorba “brushed us all roughly aside, jumped up out of bed and went to the window. There, he gripped the frame, looked out far into the white mountains, opened wide his eyes and began to laugh, then to whinny like a horse. It was thus, standing, with his nails dug into the window frame, that death came to him.” (310) Even on his deathbed Zorba does what he felt like in the moment. Until the very end, Zorba fights against death by using his last strength to go to the window and passes away while looking out at the beauty of life. He dies strong, not weak; standing with his nails dug into the window frame and looking out with wide-open eyes create imagery of Zorba refusing death and laughing is seldom associated with a dying person. This underlines his particular temperament, to the end Zorba commits to the Epicurean and Dionysian values of total engagement in life.

        Zorba explains his use of dance as a tool to liberate himself, he says “Whenever I feel I’m choking with some emotion…I dance. And I feel better!” (72) To Zorba dance is an outlet for the emotions too intense to be expressed using words. He uses dance when he is in complete ecstasy, for example upon hearing Boss’ intentions for his enterprise in Crete; or when his negative emotions are too great to cope with, such as the grief over the death of his son. Zorba portrays the Dionysian way by choosing dance as his preferred medium of expression, since language is an inadequate tool for expressing his most extreme feelings. Zorba also uses dance to narrate what he is unable to say. When he was in Russia, he knew very little Russian and could not tell his story to a man who only spoke the language, so he danced it. “I danced my misfortunes; my travels; how many times I’d been married; the trades I’d learned …” (73) Since they are unable to communicate using words they found an alternative which allows both of them to explore deeper into the other’s story. Words are merely created by rational thought, whereas movement is something that is native to the body. This is a concept Dionysus personified. The emotions Zorba expresses through dance are too intense and insane to be expressed in words, which lead to the notion that Zorba gives his emotion free reign; he allows his emotions to control his dance and consequently also allows them to control his actions. Boss described Zorba’s dancing as “ a soul…struggling to carry away his flesh” (70) and he fears that “Zorba might disappear into the clouds.” (71) Zorba’s dance is so passionate that boss used heavenly imagery to describe it, since it is out of this world. The way Zorba throws himself into dance shows how he lives in the moment because to him there is no wrong time to dance; no matter the situation, he dances because he feels it is what he needs to do.

        Zorba plays the santuri for similar reasons as dancing. “I play the santuri and it cheers me up. When I’m playing, you can’t talk to me, I can’t hear and even if I hear, I can’t speak.” (12) Zorba plays the santuri when he experiences great happiness or pain; since he is unable to hear or speak this shows how deeply rooted his emotions are, this leads us back to the concept of giving your emotions free reign. The reason why he cannot speak when playing the santuri is because he plays it when his emotions are too great to express using words, he simply cannot find the correct words to say and believes that he is saying it all with the music; this is a very Epicurean quality. His personification of the santuri shows his deep respect and love for it. He says “it doesn’t want to… we mustn’t force it” (77) when Boss asks him to play something. He treats it like a woman, “…They drew out an old santuri… those big fingers caressed it, slowly, passionately, all over as if caressing a woman” (13) These quote displays the deep love Zorba has for the musical instrument; they illustrate how Zorba treats it, as sensually as if it were a conscious being. His respect for the santuri demonstrates how highly he values it. Upon elaboration this also means that he deeply values music, and music is an important aspect of Dionysian life.

        Epicureanism deems active enjoyment as life’s highest good and disregards death. Dionysianism believes in giving emotions free reign and highly value music and dance. Zorba exemplifies these concepts through his expression of emotion, love of the santuri and dance, tendency to live in the moment, and by challenging death. Nikos Kazantzakis’ incarnation of Epicurean and Dionysian values in Zorba the Greek allows the reader to gain a better understanding of these concepts. Epicureanism and Dionysianism are two separate philosophical ideas that have greatly influenced Nikos Kazantzakis in his writing.