Who's Who in Modern Greece

Nigos. Nikos Kazantzankis (1885-1957)

Greek writer. His large number and variety of works are a major contribution to modern Greek literature.

Born during Crete's rebellion against the Ottoman Turks, his family fled to the Greek island of Naxos for a short period of time.

Studyed law at the University of Athens (1902~1906) and studied philosophy from Bergson in Paris (1907~1909).

After that, he traveled to Spain, Britain, Russia, Egypt, Palestine and Japan, and settled on the island of Aegina before World War II.

In 1945, he served as a minister in the Greek government, and from 1947 to 1948, he served at UNESCO in Paris.

He died while traveling to China and was buried in Crete on November 5, 1957.

His works cover a wide range of topics, including philosophical essays, travel notes, tragedies, etc.

He has translated classical masterpieces such as Dante's "Divine Comedy" and Goethe's "Faust" into modern Greek.

He also wrote lyric poetry. His epic poem "The Odyssey, Modern Sequel" (1938) is a sequel to Homer's epic, with 33,333 lines in total, fully expounding Kazantzaki's philosophy. .

His most famous works are the novels "Zorba the Greek" (1946), "Captain Michaelis" (1950), "The Greek Passion Play" (1954) and "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1955), both translated into many languages.

Maria. Maria Callas (1923-1977)

Callas was born in the United States in 1923, her parents were immigrants from Greece. In the short span of fifty years of her life, Callas She has been full of legends since she was a child. Even when she passed away in Paris, France on September 16, 1977, she also left a legendary ending. As tenor Giuseppe di Stefano, one of Callas' most important performance partners in her life, said: "Maria Callas is the queen of opera." Her whole life seems to be dedicated to the art of opera. But in the end, he sacrificed his career and even his life for love.

Maria Callas is attractive and charming in the history of opera, and she has achieved extremely high achievements. In addition to her vocal art, her emotional life off the stage has also been a key factor during her lifetime. The news media chases the spotlight. The real tragedy in her life began with her relationship with Onassis, and after Maria met Onassis, she completely shifted the focus of her life to love. This kind of investment without regrets, Just like her persistence in other aspects, it is the same - this is a kind of full-hearted devotion without hesitation, completely regardless of the consequences and costs.

When Onassis pursued Maria, it was a big news that caused an international sensation, but then he turned his attention to Jacqueline Kennedy; shortly after President Kennedy was assassinated, Europe Narcisse also began to enter Jacqueline's life. For a while, Onassis was dealing with the two most famous women in the world at that time, but he finally chose Jacqueline. For Callas, this was a matter of life. a blow on. Karas lost her career stage and also lost the love in her life. For the sake of love, she left the stage she once loved, but in the end, she was abandoned by the person she loved. Maria closed herself off and had no contact with the outside world.

On September 16, 1977, Karas died suddenly of a heart attack in her apartment. The ashes were scattered in the Aegean Sea by the Greek Minister of Culture. She dominated the music industry in the 1950s; her career in the 1950s is still talked about today. The name Maria Callas has undoubtedly left a strong mark on the history of opera in the twentieth century.

Greek director Angelopoulos (1936~?)

Angelopoulos was born in Athens, Greece in 1936. After graduating from the law department, he went to Paris to study film and entered the The famous IDHEC later left Paris and returned to Greece to start his film career because of a 360-degree panoramic shot that did not agree with the professor who focused on teaching basic knowledge. The ten-degree panoramic lens has also become a unique style in his films. For example, in "?W Birds Hesitating", a group of workers climbed to the top of the telephone pole to repair the telephone lines. The bright yellow uniforms seemed to appear in the dark tone of the film. The hope of breaking down national boundaries and crossing communication gaps.

In An’s films, reality and imagination are blurred. Jacques Gerstenk once said that to define Angelopoulos's work, just invert Andre Breton's famous saying: in his works, the real tends to become imaginary things. In particular, Greece has experienced the influence of Byzantium, Orthodox Christianity, Ottoman Turkey, and other Western cultures, combining pagan culture and humanism in different periods, complex historical backgrounds, and changing politics. Anshi, who lives in Greece, Starting from the daily life of the Greek people, modern stories are integrated with ancient Greek myths. Through an epic narrative style, the people, events, and objects that happened in the time and space of Greek history are narrated, and the Greek people's attitude towards them is profoundly portrayed. The love of politics, society, history and language in this land. For example, in An's modern Greek history trilogy "Three or Six Years", "The Wandering Artist" and "The Hunter", An's ridicule of politics, concern for the fate of the Greek people, and the Greek people's concern for this area can be seen everywhere. Deep affection for the land.

"Journey" is also an indispensable theme when understanding the style of An's works. For example, in "Landscape in the Fog", the two siblings go to the dream country---Germany to find their fictional father; "Journey to Sethe Island" tells the story of the protagonist's journey back to his hometown after thirty-two years of exile overseas; in "The Life of Ulysses", a director searches for the undiscovered Ma family brothers in three volumes. The developed negatives, following the footsteps of the Ma brothers when they were filming, traveled across the Balkan Peninsula and re-experienced the feelings of the Ma brothers at that time. As the journey progressed, they jumped out of time and space and combined personal, cinematic and national emotions. , the history of the regime merged together.

Angelopoulos is not just a film director. In his films, he integrates poetry and philosophy to show his deep concern for human nature, nation, politics, history and land. , showing a unique personal style. In his films, Buchu W gives the audience a standard answer, an established model, raises a lot of questions, and leaves the audience with a lot of reflection.

Elleni． Calandro was born in the mountains of Greece. After moving to Athens, he studied piano and music theory at Hellenikon Odion. From 1969 to 1974, due to the Greek military government seizing power, he was forced to live in exile in Paris. During this period, he specialized in ethnomusicology. After returning to Greece, he devoted himself to searching for Greek national music resources. In 1982, he met Angelopoulos, and he has since become this Greek musician. An important partner for master directors.

For Eleni. For Calandro, the soundtrack is not just to beautify a film, but to become the main element in the film. Therefore, she requires that starting from the story outline, she must discuss the plot with the director *** and complete the film together. Greek writer Nikos Triantafillides commented on Calandro: "In a film that is hundreds of feet long, Calandro's music presents the blood that is not shown on the screen. Her consistent musical performance will be hidden deep in the film." summoned by the spirit in language."

For example, in "Landscape in the Fog", as the plot unfolds, the music also flows. Even in the silent scene, there still seem to be music particles reverberating in the air. In a scene where a little girl is raped by a truck driver, The scene of rape and silence represents the despair of the little ideals and goodwill that may exist in a society. Then the theme of wandering sounded again, and the happy rock music turned into a tragic song. The interweaving of Calandro's music and images made us dance along with the film.

Except for "Landscape in the Mist", Calandro is present in almost all of Angelopoulos's films, such as "The Bird Walks" and "The Life of Ulysses" ", "Forever Day"... etc. Calandro's music is full of mourning for family and country and the simple temperament of Greek folk songs. In conjunction with An's film's concern for Greek history, politics, nation and humanity, we can learn from An's The notes can be read from the film, and the film can also be read from Calandro's music.

NANA MOUSKOURI 1943 ~)

In the mid-20th century, Greece was the leading female singer in the world. In terms of vocal music, they have the opera goddess Callas; as for folk songs, blues, gospel and even pop songs, the songs of female singer NANA MOUSKOURI are almost popular all over the world. Her popularity can only be matched by the later Beatles. .

Nana’s singing voice is famous for its ethereal nature. As time has passed, the “pop songs” of folk, gospel, blues and other styles that Nana sang since the 1960s have now become 20th century ballads. It is an important crystallization of culture because it embodies the taste of popular songs among the people of continental Europe and reflects the artistic characteristics that are different from British and American rock music. It was a world dominated by melodious melodies, just like the classical music born in Europe, which faced off against the rhythm-focused rock music, and is still sung today.

Born on the Greek island of Crete in 1930, Nana also experienced the legendary whirlwind of Callas when she was young. The opera goddess Callas dominated the global theater scene in the 1950s with her astonishing singing voice, and was regarded as national pride by the Greeks.

Nana's father worked as a projectionist in the movie theater. He discovered that little Nana had a singing talent and wanted to train her to become Callas II, so he sent her to the Athens Music School. However, Nana was particularly interested in pop music and jazz. In 1958, she was invited to sing on a radio station for the first time and established her career path. In Nana's mind, whether it is Callas or jazz diva Ella Fitzgerald, all beautiful singing voices are worth cherishing. Facts have proved that her persistence was correct.

The turning point in Nana's singing career was 1962. At that time, American singer Quincy Jones invited her to the United States to record the album "Songs from a Greek Woman". Since then, her reputation has expanded from Europe to the United States and other regions. Today, during her more than ten years of singing career, she has recorded many albums. More than 150 albums have been released, 350 of which are platinum or double platinum albums, and they have countless honors. Almost all people over the age of ten are her loyal fans.

Furthermore, Nana's singing range is very wide. In addition to folk songs and pop songs, she even sings the free chorus in Verdi's opera "Nabugo" and the "Habanera" in Bizet's "Carmen". ", Schubert's Serenade, etc., were all adapted into ballads by her, attracting audiences from all levels.

Nana's lyrical singing voice remains timeless. The best proof is that at the end of last year, the Japanese TV series "A Hundred Years Story" used her song "ONLY LOVE" as the theme song, which fascinated a new generation of music fans.

Homer

The most famous blind writer in ancient Greece, some people think that Homer was born in the twelfth century BC (the same year as the Trojan War). Some people think that he was born in In the ninth century BC.

As for his birthplace, there are various different opinions that seem to be more reliable in Ionia (today’s west coast of Turkey), but some people say that he was an Athenian, so we do not know the exact age of his survival. Very certain.

The main work is the story of the Trojan War. The Iliad and the Odyssey, two immortal historical epics, are his masterpieces. Since the 19th century, the existence of Homer has been a matter of debate among historians. However, the German archaeologist Schliemann not only confirmed the historicity of Homer, but also made Homer's epic no longer regarded as a pure myth. The great civilization of the ancient Bronze Age did exist, and it was just as described in Homer's works. The performance was brilliant and magnificent.

The two great works of Iliad and Odyssey are very artistic and were produced by this great genius poet.

There are many legends about Homer, but most of them are selected from similar personal autobiographies in his works, plus other legends. For example, the basis for thinking that Homer is blind is because at the end of one of his works, the author said to the girls that if other men come to ask who is the best singer, they should answer like this: The blind man of Eos sang most beautifully.

Homer is called the king of poetry by Dante, and his two epic poems can be regarded as the earliest works in the history of Western literature. In these two works, we can find that they have a complete structure. In other words, most of the poetry collections before this time were composed of extemporaneous dictation by poets. Homer probably synthesized these materials and compiled them.

His description of the actual process has always adhered to humanism. For example, in the Trojan War, Homer did not pay much attention to describing the process of the war, but focused on the issues related to human nature caused by the war. This can be said It is the most famous of Homer's epic poems. To this day, the characters described in Homer's epic poems continue to appear in Western literary works, which can be seen as a glimpse of its far-reaching influence.

Hippocrates (460~377 BC)

The father of medicine, he was an ancient Greek physician. His medical thoughts have had a lasting influence on ancient Greek science. Since there were no advanced medical instruments available at that time, doctors such as Hippocrates had to use the prevailing scientific theories to explain and treat patients. This theoretical system is the so-called "humoral theory of disease".

Hippocrates’ central W liquid theory was based on the philosophical thought of the time, that is, the mutual relationship between humans and nature. Whether it is the central liquid theory or the philosophical thought at that time, it is believed that humans and the entire world are governed by the same natural laws. These theories later influenced the development of medicine and treatment methods.

Hippocrates was probably born on the island of Kos in the Aegean Sea. His father, Heraclides, was his first teacher and a member of the Order of Physicians. His mother was a midwife and his grandfather was a physician. Hippocrates's ancestors were mythically exaggerated, which shows his status in the minds of the Greeks.

It is believed that he was a traveling physician who traveled throughout Greece and Macedonia. Hippocrates was buried at Lalitha in Thessaly after his death. Aristotle said that within a few years of his death, "Hippocrates the Great" had become a household name.

The Hippocratic Oath is his most famous work and has been revered by today's physicians as the highest ideal of professional attitude and behavior. The origin and historical background of this oath are far from certain, except that it was probably written between the sixth century BC and the first century BC.

The Hippocratic Oath contains two parts. The first part, or the contract, is a commitment made by the students to the teacher, or an obligation required of the students. The second part is ethics. Most of the oaths were influenced by Pythagorean moral ideals after the time of Hippocrates.