The Greek Passion (Ho Christos xanastavronetai — literally “Christ Recrucified”) was first published in Greek by Difros in 1948, translated into English by Jonathan Griffin in 1953 (published by Bruno Cassirer in London as Christ Recrucified, and by Simon & Schuster in New York as The Greek Passion). It was adapted into Bohuslav Martinů’s opera The Greek Passion (1961).
The setting is a Greek village under Ottoman occupation. Every seven years, the village stages a Passion play, and the novel opens with the casting: Manolios (a gentle shepherd) is chosen to play Christ; Panagiotaros (a merchant) to play Peter; Yannakos (a peddler) to play the Apostle John; and Michelis (a rich man’s son) to play John the Baptist. Separately, the village bully Judas-figure and the village prostitute Mary Magdalene are cast in their obvious roles.
What Kazantzakis dramatizes is the process by which the roles become real: Manolios gradually takes on Christ-like qualities (compassion, sacrifice, revolutionary anger at injustice), while the Judas figure moves toward genuine betrayal. When a group of refugees arrives from a destroyed village, seeking shelter, Manolios advocates for them — and the village establishment (the priest, the elders, the wealthy) moves to silence him, exactly as the religious establishment silenced Christ.
The novel’s argument is that Christianity’s revolutionary content (solidarity with the poor, resistance to power, sacrifice for others) is permanently in conflict with the institutional Church that claims to represent it.
Collecting The Greek Passion
First edition in Greek (Difros, Athens, 1948): Paper wrappers.
Market values:
- First Greek edition: $80–$250
- First English edition (Bruno Cassirer, 1953): $30–$80
- US first as The Greek Passion (Simon & Schuster, 1954): $15–$40