Greek writers: 30 names to know, from A1 to C2
30 writers Greeks grow up with, five per level. Who they were, what they wrote, why they still matter, and a short passage about each one in Greek at your level, with the words to keep.
Antiquity · FabulistAesopΑίσωποςc. 620 BC – c. 564 BCAesop (Aisopos), the legendary Greek storyteller behind the fables: the fox and the grapes, the hare and the tortoise, and the morals every Greek child still learns.Modern Greece · PoetDionysios SolomosΔιονύσιος Σολωμός1798 – 1857Dionysios Solomos, Greece's national poet from Zakynthos, wrote the Hymn to Liberty that became the national anthem, plus The Cretan and The Free Besieged.Modern Greece · PoetOdysseas ElytisΟδυσσέας Ελύτης1911 – 1996Odysseas Elytis, Nobel Prize 1979, the poet of the Aegean light: To Axion Esti, set to music by Theodorakis, and the love poem The Monogram.Modern Greece · Poet and lyricistNikos GatsosΝίκος Γκάτσος1911 – 1992Nikos Gatsos wrote one poem, Amorgos, and then hundreds of Greek song lyrics for Hadjidakis, Theodorakis and Xarchakos, including Chartino to fengaraki.Modern Greece · Novelist (children's and young-adult literature)Alki ZeiΆλκη Ζέη1923 – 2020Alki Zei, the Greek children's author of Wildcat under Glass (To kaplani tis vitrinas) and Petros' War, novels about growing up in Greece's hardest years.
Modern Greece · PoetKonstantinos KavafisΚωνσταντίνος Καβάφης1863 – 1933Konstantinos Kavafis (C. P. Cavafy), the poet of Alexandria: Ithaca, Waiting for the Barbarians, The City, and 154 poems on history, desire and time.Modern Greece · PoetYannis RitsosΓιάννης Ρίτσος1909 – 1990Yannis Ritsos, poet of Epitaphios and Romiosini, sung by Theodorakis, who wrote more than a hundred collections through exile, prison and the junta.Modern Greece · Novelist (children's literature)Penelope DeltaΠηνελόπη Δέλτα1874 – 1941Penelope Delta, Greece's first great children's author: Trelantonis, O Mangas, A Tale without a Name and The Secrets of the Swamp, still read in every Greek school.Antiquity · Epic poetHomerΌμηροςc. 8th century BCHomer (Omiros), the poet of the Iliad and the Odyssey: Achilles, Troy, Odysseus and Penelope, the first and most-read works of Greek literature.Modern Greece · NovelistNikos KazantzakisΝίκος Καζαντζάκης1883 – 1957Nikos Kazantzakis, the Cretan author of Zorba the Greek, Christ Recrucified, The Last Temptation and Report to Greco, Greece's most translated novelist.
Modern Greece · Poet and diplomatGiorgos SeferisΓιώργος Σεφέρης1900 – 1971Giorgos Seferis (1900–1971), Greece's first Nobel laureate: Mythistorema, Thrush and the song Denial (Arnisi), his diplomatic career and his stand against the junta.Modern Greece · PoetKostas KaryotakisΚώστας Καρυωτάκης1896 – 1928Kostas Karyotakis (1896–1928), the poet of Preveza and Elegies and Satires: his short life as a civil servant, his bitter verse and the songs made from it.Modern Greece · NovelistStratis MyrivilisΣτράτης Μυριβήλης1890 – 1969Stratis Myrivilis (1890–1969), soldier and novelist from Lesbos, wrote Life in the Tomb, the Greek anti-war classic, and The Mermaid Madonna.Antiquity · TragedianSophoclesΣοφοκλήςc. 497 BC – 406 BCSophocles (c. 497–406 BC), tragedian of Antigone, Oedipus the King and Electra: his life in Athens, his seven surviving plays and why Greece still stages them.Antiquity · Comic playwrightAristophanesΑριστοφάνηςc. 446 BC – c. 386 BCAristophanes (c. 446–386 BC), Athens' comic playwright: Lysistrata, The Birds, The Clouds and The Frogs, his jokes about Socrates, and why Greeks still laugh.
Modern Greece · PoetKiki DimoulaΚική Δημουλά1931 – 2020Kiki Dimoula (1931–2020), the Athens bank clerk who became Greece's best-loved modern poet: Το λίγο του κόσμου, Χαίρε ποτέ and her games with grammar and loss.Modern Greece · PoetAngelos SikelianosΆγγελος Σικελιανός1884 – 1951Angelos Sikelianos (1884–1951), poet of Αλαφροΐσκιωτος and Μήτηρ Θεού, who revived Delphi with the Delphic Festivals and spoke at Palamas's funeral in 1943.Antiquity · TragedianEuripidesΕυριπίδηςc. 480 BC – 406 BCEuripides (c. 480–406 BC), tragedian of Medea, Hippolytus, The Trojan Women and The Bacchae: his unloved career in Athens, eighteen surviving plays and his legacy.Modern Greece · PoetKostis PalamasΚωστής Παλαμάς1859 – 1943Kostis Palamas (1859–1943) wrote the Olympic Hymn, The Twelve Lays of the Gypsy and The King's Flute, and was the voice of demotic Greek poetry for fifty years.Modern Greece · Short-story writer and poetGeorgios VizyinosΓεώργιος Βιζυηνός1849 – 1896Georgios Vizyinos (Vizyenos, 1849–1896), the Thracian tailor's boy with a German doctorate who wrote My Mother's Sin and founded the modern Greek short story.
Modern Greece · Novelist and short-story writerAlexandros PapadiamantisΑλέξανδρος Παπαδιαμάντης1851 – 1911Alexandros Papadiamantis (1851–1911), the 'saint of Greek letters' from Skiathos, wrote Η Φόνισσα (The Murderess) and some 170 stories of island life.Antiquity · Lyric poetSapphoΣαπφώc. 630 BC – c. 570 BCSappho (Σαπφώ, c. 630–570 BC), the lyric poet of Lesbos, wrote songs of love and longing in Aeolic Greek; a few poems and hundreds of fragments survive.Antiquity · TragedianAeschylusΑισχύλοςc. 525 BC – 456 BCAeschylus (Αισχύλος, c. 525–456 BC), the father of Greek tragedy, fought at Marathon and wrote the Oresteia, the Persians and Prometheus Bound.Antiquity · HistorianHerodotusΗρόδοτοςc. 484 BC – c. 425 BCHerodotus (Ηρόδοτος, c. 484–425 BC), the 'father of history', wrote the Histories: the Persian Wars, Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, and his travels in Egypt.Renaissance · Poet (Cretan Renaissance)Vitsentzos KornarosΒιτσέντζος Κορνάρος1553 – 1613 or 1614Vitsentzos Kornaros (1553–c. 1614) wrote Erotokritos, the 10,000-verse Cretan romance of Erotokritos and Aretousa that Cretans still sing today.
Modern Greece · Novelist, critic and satiristEmmanouil RoidisΕμμανουήλ Ροΐδης1836 – 1904Emmanouil Roidis (1836–1904), the satirist from Syros, wrote Η Πάπισσα Ιωάννα (Pope Joan), the novel the Church condemned, and sharp essays on Greek life.Modern Greece · PoetAndreas KalvosΑνδρέας Κάλβος1792 – 1869Andreas Kalvos (1792–1869), poet of Zakynthos, wrote twenty odes to the Greek War of Independence, including the line 'freedom needs virtue and daring'.Antiquity · Philosopher and prose writerPlatoΠλάτωνc. 427 BC – c. 347 BCPlato (Πλάτων, c. 427–347 BC), pupil of Socrates and founder of the Academy, wrote the dialogues: the Republic, the Symposium, the Apology and the myth of the cave.Antiquity · Epic and didactic poetHesiodΗσίοδοςc. 750–650 BCHesiod (Ησίοδος, c. 700 BC), the farmer-poet of Boeotia, wrote the Theogony, the birth of the gods, and Works and Days, with Pandora and the five ages of man.Modern Greece · Revolutionary writer and poetRigas FeraiosΡήγας Βελεστινλήςc. 1757 – 1798Rigas Feraios, or Velestinlis (c. 1757–1798), wrote the war hymn Θούριος, a Balkan constitution and the great Χάρτα map, and died for Greek freedom in Belgrade.