As a cycle of work comes to an end, the person who confronts their own self—who “struggles within”, as Kazantzakis describes in Askitiki, seeks a “place” to rest. To quiet the mind, to soothe the heart, and to ponder. What have I done? What have I neglected? Whom have I hurt or wronged? When did I fail to stand courageously before my own inner enemy?
“A critical, violent moment is our historical era, one world is crumbling, another has not yet been born. Our era is not a moment of balance, when kindness, compromise, peace, love would be fruitful virtues. We no longer fit into the old virtues and hopes, the old theories and actions” (Nikos Kazantzakis, Salvatores Dei, 1927).
The mental Kallos (~Beauty) is visible in the sensible world, through the physical eyes, Plato states in Phaedrus (Plato, Phaedrus, 250d6-7). It can be manifested and loved.
Spring came, Persephone ascended from Hades to earth again. Nature is blooming and the swallows are coming again. The sun is warmer and the hyacinths are fragrant in the alleys. Nature is celebrating and with it the Homeland and every Greek soul is celebrating the Anniversary of the Revolution of ’21.