Nikos Gatsos was a notable Greek poet, translator and lyricist.
Nikos Gatsos was born in a small village of Peloponnese. Following high school, he moved to Athens, where he studied literature, philosophy, and history at the University of Athens for two years only. In Athens he entered the literary circles of the era and published his poems, small in extent and in a classic style, in the magazines Nea Estia (1931-32) and Rythmos (1933). During that period he also published criticism works for Makedonikes Imeres (螠伪魏蔚未慰谓喂魏苇蟼 螚渭苇蟻蔚蟼), Rythmos (巍蠀胃渭蠈蟼), and Nea Grammata (螡苇伪 螕蟻维渭渭伪蟿伪) (for Kostis Bastias, Myrtiotissa, and Thrasos Kastanakis, respectively).
In 1935 he move to Paris, France and then to the South of France.
In 1936 he met Odysseus Elytis, his lifelong companion in poetry.
In 1943, Aetos published his long poem Amorgos, a major contribution to contemporary Greek poetry notable especially for its combination of surrealism with traditional Greek folk poetry motifs. He subsequently published three more poems: "Elegeio" (1946) in Filologika Chronika, "The Knight and Death" (螣 喂蟺蟺蠈蟿畏蟼 魏喂 慰 胃维谓伪蟿慰蟼) (1947), and "Song of Old Times" (韦蟻伪纬慰蠉未喂 蟿慰蠀 蟺伪位喂慰蠉 魏伪喂蟻慰蠉) (1963), dedicated to Yorgos Seferis, in Tachydromos magazine.
Following World War II, he worked with the Greek-British Review as a translator and with Ellinik铆 Radiofon铆a as a radio director. During that period he also began writing lyrics for the music of Manos Hadjidakis and developed a remarkable career in modern Greek songwriting. In due course he also collaborated with Mikis Theodorakis and other major composers.
His work as a whole combines universal poetic themes such as the problems of evil, injustice, sacrifice, and the pains of love, with more specifically Greek concerns such as the sorrows of exile.
His capability in handling language with accuracy led the "Art Theatre", the "National Theatre" and the "Popular Theatre" of Greece to entrust him with translations of various plays -translations that became "legendary"- first and foremost being "Blood Wedding" by Federico Garcia Lorca.
He had a special relationship with Manos Hadjidakis and Nana Mouskouri, as well as Philip Sherrard, Peter Levi and Peter Jay, and Desmond O'Grady.
In 1987 he was awarded a special prize by the Municipality of Athens for his contribution to literary art as a whole and in 1991 the Royal Academy of Good Letters of Barcelona awarded him honorary membership for his contribution to the dissemination of Spanish literature in Greece.
I only 3 stared it cause his language sometimes demanded a second look in order to get the meaning and in summer this is tough.on the other way Gatsos is a poet who accomplish to enter the depths of the heart and the soul.
Puuuuurre kino This is an astonishing, haunted work about Greece鈥檚 reciprocal struggle with its own Independence-mimetics. A circular joust that visits an island our author, Nikos, never even visited. Amorgos by the end will have become a rentable crypt, of a sort, with nostalgia, with phantasm, with sounds echoing forward through history. Time retold through a prism, while freebasing torments, memento mori, an agonizing nostalgia of the microverse of Greece鈥檚 countryside.
The landmark book by a then-young Nikos Gatsos, Amorgos is a significant contribution to Greek and world literature. It represents Greek modernism at its best.
Amorg贸s es un hito del movimiento surrealista griego. En 茅l se aglutina toda la tradici贸n del poema largo del siglo XX y a la vez todo el legado de la literatura griega. A caballo entre tradici贸n y vanguardia, tambi茅n importa por su importancia pol铆tica durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
Amorg贸s y otros poemas est谩 escrito por Nikos Gatsos, uno de los escritores que form贸 parte del movimiento literario del surrealismo griego. En este libro encontramos una edici贸n biling眉e, es decir, tendremos los poemas griegos originales y su traducci贸n, realizada por Vicente Fern谩ndez Gonz谩lez. Es un libro que recoge Amorg贸s, la obra principal de Gatsos y la m谩s representativa de la literatura griega, y otros tres poemas independientes. Gatsos public贸 este libro durante la invasi贸n nazi de Grecia y, tras ella, pr谩cticamente dej贸 de publicar, por lo que son muy pocos los poemas que vieron la luz en vida del autor (como estos tres).
Este poemario est谩 formado por varios poemas. Podr铆amos hacer una divisi贸n pr谩cticamente por la mitad. La primera mitad est谩 formada por poemas sin t铆tulos y por unos poemas bastante complejos de leer. Estos van constantemente rozando el mundo real y el mundo on铆rico, con muchas escenas surrealistas. Es una poes铆a m谩s densa, con una fort铆sima carga de tradici贸n de la literatura griega cl谩sica y el cancionero popular.
La segunda mitad est谩 formada por poemas con t铆tulos. Esta parte, aunque tambi茅n tiene escenas surrealistas, es, en mi opini贸n, m谩s f谩cil de entender. Est谩 llena de figuras literaturas, como la primera, pero son quiz谩s m谩s cercanas al lector. Adem谩s aqu铆 la carga pol铆tica y de cr铆tica es m谩s llamativa. Por 煤ltimo, los tres 煤ltimos poemas es donde m谩s cr铆tica pol铆tica hay, sobre todo en los dos poemas dedicados al espa帽ol Federico Garc铆a Lorca, lo que hace ver la gran admiraci贸n que hab铆a a este poeta. Esto se ve sobre todo en un poema que narra escenas de su fusilamiento, con unos versos libres con mucha delicadeza, sensibilidad y belleza.
Por lo tanto, podr铆a decir que la poes铆a de Gatsos est谩 a caballo entre la realidad y el surrealismo, que cuenta con una fuerte carga de la literatura griega cl谩sica y de la tradici贸n popular, especialmente del cancionero griego. Es una poes铆a compleja de leer, con versos extensos y llenos de figuras literarias, con una cr铆tica pol铆tica, pero con una enorme delicadeza y belleza. Tiene im谩genes que evocan f谩cilmente la imaginaci贸n al lector para transmitir el mensaje. Una obra que, creo, que es muy recomendable para leer y conocer este movimiento en Grecia.
Esta edici贸n cuenta con una introducci贸n. En ella se habla tanto de la vida del autor, que es bastante interesante, como su producci贸n literaria. Yo recomiendo leer primero esta parte, que no es muy extensa, porque con ella vamos a entender mejor los poemas y a valorarlos mucho m谩s, aunque a lo largo de los poemas tendremos notas a pie de p谩gina con explicaciones y aclaraciones. Si tuviera que poner un pero, ser铆a en la traducci贸n. Muchas veces se ha traducido sin comas en versos muy largos, y han sido necesarias, por lo que la lectura al espa帽ol se hace un tanto compleja.
2022 resolution is to read more poetry, and more modern Greeks.
From the introduction: 鈥淎morgos is the name of a Greek island which he chose for its symbolism: it means Bitter Island, though he had never visited it and as a place it is still obscure.鈥�
Well I have visited Amorgos, and while not bitter, it is certainly still obscure many years later.