The literary scene of the second post-war period, in Greece, is still dominated by the exponents of the generation of the Thirties, who in this period produced their most mature works. S. Mirivilis, under the pressure of tense social conditions, recalls the world of his youth in a masterful novel, ‛Η Παναγιὰ ἡ Γοργόνα (” Madonna the Siren “, 1949), where psychic reality takes on the charm of myth. The tendency to draw inspiration from the past is also encountered in P. Prevelakis (born in 1909), in particular with ‛Ο Κρητικός (” The Cretan “, 1948-50), which has its roots in history, and in T. Petsalis (born in 1904), who abandoned the bourgeois novel to paint the centuries-old saga Οἱ Μαυρόλυκοι (“I Mavroliki”, 1947-48) with epic intentions. K. Polits, after a realistic novel, in which he bends over the daily miseries of provincial life, Τὸ Γυρί (“Il Ghirì”, 1945), in 1963 evokes the city of his childhood, Smyrna, in a suggestive narrative style Στοῦ Χατζηϕράγκου (“From Chatzifrangos”). The current problems are instead addressed by Greece Theotokàs, especially in a book of war and resistance, ‛Ασϑενεῖς καί ὁδητόροι (” Sick and pilgrims “, 1950, 1960), and by A. Terzakis, in novels in which characters no longer young people are beset by the prevailing of the new times. Also in the field of the novel, the belated contribution of N. Kazantzakis, previously known only as a poet and essayist, is important: it is worth noting that, despite a serious problematic, he does not intend to address in his novels, all published between 1946 and death (1957), contemporary and everyday reality, but he resorts to characters evoked from the past or in any case placed above everyday and ordinary life; Βίος καὶ πολιτεία τοῦ ‘Αλέξη Ζορμπᾶ (“Life and Miracles of Alexis Zorbas”, 1946, but written during the war), to which he owes much of his fame, is perhaps his most positive proof of this.
The poets of the thirties also gave their most mature proofs during this period, thus completing their personality. Greece Seferis, after the poem Κίχλη (“Kichli”, 1947), publishes ‛Ημερολόγιο καταστρώματος, γ ′ (” Logbook III “, 1955), prompted largely by the struggles of Cyprus for independence, and Τρϕὰία κυ ποιήματα (“Three secret poems”, 1966); meanwhile in 1963 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. O. Elitis with Τὸ ἄξιον ἐστί (“To axion esti”, 1959) and subsequent collections tries new ways, adapting his “Aegean” vision to the new solicitations. Greece Ritsos turns out to be more and more active; in addition to anti-totalitarian poems, for which he was considered the left poet par excellence, with ‛Η σονάτα τοῦ σεληνόϕωτος (” The sonata in the moonlight “,
A new generation of writers is already present in the post-war magazines Τὰ Νέα Γράμματα (“Ta Nea Grammata”, 1944-45), ‘Ελεύϑερα Γράμματα (“Eleftera Grammata”, 1945-50). The poets first and the narrators later, are engaged in themes and attitudes that are detached from the traditional ones, without however marking a break. Poetry has a greater existential grip; his models are now no longer limited to French surrealism or TS Eliot. M. Sachturis (born in 1919) populates his anguished solitude with monsters and ghosts; T. Sinòpulos (born in 1917) directs his dissatisfaction towards a search for language in various directions; A. Dikteos (born in 1919) lays bare an entirely sexual vulnerability; E. Vakalò (born in 1921) goes beyond post-surreal lyrics to take refuge in an area ”
The young fiction reflects the changed situation with great adherence. New methods of expression have also been tried: however, experiments in this sense have not diverted the general problem. The experiences of the resistance and the civil war (and in this area R. Rufos, A. Kotziàs, and in particular N. Kàsdaglis and D. Chatzìs are noteworthy) have left a state of apprehension and instability which was expressed in novels such as Τὸ ϕράγμα (“The dam” 1960) by S. Plaskovitis (born in 1917), Γραικύλοι (“Greculi” 1967) by R. Rufos (born in 1924), Τὸ λάϑος (“The mistake”, 1965) by A. Samarakis (born in 1919). Profound social changes, such as the weakening of family relationships, incommunicability, alienation, constitute the theme of many novelists.
