55.00€
A beautiful and collectible second edition of Τα Ετεροθαλη (Ta Eterothali), also known as Step-Poems, by the celebrated Greek poet and Nobel Prize laureate Odysseas Elytis.
Published in Athens in 1980 by the prestigious Ikaros Publishing Company, this edition is particularly interesting for its elegant artistic presentation and original uncut pages, preserving an attractive feature of traditional book production.
The volume includes a frontispiece by Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Gikas (Νίκος Χατζηκυριάκος-Γκίκας), one of the most important Greek painters and intellectuals of the twentieth century.
The cover is decorated with an ornamental initial letter Epsilon (Ε), taken from an old manuscript from Mount Athos, lending the book a distinctive connection to Greek manuscript and Byzantine artistic traditions.
A particularly appealing edition for collectors of modern Greek poetry, illustrated books and twentieth-century Greek art.
Bibliographical Details
Condition
Very good condition, uncut copy, retaining its original page edges as issued. Please refer to the photographs for a detailed assessment of the item’s overall condition. The photographs form an integral part of the description and show the actual copy offered for sale.
About the Author
Odysseas Elytis (1911–1996), born Odysseas Alepoudellis, was one of the most influential figures in modern Greek literature. A poet, essayist, translator and man of letters, he became the leading exponent of romantic modernism in Greece, blending surrealist influences with Greek mythology, history and cultural traditions.
His poetic universe is filled with the Mediterranean light, the blue Aegean Sea, islands, rocks, winds and the timeless beauty of the Greek landscape. Through these images, Elytis created a distinctive poetic language in which the physical world becomes a gateway to spiritual and metaphysical experience.
His masterpiece Άξιον Εστί (To Axion Esti, 1959) is considered one of the great achievements of modern Greek poetry. In 1979, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in recognition of his outstanding literary contribution.
A Literary Appreciation
The British writer Lawrence Durrell beautifully captured the essence of Elytis’s poetry, describing its romantic and lyrical vision of Greece, where rocks, islands, the blue sea and the winds become both tangible realities and symbols of a timeless Greek world.
For Durrell, Elytis’s poems possess an almost magical quality, evoking an ideal of beauty and perfection deeply rooted in the Greek imagination.
A distinctive collectible edition by Greece’s Nobel Prize-winning poet, enhanced by the artwork of Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Gikas and an ornamental design inspired by the manuscript heritage of Mount Athos. An especially attractive copy for collectors of Greek literature and fine illustrated books.
