Welcome to Greece, homeland for Kronos
Greece may be best known to Americans now as a beloved sun-kissed vacation destination.
But the world of Kronos sparkles with ancient lore as well as must-see sites of bygone empires.
And lessons of what a long-gone but not-forgotten fascist dictatorship can do to a democracy.
Greece, one of the most shining jewels of the ancient world, still lights up the Mediterranean not just
for what once happened here but for what is still happening to inspire, warn, and celebrate what’s best, and
sometimes worst, in the human condition.
The plot and characters of Kronos revolve around two brothers who love the same woman, but the actual background—Greece, sumptuous
Greece—is a bright star in its own sky.
Living there, and writing two books - Kronos and also Cypress to be digitally published in the United States
later this year—I never lost an almost reverent sense of being in a sacred place where astonishing things had
happened and continue to happen. Sometimes it seemed that everywhere I looked, there was another fallen
column from ancient times. And during something as mundane as traveling on a ferry boat to an Aegean
island, inevitably I would lean on a rail, dreaming of the poet’s “wine-dark sea” that has inspired me, and the
rest of the world.
So yes, Greece itself in many ways was a character in Kronos. Among the gifts of Krono, readers may take
away new perspectives on this beautiful but challenged part of our world.
Classical Greece: it’s generally stated that democracy was born here. Greece most certainly was the home of some of the world’s greatest philosophers, including Plato and Socrates; brilliant playwrights including Sophocles, Euripides, and Aeschylus; and so many thinkers and healers that many consider Greece the cradle of civilization. Kronos does not tell their stories, but when I lived and wrote here, for me there were ancient mystic reverberations to much that happens in Greece.
Archaeology: Sometimes, in Greece, it feels like the whole country is an ancient site. “Kronos” does a deep curtsey to all that in a seminal scene of the novel set in a sensuous cavern still known to the villagers as the Cave of the Great Goddess.
Fascism: Despite its symbolic importance as the birthplace of democracy, Greece fell to a fascist dictatorship 1967-1974 and became an international cause celebre. One of Kronos’ main characters becomes one of the fascist colonels, and the Greek resistance becomes key to the plot. Careful readers will see lessons in how a democracy can fall to authoritarianism.
Greek Diaspora: Like in many of the contemporary Mediterranean countries, poverty has gripped Greece since World War II. Many native Greeks left home for economic reasons, creating a Greek diaspora of an estimated five million people. Three million live in the U.S., and among them fictionally are several main characters in Kronos.
Greece now: As a member of the Economic Community, Greece keeps striving for economic stability. And in many ways, its geography seems to be its destiny. During the past decades, Greece made headlines when it confronted millions of Arab refugees who tried to make it to Europe during the devastation of the Mideast wars, particularly in Syria. Also, as a Mediterranean country, it battles the effects of climate change, including devastating wildfires.
All this knowledge—and a great story, too—are the gifts of Kronos.
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