Zorba the Greek Setting & Symbolism

Zorba the Greek Objects/Places

Crete

Crete is a Greek island, recently recovered from a series of civil wars. Most of the book takes place on Crete, where the narrator has rented a lignite mine.

Zorba's santuri

The santuri is a musical instrument that Zorba will play only on happy occasions. He is never without it, and he bequeaths this treasure to the narrator at the end of the story.

The hut on the beach

The hut on the beach is Zorba and the narrator's home on Crete, provided by Madame Hortense.

Buddha manuscript

The Buddha manuscript is the narrator's meditation on the divine and eventually an exorcism of unproductive thought. This book marks the speaker's own progress.

Madame Hortense's Parrot

This pet keeps Hortense's memory of her lover Canavaro alive by shouting the captain's name as his only method of communication.

The Lignite Mine

Zorba works in the mine all day, overseeing workers. While the narrator is responsible for the mines, his ignorance of physical work and laborers' conditions causes...
(read more)