최후의 유혹 2

Kazantzakis was always spiritually restless. Tortured by existential metaphysical concerns, he sought relief in knowledge, travel, experience, contact with diverse people. The influence of Nietzsche on his work is evident, especially the atheism & Übermensch concept. He was also haunted by spiritual concerns. To attain union with god, he entered a monastery for six months. In '27 he published in Greek his Spiritual Exercises (Ασκητική), composed in Berlin in '23. The book was translated & published in '60 as The Saviors of God.
The figure of Jesus was ever-present in his thoughts, from youth to his last years. Jesus of The Last Temptation of Christ shares Katzantzakis' anguished existential concerns, seeking answers to haunting questions, torn between his sense of duty & mission, & his human needs to enjoy life, love & a family. A tragic figure who at the end sacrifices his own hopes for a wider cause, his Jesus isn't an infallible deity but rather a passionate man who's been assigned a mission, with a meaning he struggles to understand which requires him to face conscience & his emotions, & ultimately to sacrifice his life for its fulfilment. He's subject to doubts, fears, even guilt. In the end he's the Son of Man, one whose internal struggle represents that of humanity.