Zorba the Greek characters

Also known as Boss

Appears from the start

The unnamed Greek narrator, a bookish man attempting to turn thought into action by operating a lignite mine on Crete. He leaves his books behind only in part and continues to interpret experience through literature, religion, and philosophy. His meeting with Zorba gives him a companion who challenges that habit of standing apart from life.

Also known as Alexis Zorbas

Appears from the start

A weathered Greek laborer who approaches the narrator at Piraeus and asks to accompany him to Crete. Zorba has worked as a miner, fought in wars, traveled widely, and followed impulses that he recounts without self-protection. Practical and inventive with his hands, he also plays the santuri and expresses emotions through spontaneous dance.

Appears from the start

The narrator's close friend, whose departure to aid Greek communities in the Caucasus helps send the narrator toward Crete. Stavridaki urges him to move beyond books and actionless sympathy, and the narrator remains conscious of the friend's dangerous mission while beginning his own enterprise.

Also known as Bouboulina

First appears in chapter 4

The aging French proprietor of the seaside lodging where the narrator and Zorba stay. Once a cabaret singer and companion to naval officers, she preserves memories of beauty, travel, and courtship in her shabby Cretan surroundings. Zorba flatters her with the name Bouboulina and quickly begins courting her.

First appears in chapter 5

A beautiful young Cretan woman whose husband has died. Independent and reserved, she lives under the hostile scrutiny of men in the village and draws the narrator's desire, though his self-consciousness initially prevents him from approaching her directly.

First appears in chapter 6

A poor, childlike villager who carries gossip and messages between households. Often mocked or used by others, Mimithos observes much of the village's private business and sometimes reveals information whose consequences he does not fully control.

Also known as Father Zaharia

First appears in chapter 11

A troubled monk at the mountain monastery whose guilt, appetites, and religious fear have divided his sense of himself. He privately loathes the corruption he sees around him and becomes receptive when Zorba treats him as a possible ally in securing the monastery's forest.

First appears in chapter 15

A young woman Zorba meets during a buying trip to Candia. His involvement with her distracts him from the mine's business and becomes the subject of a candid letter to the narrator.

First appears in chapter 18

The son of the village elder Mavrandoni. Young and emotionally exposed, Pavli is consumed by an unreturned love for the widow, whose refusal he cannot accept.

First appears in chapter 21

A powerful village elder and Pavli's father. Grief over his son's death hardens into rage against the widow, whom the village holds responsible for rejecting the young man.