Nikos Kavvadias
“Rust, fire-colored in the mines of Sinai.
The caverns of Gerakini and Stratoni.
The coating. The holy rust that gives birth to us,
feeds us, feeds on us, and kills us”.
Fata Morgana, N. Kavvadias
The ore leaves Stratoni by ship. On one such ship, Nikos Kavvadias, the beloved poet of sailors, was a wireless operator. He would make this route and pass by the cape of Stratoni, as he mentions in his poem “Fata Morgana.” Years later, it spread that this poem was written for a woman named Eleni from the village, who resembled a Gypsy. It was also tragic that some ships left and never returned. At least three ships sank…
The Alexis Zorbas of Nikos Kazantzakis
At the end of the last century, it seems that the famous Alexis Zorbas also worked in the Madem Lakko area. In Palaiochori, he lived the most crucial years of his life. There, he stayed with a friend and worked as a miner in the French mining company in Isvoros. He became acquainted with the chief miner, Giannis Kalkounis, whose daughter, Eleni, he “stole” and married in Palaiochori. Together, they had eight children, of whom he was particularly fond of the first, Androniki. However, wars and the death of his wife Eleni brought misfortune to the family, and bitter, he left, searching for a better fate.
“–Where did you work lately?
–In a mine. You should know, I’m a good miner; I understand metals, I find veins, open galleries, go down into the shafts, I’m not afraid. I worked well. I was the chief miner, I had no complaints; only the devil interfered. Last Saturday night, I got in the mood, and once or twice, I found the owner, who had come that day to inspect us, and I beat him up…”
Excerpt from the book *Life and Politics of Alexis Zorbas*, by Nikos Kazantzakis.