Plot

This work deals with the final hours of Julian the Apostate, during his expedition against the Persians in 363 AD. As the Persians move to encircle Julian's army, the Christians plot his murder.

The conspiracy is headed by the Bishop, former tutor to Julian and now his sworn enemy; Queen Helena, the Emperor's wife; Marina, his sleeping companion but not his mistress, since Julian is a kind of secular ascetic, and a young man named Stephen. The Bishop charges Marina to seduce the Emperor and kill him, but she is in love with him and so procrastinates.

Julian appears torn between the ancient Greek spirit and Christian ethics; though he derides the Christians and destroys their holy icons, he has a vision of Christ, treats his opponents with clemency and talks of love and goodwill. This intensifies the conflict within Marina, who hopes that the Emperor will eventually turn back to Christianity.

As the ill omens multiply, Julian learns of the conspiracy directly from Marina, and decides to exact revenge. He calls the Queen, and after having intercourse with her, he places her as a bet in a game of dice against the guards and loses her, upon which she commits suicide. The generals warn of the threat posed by the Persians and recommend that the army leave by ship. Julian rejects this plan, orders that the ships be burnt and returns to the battlefield.

Stephen stabs him in the back and the Bishop urges Marina to despatch him. After wavering for some time, the girl shares a cup of poisoned wine with the wounded Emperor.

Writing history

In a letter sent to Prevelakis from Gottesgab in 1931, Kazantzakis confided that he had long found the figure of Julian moving, and that he was planning to write a major work entitled The Apostate. The tragedy was written in 1939, in Shakespeare's daughter's house in Stratford-on-Avon, as warplanes droned overhead. An excerpt was published in Kathimerini newspaper on 8th April 1940. Kazantzakis translated the play into French in 1948.

Greek editions

  • N. Kazantzakis, Ioulianos o Paravatis, Athens: Pinguinos 1945 - dedicated to N. Sbarounis, a doctor friend.
  • N. Kazantzakis, Theatro II. Tragodies me vizantina themata. Christos, Ioulianos o Paravatis, Nikiforos Fokas, Konstantinos Paleologos, edited by E. C. Kasdaglis, Athens: Difros 1956
  • N. Kazantzakis, Theatro II. Tragodies me vizantina themata. Christos, Ioulianos o Paravatis, Nikiforos Fokas, Konstantinos Paleologos, Athens: Eleni Kazantzakis 1964 - and subsequent editions; the one published in 1998, edited by Patroklos Stavrou, is a reprint of the 1956 edition
  • Apo to piitiko ergo tou N. Kazantzaki, with a prologue by Manolis Karellis. Introduction, selection and notes by Stylianos Alexiou, illustrations by N. Chatzikyriakos-Gikas, Heraklion, Crete: Municipality of Crete 1977 - an anthology of excerpts

Foreign editions & translations

  • Nikos Kazantzakis, Teatro. I. Odiseo, Juliano, Niceforo, Kapodistria, translated into Spanish with an introduction and notes by M. Castillo Didier, prologue by Fotios Malleros K., Santiago (Chile): Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Centro de Estudios Bizantinos y Neohelénicos 1978

Performances & adaptations

  • Saint Julien l'Apostat, Georges Garmier Troupe, in the new theatre company contest (Concours des Jeunes Compagnies), Paris, 1948. Translated by N. Kazan [= N. Kazantzakis], directed by Georges Garmier. Cast: Katrin Cordier, Michel Picoli, Jacques Marin. Kazantzakis attended rehearsals but did not stay for the performance, at which Eleni Kazantzakis was present.
  • National Theatre, 1959. Directed by Kostis Michailidis. Cast: Stelios Vocovic, Nelly Angelidou, Gelly Mavropoulou, Nikos Paraskevas and others.

Radio

  • Julien l'Apostat broadcast by French radio (Radiodiffusion - Television Française), 1963 or 1964.
  • Julian the Apostate, broadcast by the Third Programme, Greek Radio and Television (ERT), 1989