Travellers, poets, artists, even scholars, still go to Greece iη search of something they feel that nο other Iand quite offers them. Partly nο doubt this is a by-product of the enormous prestige the world of ancient Greece acquired subsequent to the Renaissance; partly , too, it is due to the sheer physical beauty with which Greece presents one at practically every step. Even though the stereotype of classical Greece has now worn thin, and island after island, seashore village after seashore village, are overrun by the Iife-starved fugitives from the industrial wildernesses of northern Europe Ioosed upon them week-in week-out by the seemingly endless succession of package-tours and charter-flights, the spell and the compulsion survive. For Philip Sherrard the enigma of Greece has been virtually a Iifelong preoccupation. Iη this anthology he tries to explore its various aspects through the writings of those who over the centuries have found iη Greece, not simply an object of study οr a romantic haven, but a challenge, an incitement and a reciprocity that has stirred the wellsprings of both heart and imagination. Το give an inner coherence to this exploration the passages chosen are presented iη the form of an itinerary that includes all the major areas of Greece, the Aegean Islands and Crete. The remarkably evocative photographs by Dimitri complement this itinerary, providing the visual component of an image which cannot but enrich the experience of all who, for whatever reasons, have set out οη this journey of self-discovery that Greece offers them.
