Fotis Aggoules (1911-1964): a Poet on whom the Works of Aristotle and Marx Made an Enormous Impact

Abstract

Aggoules’ life testifies to his communist ideas. This conditions his poetry, which reflects Marx’s ideas. It is the aim of this paper to analyse the artistic merit of his poetry. First, however, we need to examine a possible relationship between Marx and Aristotle, as traced in Aggoules’ poetical output. To avoid confusion of the conceptual with the biographical, we shall concentrate rather on the state of his art than on demonstrating his theoretical background as rooted in the work of the two philosophers, Aristotle and Marx. Aggoules’ melancholic tone when expressing the attainment of the ideals and values of Marx echoes Aristotle’s idea as regards freeing society from the bonds of avarice. Art in Aggoules’ poetry relates to the commonplace. His poetry demonstrates experiences and itineraries that literarily pass through hell, without, however, confusing the conceptual with the biographical. The great artistic merit of his poetry is that he enables us to glimpse the Absolute through the commonplace.