The Concept of Resemblance in Kazantzakis's Tragedies Christ and Buddha

Much of Kazantzakis's writing has as its philosophical basis the dynamic, generating power of the mind. In his tragedies the repeated device of a play within a play offers an image of the mind's reflection to itself of what is already known. These plays show that art is not an artifact, but the release of "the eternal recurrence of the same," the "same" being traceable to the pre-Socratic concept of "resemblance." If art is brought into being by the "resemblance" between what exists and what is reflected in the mind, then art can capture the unique "oneness" that cannot be deviated from. The play Christ is enacted in the mind of the Typikaris, the Faithful, and those in the apparition, each of whom calls out for his own individual Christ-who is however ultimately beyond the shape given him by anyone. It is the "resemblance" among each of these Christs that allows access to the primary, unified force. Similarly in Buddha, where at least three plays are interwoven, the spiritual quest leads to a void that is Buddha: "we enter eternity by the strength of the mind." "Resemblance" is paradoxically a reflection upon reflection that renounces individual shapes and returns to the "One."