Elytis, Odysseus

Odysseus Elytis was born Odysseus Alepoudhellis at Heraklion on the island of Crete. He was the youngest of six children. His father came from a wealthy family from the island of Lesbos, famous for the classical poets Alcaeus and Sappho. When Elytis was only a few years old the family moved to Athens where his father ran a business, and this is where he completed his primary education. He then studied law between 1930 and 1935 without graduating. At university he socialised with intellectuals and read the works of various philosophers.