Greek was the language spoken at home and in his community. Alexandria had a large Greek-speaking population that dated back to ancient times, and Cavafy felt a strong connection to Greek culture and history. He wrote using a mix of demotic Greek, which is more casual, and katharevousa, a formal and older form of the language, which contributed to his unique style.
He was very private about his work and had a strong distrust of the literary marketplace. He liked to decide exactly who could read his poems and in what format, so he distributed them himself — as printed broadsides, small pamphlets, or clippings — to those he trusted. This was an uncommon method, but it ensured that every poem circulating had his direct approval.
'Ithaka' uses Odysseus's journey home to explore our own lives. The poem suggests that the destination is less important than the depth of the journey itself — but Cavafy doesn’t present this idea in a cliché way. His writing is detailed, vivid, and tinged with sadness. Ithaka, he insists, provided you with the journey; don’t expect it to offer anything beyond that.
The poem portrays a city-state where leaders and citizens assemble to confront an invading barbarian army, only to discover in the end that no such invasion is imminent. The final lines hit hard: without the barbarians, what will become of us? They represented a certain kind of resolution. This poem explores how societies can become reliant on an outside threat to create a sense of purpose and unity.
He writes directly yet with restraint about desire between men, unapologetically and without pretense—a genuinely bold move for a poet in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of his erotic poems have an elegiac tone, reflecting on past pleasures, which lends them a bittersweet quality that prevents them from being purely celebratory or entirely sorrowful.
Less so than many poets. His straightforward style translates reasonably well. The main loss is the texture of his Greek, particularly the blend of formal and everyday language. The translations by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard are regarded as the best starting point for English readers.
Quality and originality matter more than sheer volume. He found a way to use history as a reflection of the present, employing a straightforward lyrical voice and an honest exploration of desire and regret that felt refreshingly original. Poets and writers, from Auden to Yiannis Ritsos to Lawrence Durrell, recognized his influence, and his take on the dramatic monologue has inspired others to continue exploring those possibilities long after he passed away.
