ONCE UPON A TIME, in the picturesque island of Ios in the Aegean Island, a beautiful rose blossomed. The flower, whose enchanting smell instantly caught the attention of all passers-by, happened to grow above the tomb of the great poet Homer. It so happened then one day that a nightingale, whose bird call was one of the most beautiful in the world, visited the famous Poet's last resort and sang. As soon as the scent of the rose reached the bird's nostrils, however, so hard did it find it to resist that it kept singing until death found it.

A few hours later, the son of a fisherman found the dead bird and buried it in the ground below the rose. The very same night, the rose dreamt that another famous poet had travelled from the other side of the world to smell it. After cutting it and bringing it close to his nose, he exclaimed: "Behold, a rose from the grave of Homer!".

The next day, the nightmare became reality: a famous poet did indeed appear in front of the grave, who cut the rose, plucked its petals and folded them inside a book he had written himself. He then took the book with him and travelled to the ends of the world. "Behold, a rose from the grave of Homer", he used to say wherever he went. His name was Nikos Kazantzakis, who continued the ancient Poet's great work by drawing inspiration directly from his grave.