A question to Liantini's wife by the translator of his book "Gemma" : A surface reading of his book "Gemma" will lead some readers to conclude that the author was an anti-Semite. Was Liantinis an anti-Semite? If not, it is likely that he suspected that a lot of people would misread his writings – just as it happened with Nietzsche whom he so appreciated. Do you believe there could be a reason that Liantinis might have willingly allowed this interpretation as well?
And the answer by his wife who had studied theology and philosophy at the University of Athens: The characterization «anti-Semite» is mistaken. Liantinis appreciated the circumstances and capabilities of the Jews. What he was primarily concerned about was stressing in every possible way the differences between the Semitic and the Hellenic spirits, because it is well established that the Greeks founded philosophy and the Jews religion. But that the Jewish spirit in its long historical trajectory had a negative role to play with regard to the Greek spirit, until this day, was something that was a source of great pain for him. He stresses that point in the chapter «The Hellenic Greek». I do not know whether he intended to allow this way of interpreting his writings, but of course, every reader has a subjective appreciation of the passages and their own individual way of critically assessing them.
