Shortly after returning to Greece, Kazantzakis met Eleni Samiou, the woman who was to accompany him for the rest of his life. Nevertheless, he did not stay long in Athens. In July 1924 he went to Crete, and spent August at the remote beach of Lendas together with Eleni, studying Homer, Goethe and Aeschylus.

He spent a whole year in Heraklion, during which he began the ambitious composition of the Odyssey and probably also write Symposium. In addition, he planned an unsuccessful attempt at illegal political activity, prompting the authorities to arrest him and keep him in custody for twenty-four hours in Heraklion police station.

In July 1925 he returned to Athens for a while, but was not long in leaving on a trip to the Aegean islands. It was on this trip that he discovered Aegina, the place where he was later to settle.