On returning from Western Europe in April 1933, Kazantzakis went to Aegina, the place where he had already chosen to settle permanently. He continued to work on the Odyssey, while also composing the cantos for his Tertsines, translating Dante, Cocteau, Hauptmann, Shakespeare, Pirandello and Goethe, and writing travels books, plays and novels in French.

In 1936 he began building his own house on the island; he moved in with Eleni a year later, before building work was complete.  Kazantzakis only rarely left Aegina, on some occasions to travel (to Japan and China, Spain and England) and in 1938 to supervise publication of the Odyssey.