Zorba the Greek

The narrator and Zorba see Hortense when they near the village. Being asked for marriage has made Hortense take on a more virtuous but more grotesque appearance: “Ever since the moment when the great hope – marriage – flickered in her mind, our aged siren had lost all her shady, unmentionable charms […] She no longer used makeup, jewelry, or soap. She stank” (213). Hortense pressures Zorba to quickly marry her, and Zorba pities her. She asks why he didn’t bring marriage wreaths back from Iraklio. Zorba lies, telling her there weren’t any good ones and that he ordered her a bridal gown. Hortense tells Zorba she brought him a gift. Reluctantly, Zorba opens it to find rings and accepts them. They walk out to the beach where the narrator is called to witness Zorba and Hortense’s engagement. However, Zorba does not want to spend the night with Hortense and makes an excuse about protecting her virtue. When they leave her, Zorba shares his view of Zeus, who he thinks had affairs with women out of pity for them. Zorba speculates that he should open a marriage bureau to help unmarried women find husbands.