Peter Bien is a regular professor of English literature at Dartmouth College in the United States. His interest in modern Greek literature arose from his marriage to Chrysanthi Giannakou in 1955. He spent a year in Thessaloniki and taught himself the Greek language using elementary school readers.

In 1959, he undertook the translation of Nikos Kazantzakis' Last Temptation, followed by the translations of The Poor Man of God and Report to Greco. His other translations include:

• Life in the Tomb by S. Myrivili
• Hours of Life by Angelos Vlachos
• Philoctetes by Giannis Ritsos
• The Sonata of the Moonlight by Giannis Ritsos

In addition to his translations, he has published studies on Kazantzakis, Kavafis, and the language issue. Together with his wife and Giannis Rassias, he has authored a method for teaching the Demotic language. At Dartmouth, he teaches not only modern English prose but also works by modern Greek writers, while Mrs. Bien teaches modern Greek.