It has been said that the greatest prose writers are poets. In the case of Brodsky, this holds true beyond doubt. The economy of language and his light style leave a scent of genius that is preserved in the translation of the text from one language to another.

The essay pentagon we are delivering to you here, translated, refers to topics concerning Greece in one way or another. The Greece of Cavafy, the Greece of Byzantium, the muse Clio, the Greek language of Marcus Aurelius, as well as the Greek poetic tradition that inspires the works of the greatest Latin poets.

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]