According to Osho, Zorba is the Greek, body-loving, Epicurean side of Nikos Kazantzakis himself—the life-affirming half of his divided psyche. In Zorba the Greek, Kazantzakis projects this earthy, celebrative energy against the Christian, ascetic conditioning that split him. Thus Zorba symbolizes Kazantzakis’s material, sensuous self, while his religious side opposed it, creating inner conflict.
Zorba is the fun, body-loving part of Kazantzakis that he turned into a character, while another part of him was strict and religious.