Elytis, Odysseus, EHL ee tees, oh DIHS ee uhs (1911-1996), a Greek poet, won the 1979 Nobel Prize for literature. Elytis has been praised for his mastery of the Greek language, both classical and modern. The landscape and literary tradition of the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea influenced his work. His poetry also deals with Greece's modern history, especially the country's occupation by Germany during World War II (1939-1945) and the Greek civil war (1946-1949). These themes dominate his best-known work, the monumental To Axion Esti (1959).