Zorba the Greek

Until Topol came barreling around in Fiddler on the Roof, Anthony Quinn’s garrulous Cretan peasant was the definitive force-of-nature screen performance; the rest of the cast seems to wilt in his proximity. Wondering if the character of Zorba has any symbolic meaning? Know that original novelist Nikos Kazantzakis also wrote The Last Temptation of Christ.