The law of Zeus, Zeus’s law…it is a refrain in Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey and while I am no movie critic I can say that this is a visual feast. At almost 3 hours I couldn’t believe it blew by so fast. This 2700 year old story still has legs and Nolan (with a stellar cast) brings it to life in a big cinema kind of fashion.
The theme of Zeus’s law has to do with generosity and hospitality owed to strangers, a divinely establish code require proper conduct, failure to adhere to this basic premise leads to trouble. Nolan is cagey as to how much the gods are in control in the movie, I think you can probably see it either way. At the very least one of the underlying questions of the film is what happens when we disregard what was once considered divine law. This from a guy who was raised catholic but whose religious stance is today is unknown, though his films often dance with the great questions.
You can read all about the questions of where the gods are in his newest film (his largest grossing opening weekend ever), the role of secularism and the timing of this film coming out. You can also read about President Trump and getting through dark times on a global scale and the role of movies with a balance of difficulty and hope.
Brett Mccracken, who I normally really enjoy reading, was pretty hard on it in his review, I felt he unfairly depicts many of the moments in the movie (it’s the sort of review that reminds me that I need to watch the video/read the book/know what the person is talking about, if I am to consider their take seriously, you can read his review HERE). One part I think Mccracken gets correct is the ways the story could be seen to allude to Jesus,
There are certainly echoes of the Christian story—the “true myth”—in Nolan’s version of The Odyssey, just as Homer’s original has been read as foreshadowing Christian typologies. As the mythical story valorizes a hero who suffers, humbles himself, endures temptation, goes to hell and back (literally), and returns for his faithful bride, it’s hard not to think of Christ’s journey. And in its championing of virtue, testing, and fidelity amid great trials, the film echoes the Christian pilgrimage of every believer.
What the movie really brought up for me, however, is the warning to be careful what we throw out. The frame Nolan puts on the ancient story is that the rules of hospitality were a sacred affair and the breaking of them causes countless harm. The ways a pastor could take this are innumerable, I could talk about any number of broken social contracts or new moralities that are proving to fail us day by day. I can sound as grouchy as the next person:)
But I am more curious about small life decisions that may reverberate in ways that make us regretful only afterwards. These are the sorts of decisions we actually get to make. Odysseus and the gang get to decide about the roman horse and the breaking of hospitality laws, we get to decide much smaller fare, yet our decisions are still important.
Do we use AI and be part of the ecology disaster associated with that? (To say nothing of the endless questions about copyright, fair pay, spying on the general population and various other concerns swirling around AI).
Do we permit our children to use social media?
Do we let practices of value slide over time until we are hardly recognizable to ourselves? Like, the family that used to eat together that now rarely does, not just because it permits a schedule to get so complicated, but because the rarity of everyone being home leads to it being annoying when everyone is home and everyone wants to eat different things anyways, or watch different shows…so even when everyone is home everyone eats alone.
The couple that used to say grace together, that no longer does and subtly loses the sense of gratitude in their lives, and find their connection to each other weakening and they cannot quite figure out why.
For me, one of these has been the abandoning of team sports. It was more convenient to stick to solo sports that I could fit into my schedule whenever time allowed, but the cost is community, camaraderie, and friendships. Today I make a point of connecting with folks who do the same sports I do.
Once something is broken or undone it is very hard to get it back together again (all the king’s horses and all the kings men…) This could make us thoughtful before we act, pensive about major changes, slower to accept the “obvious” or “easy” route, we can at least try to be aware of what the hidden costs might be.
At the end of the day if you want a very thought-provoking movie you could jump into this one, but also, if you just want a visually stimulating rip-roaring good tale, then go see it in theatres, it is going to be way better there than at home in a few weeks.
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