Is Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey Based on the Bible?
Photo: Melinda Sue Gordon
By Dr. John Eaton // CBT
If you were among the countless moviegoers who saw Christopher Nolan’s new epic, The Odyssey, you watched Odysseus wrestle with the consequences of violating Zeus’s sacred law of hospitality and may have wondered:
Wait, why does this sound so familiar?
In an interview with the New York Times, Nolan explained the idea simply…
“Zeus’ law, it’s the Golden Rule. Treat as you would be treated.”
[SPOILERS]
Throughout Nolan’s Odyssey, various characters, such as Tom Holland’s Telemachus, note the importance of treating strangers with hospitality.
They could be a god in disguise.
Near the film’s climax, Zeus’s law becomes key to understanding what has haunted Odysseus since the Battle of Troy.
The moral cost of his greatest victory.
A disguised Odysseus confesses to his wife that the Trojan Horse was the ultimate betrayal of trust.
Soldiers hid inside what appeared to be a gift to honor the god Athena in order to get behind city walls to conquer.
While “Zeus’s law,” as it’s titled in Nolan’s adaptation, is not mentioned by name in Ancient Greek culture or Homer’s poem.
They did have a custom called xenia.
Xenia was a cultural practice in which hosts provided food, shelter, and safety in exchange for guests respecting their hosts and not exploiting them.
Homer may not refer to the practice as “Zeus’ law”; he does describe the custom.
Odysseus says, “Aye, and the gods in the guise of strangers from afar put on all manner of shapes, and visit the cities, beholding the violence and the righteousness of men” (Odyssey 17.485–487).
What Homer credits to Zeus, the Bible credits to the Lord God.
Hebrews 13:2 says, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it” (LSB).
Genesis 18–19 gives us an account of this actually happening, as Abraham and Lot welcome mysterious travelers who turn out to be from heaven.
I think we may be seeing how the Bible’s message found familiar ground across cultures.
Hebrews 13:2 talks about the miraculous nature of Abraham’s encounter with God, yet Greek audiences might have recognized this idea through a story they already knew
The Odyssey.
Nolan’s adaptation shows how powerful and relatable the Bible principles can be for a contemporary audience.
Enough so to make it the singular reason for Odysseus’ cursed journey.
Biblical ideas are still affecting culture today, even through modern cinematic retellings of false gods.
“Scaife Viewer | Odyssey,” https://scaife.perseus.org/reader/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng3:17.485–487.
