The inward ‘Odyssey’
Photograph by Ichsan Chairul via Unsplash
Rev. Jerrod H. Hugenot
This summer, moviegoers worldwide have favored Christopher Nolan’s film adaptation of “The Odyssey.” Based on Homer’s epic poem, the film retells the arduous journey home of Odysseus, who left many years ago to fight in the Trojan War. Filmmaker Nolan adapts the worldbuilding of Homer’s source material with some controversy (see particularly the response of noted translator Emily Wilson).
The time between Odysseus’ departure and his eventual arrival home has been costly. His young son Telemachus is now a young man, missing so many of those milestones a parent marks as a child grows up. A group of suitors surround Odysseus’ wife and his throne, hoping to take over the kingdom, regardless of how Odysseus’ household might feel about the matter.
Nolan casts some actors familiar from his earlier films, placing Matt Damon in the title role of the journeying king. Nolan depicts Odysseus as the war hero who spends his time after Troy’s fall on a journey that takes the long way around, pitting his ever-diminishing group of soldiers and ships against the gale forces of nature and those that lurk in the sea and on the shores, which they frequently regret discovering.
In “The Odyssey,” we see characters struggling with adversity, wondering much like the generations yet to come, how they came to be in such chaos. They yearn for safe harbors and stability. Instead, their dreams crumble as the loss mounts, and the regrets, like the blood, flow much too freely.
I marveled at the skill of Nolan’s cinematography and his steadfast reliance on deeply immersive practical effects. The storms rock the boats, and you feel the queasy uncertainty of the sailors frantically trying to stay alive.
Nolan casts a critical eye on the impact of war, with his filmmaking informed by the trauma and PTSD carried by many who serve in combat. The privation of a decade pinned down on the shore before the famous final gambit of hiding warriors in a wooden horse for the Trojans to take back into their fortified city is just the cusp of the terrors that await.
As the film unfolds, you do not see Odysseus the hero soldier. More likely, you will see a man caught up in a chaotic world where increasingly less makes sense to him. The external battles deepen his regrets, where his soul’s wounds keep him from any ease during this long journey home.
Only when Odysseus begins to bear the moral weight of his victory in Troy does he start to make sense of his inner turmoil.
Only when Odysseus begins to bear the moral weight of his victory in Troy does he start to make sense of his inner turmoil.
Only when lashed to the mast as the only one who can hear the sirens or coming face to face with the shades of the soldiers he has lost in battle does he start a turn toward something within himself more able to reflect on the real toll of his Trojan war experiences.
The road back home is perilous, yet the journey within Odysseus is more arduous still. He feels little good has come of his battle, seeing the body count more clearly than the victory of a burning and sacked enemy city.
The film shows Odysseus eventually back home and restored to his family. Yet he chooses to step aside and leave for unknown shores once more with his wife at his side and his son now ruling the land. One could say the Odysseus who left for Troy never quite came home, despite his life seeming to be restored.
Nolan crafts a story that reflects the times at hand. We live with much uncertainty today, and our leaders (elected and otherwise) seem ill-equipped to provide the stability and prosperity upon which they center their campaign rhetoric and endless spin.
Do we need war and conflict to give us meaning? Is our safety ever resolved by creating an enemy we think better destroyed or defeated?
Rev. Jerrod H. Hugenot serves as executive minister for the American Baptist Churches of New York State.
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of American Baptist Home Mission Societies.
Get early access to the newest stories from Christian Citizen writers, receive contextual stories which support Christian Citizen content from the world’s top publications and join a community sharing the latest in justice, mercy and faith.