Christopher Nolan’s long-awaited film adaptation of the Odyssey brings Homer’s epic back to the center of public attention. Yet one fundamental question remains surprisingly open: What is the Odyssey actually about?
A new essay by Eberhard Zangger, published today in The Ancient Near East Today, argues that the Odyssey is not primarily a tale of adventurous sea voyages but a profound reflection on memory, loss, and the collapse of the Bronze Age world.
The article focuses on one of the most enigmatic sections of the epic: Odysseus’ stay in Scheria, the land of the Phaeacians. Rather than interpreting Scheria as another geographical destination, Zangger proposes that it represents a deliberate literary flashback to the prosperous world that existed before the Trojan War. In this reading, Homer compels Odysseus to encounter once more the civilisation whose destruction he himself helped bring about through the stratagem of the Trojan Horse.
Instead of assuming that Plato simply borrowed Homer’s description, it suggests that both authors may have drawn on a common cultural memory of a flourishing Late Bronze Age civilization remembered after its collapse.
While that might seem a bit more esoteric than most might prefer, Nolan has his own spin on Homer’s classic tale.
Bringing a superb book to the big screen seldom works in translation (The Godfather and obvious exception), but Nolan makes no excuses that his movie is primarily an entertainment, and there it wins.
If you are looking for a Classic tale that might be told by Stephen Fry, prepare to be a tad underwhelmed. However if you seek escapist entertainment Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster version is a thrilling and very entertaining visual spectacle.
On now at Shoreline Cinema Waikanae: https://shorelinecinema.co.nz/movies/814/
