Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
The Odyssey movie is brilliant. The combination of spectacle and seriousness that characterises Christopher Nolan’s film-making makes this one a must-see. I can wholeheartedly recommend it.
However, this telling is Nolan's telling. The opening title reads: “A time of apparent magic”, which is a clear signal. Throughout a psychological option is offered for the presence of gods, sorcery and monsters and, quite explicitly, a moral imperative provides coherence to the meandering story.
There are also, inevitably, elements from Homer’s original that are absent in the cinema epic and that gives me an entrée.
I discussion the significance of love, which matters because it is such a key part of the question of how, like them, we humans might live close to the gods.
I think about the significance of the blinding of Polyphemus, which is a dark awakening: human craftiness need no longer be tied to spiritual craft.
I recall the striking appearance of the Cave of the Nymphs on Ithaca, and the Neoplatonic understanding of its significance.
And then there’s the violence, which so much exceeds a moral response, as if hospitality, politeness and decency were enough.
Christianity has a different response, and the brilliance of Homer’s tale is implicit in that emergence.
For more on A Secret History of Christianity - markvernon.com/books/a-secret-history-of-christianity
The Odyssey movie is brilliant. The combination of spectacle and seriousness that characterises Christopher Nolan’s film-making makes this one a must-see. I can wholeheartedly recommend it.
However, this telling is Nolan's telling. The opening title reads: “A time of apparent magic”, which is a clear signal. Throughout a psychological option is offered for the presence of gods, sorcery and monsters and, quite explicitly, a moral imperative provides coherence to the meandering story.
There are also, inevitably, elements from Homer’s original that are absent in the cinema epic and that gives me an entrée.
I discussion the significance of love, which matters because it is such a key part of the question of how, like them, we humans might live close to the gods.
I think about the significance of the blinding of Polyphemus, which is a dark awakening: human craftiness need no longer be tied to spiritual craft.
I recall the striking appearance of the Cave of the Nymphs on Ithaca, and the Neoplatonic understanding of its significance.
And then there’s the violence, which so much exceeds a moral response, as if hospitality, politeness and decency were enough.
Christianity has a different response, and the brilliance of Homer’s tale is implicit in that emergence.
For more on A Secret History of Christianity - markvernon.com/books/a-secret-history-of-christianity
