Wes Huff Predicts Christopher Nolan’s Moral Vision in ‘The Odyssey’ Will Be More Christian Than Homer’s

Huff continued, “If you watch the film I bet you’re going to see ethics play out equally as redesigned and anachronistic. Our ethical sensibilities are completely different today than in the late Bronze Age of Mycenaean Greece.”

Huff went on to list some of the actions of Odysseus in Homer’s “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” that are not likely to appear in Nolan’s film, including infanticide, the mutilation and torture of defeated enemies, and the enslavement and murder of women.

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“I mention these only because while these details may sound terrible to us, this was part of the heroism of the ancient world,” argued Huff. “Homer does not account for our modern sensibility and the reason for that is that our modern ethical assumptions have a very distinct biblical tone to them.”

Huff pointed out that Homer’s sense of morality was rooted in an understanding of the world that predated the cultural influence of Christian ideals—ideals that have so shaped western society that they have become assumed. 

“We can assume that tossing babies off of walls, killing unarmed civilians, raping and enslaving, torturing and dismembering, are things people ought not to do,” said Huff. “But we think this because of the last 2 thousand years of Christian ethics whispering in our ears. People of the past may have thought these acts heroic not horrific.”

“Take note with Nolan’s rendering of Homer,” said Huff. “How will it cast the narrative in the framework of 21st century AD values rather than 8/7th century BC ones?”

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For further understanding of how Christian ethics have shaped modern society, Huff recommended Glen Scrivener’s book “The Air We Breathe: How We All Came To Believe in Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality.” Others who commented below Huff’s post also recommended Tom Holland’s “Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World.”