Homer Was the Homer of the Zulus

This article contains spoilers for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. In a different time, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey would have been celebrated by the American right as a conservative film. Nolan’s interpretation of Homer’s epic poem is about the unintended consequences of breaking with tradition in pursuit of short-term gain. Matt Damon’s wily Odysseus breaks the laws of war with the ruse of the Trojan horse that allows the Greeks to pillage Troy; Agamemnon, the leader of the expedition,…