The Odyssey and Fragile Human Bonds
I watched Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey yesterday . It kept me engrossed because of my curious interest in Greek mythology and its characters. I was familiar with most of the names and some of their deeds. Watching the movie gave me clearer notions about them. The conclusion kept me totally hooked. “We’ve broken the fragile bonds between men,” Odysseus tells Penelope towards the end. Throughout the movie, “the laws of Zeus” find mention like a motif. The conclusion makes it perfectly clear that Zeus’ laws are not any written legal code but the divinely sanctioned moral order that governs how human beings should behave towards one another including strangers. I was instinctively reminded of the classical Indian injunction: Atithi Devo Bhava – Treat your guest as God. A stranger is welcomed before being questioned in the tradition of Zeus. Food, drink, and shelter had to be offered. The guest had to be treated with respect and given a parting gift. India had a similar traditi...
