Despite living approximately 750 years before the birth of Jesus, Homer’s “Odyssey” continues to resonate with audiences today. Only a handful of stories in the Western canon can claim to have this sort of universality and longevity. The other story that is certainly comparable to, and even surpasses the “Odyssey,” is the one told in the New Testament Gospels. Both stories tap into the deepest realities of human nature, as well as humanity’s deepest desire: transformation and coming home.
Recognizing the connections between mythology and the Gospels has been a practice since the beginning of Christianity. While the most popular shadows of Christ are recognized in the Bible’s Old Testament through a concept called typology, there are others who see “seeds of truth” in stories outside of God’s revelation.
In her book, “Intimations of Christianity among the Ancient Greeks,” philosopher Simone Weil argues that many ancient Greek myths illustrate the cycles of sin that humanity creates and perpetuates. This first step of the Gospel, recognized in the Christian tradition as original sin, points toward the need for sacrifice to break those cycles, which Weil recognizes in the characters of Aeschylus’ Eteocles and Sophocles’ Antigone.
While the common misconception of religion is considered as humanity’s search for God, Christianity considers itself unique in that it is God’s search for man. Far from denying the uniqueness of Christianity, Weil distinguishes the point that one can find in the pre-Christian myths a hint, a shadow, or a seed, of this pursuit in the beauty that God places in reality. While we are the ones who seek and find this beauty, by putting it there first, God was the primary cause, ergo the first pursuant of this phenomenon. It is this idea of pursuit and return that the "Odyssey" captures so profoundly.
Homer's "Odyssey" follows Odysseus as he seeks to journey home to his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, neither of whom he has seen since he left to fight in the Trojan War (recounted by Homer in his other famous poem, “The Iliad”). Facing obstacles both internal and external, suffering tragic loss, and becoming, to all appearances, a completely different person to all who knew him, Odysseus returns to his home to reclaim his kingdom and his family.
The story has provided some of the most evocative images and metaphors in philosophy, psychology, and literature including the allure of comfort as depicted in the lotus flower, the virtues of wit and wiles in warfare in the escape of the Cyclops, and the temptation to forbidden knowledge as shown in Odysseus’ pass through the land of the sirens. These trials that Odysseus encounters represent the temptations that keep us from fulfilling the purpose to which we are each called. Ultimately, these challenges require self-sacrifice from Odysseus born out of love for his crew, his homeland, and his family.
The Gospels call us to a similar fulfillment of purpose that can only be found in acts of sacrificial love for God and others. However, there is more than simply a moral call to service that brings these two fundamental stories together.
Mythologist Joseph Campbell saw the Hero’s Journey in both Homer's “Odyssey” and the Gospels, a concept which argues that virtually every story in human history follows a similar pattern and formula whose main three features are the “departure,” the “initiation,” and the “return.” The many trials of Odysseus in his voyage prepare him for his reveal as a changed person to fight with the suitors who tried to take his wife and property. The many monsters and storms he encountered along the way were merely preparations for his most important battle – the one for his home.
In the Gospels, this departure, initiation, and return pattern is seen through Jesus. As Christian theology historically teaches, Jesus is the second Person of the Trinity who came down from Heaven to incarnate human nature and live life on earth (departure). During this time on earth, Jesus experienced trials, temptations, and suffering, culminating in his death on the Cross (initiation). Finally, upon his resurrection from the dead, Jesus ascended into Heaven, returning to where he had come, transforming and elevating human nature in the process (return).
Ultimately, Homer's "Odyssey" is compelling story because Odysseus completes a similar transformation, allowing him to enjoy the treasure at the end of the story. What gives the story a transcendent value is that it teaches us to value the personal growth and love of family as the “boon” that the hero seeks.
Plato’s “Republic,” another piece of ancient Greek wisdom that many Christians saw as pointing toward the Gospel, indicates that various forms of education should “end in considerations of love of the beautiful." Homer's "Odyssey" shows clearly and powerfully something beautiful and worthy of love, and that the love of this worthy and beautiful good helps one overcome any obstacle. This love is imitated in the sacrifice of Christ, which overcame the greatest obstacle – death, for our sake.
Mike Schramm is a husband and father of seven children. He teaches theology and philosophy at Aquinas High School and Viterbo University. You can find his writing at Busted Halo, Mere Orthodoxy, and the Voyage Comics Blog. He is also the managing editor of the Voyage Compass, an imprint of Voyage Comics and Publishing.
This culture article was made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal, a project of 1819 News. To comment on this article, please email [email protected].
