The Odyssey: What’s Old is Made New Again

 Warning: Spoilers ahead for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey

The Odyssey is a truly beautiful film, and seeing it on the big screen was a true sensory experience. The use of sound was truly amazing, and I felt the seats shake many times! I was really struck by the movie’s true respect for the source material and its perfect combination of old and modern (for example, a Bard is often seen at the feasts and is played by a rapper!). Here are the themes that stood out the most to me:

Female roles: I’m calling it now, Anne Hathaway as Penelope and Lupita N'yongo as Helen of Troy will be winning all of the awards this year. Although Penelope is restricted to the role of dutiful wife in the original story, she is front and center in the movie. When Telemachus complains to her once again that Ithaca needs a king, she rightly lashes out. Why is her experience and knowledge that she used to serve Ithaca during Odysseus’s voyage seen as worthless because she’s female? A truly moving scene is when we’re introduced to Helen, whose face is scarred presumably by her violent husband in revenge. She hurriedly whispers to Telemachus to tell Penelope she was sorry that the war was started in her name. She also defends her sister Clytemnestra for killing her husband Agamemnon, who sacrificed their daughter to have the gods on his side of the war. Nolan approaches each character with nuance and sympathy.

Exile as redemptive: In the ancient world, exile was considered a punishment worse than death. Many Greek tragedies end with the hero (or anti-hero) exiled from his homeland and from heaven’s favor forever. Nolan, however, turns that trope on its head. Before the beginning of the war, Odysseus wants to self-exile himself and his family to escape from Agamemnon’s rage. The fear that Telemachus would be sacrificed stops him. When Odysseus reveals himself at the movie’s end, he and Penelope board a boat together and leave Ithaca. Odysseus also recognizes the need to properly mourn his dead and give thanks to the gods. But there is one aspect of this that stuck out at me the most-Telemachus is named king but his parents did not broker a marriage for him before leaving! No self-respecting ancient Greek family would completely disregard their children’s future by not having some spousal options up their sleeves.  

Historical Sketch: Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy

    We're getting close to July 14th, otherwise known as Bastille Day! This is one of my favorite days of the year. As a Francophile, I'm fascinated by one of the most significant dates in French history. It's arguably the beginning of the French Revolution which changed European history forever, It's also my wedding anniversary! My husband knew what he was getting into when he married a historian :)

    Today's historical sketch takes place on the eve of the French Revolution in 1786, about three years before the fall of the Bastille. The Diamond Necklace Affair was a scandal that further damaged Marie Antoinette's reputation (even though she was innocent of the entire thing!). It came to symbolize the monarchy's decadence at a time when France's poor was starving. Today we'll focus on the woman at the heart of the Affair, Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy. Here is what history remembers of her:

-Descended from an illegitimate son of Henry II, she was born into poverty until her marriage to the Comte de la Motte

-A convincing con artist, she told the Cardinal de Rohan that she was a close friend of Marie Antoinette

-The Cardinal wanted to get in the Queen's good graces, and lucky for him Jeanne knew just the way. All he had to do was guarantee the purchase of a 2,000 carat diamond necklace!

-Of course Marie Antoinette knew nothing about Jeanne or the necklace, but she was known to the public as liking expensive things (hence the nickname Madame Deficit)

-Once she had the necklace in her possession, Jeanne and her husband separated the diamonds and tried to sell them. Things unraveled when the jewelers demanded payment for the necklace from the Queen while the Cardinal pretended to check his couch cushions for change

-At the end of the trial, the Queen's reputation was destroyed, the Cardinal was acquitted, and Jeanne was condemned to life imprisonment and branding

-Jeanne managed to escape to London and published her memoirs Memoires Justificatifs de La Comtesse de Valois de La Motte. It placed the blame all on Marie Antoinette

-Jeanne died in 1791 after falling out her window to escape debt collectors