Pop culture anecdote. I saw the Odyssey on opening night in Athens, Greece, where I was also watching the audience. No tomatoes were thrown, and they seemed emotionally implicated.
I also enjoyed it. The Odyssey is one of the first stories I can remember reading as a child. I built a model of their ship from balsa wood when I was ten years old. I quoted this book in my toast with the crew on arriving safely to the Mediterranean, after we navigated through wars, disease and storm.
Nolan is also one of the few big Hollywood directors that makes films worth seeing. Yes, there is some silly mis-casting: you don’t need to be a racist incel to think that the most famous woman of ancient Greece should probably look vaguely Mediterranean, fictional or not. And my imagination of Athena would be someone with more gravity and wisdom. Why didn’t they cast Lupita here!? she exudes grace and smarts, and gods could look from other lands or other worlds. But there are pleasant casting surprises- Travis Scott, whose music is commercial crap, makes for a powerful bard. And Mr American Everyman even pulls off Odysseus. This is a solid contemporary take on one of the world’s oldest stories, and I’m glad that its being retold.
That all for me and cities and pop culture. It was short-lived, because we’re already back out to sea. And the usual strange coincidences (Stars? Heavens? Gods?) have us navigating exactly the route of Odysseus this month- from the coastline of ancient Troy towards the island of Ithaca. Next stop Keflada island- with performance onshore and offshore this coming week.
Foto- Arka Kinari anchored at the temple of Poseidon. When it comes to survival at sea we hedge our bets and pay our respects.
