We went to see the Odyssey - last night - a brilliant portrayal of Homers “the Odyssey” .
how brilliant was Homer, who wrote the The Iliad and The Odyssey almost 3,000 years ago about war, humanity and the journey home.
The lessons of The Iliad and The Odyssey are as relevant today as they have ever been.
They are stories about pride and anger. Tribalism and revenge. Victory and loss. Temptation and resilience. Loyalty and betrayal.
But ultimately, they are stories about what it means to be human.
The Iliad: When Pride and Anger Take Over
The Iliad teaches us how easily human beings can destroy one another through pride, anger, tribalism and revenge.
The Trojan War becomes a struggle for honour, reputation and victory.
Achilles, the greatest Greek warrior, is consumed by anger—first toward Agamemnon and eventually toward Hector.
When Achilles’ beloved companion Patroclus is killed by Hector, Achilles’ grief becomes rage.
He kills Hector and, still consumed by vengeance, ties Hector’s body behind his chariot and drags it before the walls of Troy.
Achilles has defeated his enemy.
But he has not defeated his anger.
And then something extraordinary happens.
Hector’s elderly father, King Priam, secretly enters the Greek camp and approaches the man who has killed his son.
Priam kneels before Achilles and begs him:
Give me back my son so that I can bury him.
And suddenly they are no longer simply Greek and Trojan.
They are no longer victor and vanquished.
They are two grieving human beings.
Priam asks Achilles to think of his own father.
And Achilles does.
The warrior who could not be defeated on the battlefield is finally reached through something more powerful than a sword:
Empathy.
They grieve together.
Achilles returns Hector’s body and allows the Trojans time to bury him with dignity.
It is one of the most powerful moments in ancient literature because it reminds us that even after terrible violence, we can still recognise the humanity of the person on the other side.
The Odyssey: The Long Journey Home
The Odyssey teaches a different lesson.
It teaches us how human beings find their way home through resilience, intelligence, loyalty and self-control.
Odysseus spends ten years fighting at Troy.
But winning the war doesn’t bring him peace.
It takes him another ten years to return home.
Twenty years away from his wife Penelope, his son Telemachus and his kingdom of Ithaca.
And during those twenty years, Odysseus experiences almost every dimension of human existence.
He witnesses war and death.
He sees Troy destroyed.
He loses companions.
He encounters the Cyclops and survives through intelligence and “impostor syndrome” acting like a sheep - rather than brute strength.
He faces Circe, the sorceress who transforms his men into pigs.
He sails past the Sirens, whose irresistible voices lure sailors toward destruction. Knowing his own weakness, he has himself tied to the mast so that temptation cannot overwhelm his judgement.
He encounters the Lotus-Eaters, whose lotus makes people forget their purpose and abandon their desire to return home.
He confronts monsters, storms and deadly waters.
And then there is Calypso.
She offers Odysseus comfort, pleasure—and even immortality.
But Odysseus still longs for home.
Because eventually he understands something profound:
Comfort is not the same as purpose.
The destination remains Ithaca.
The destination remains home.
The destination remains Penelope.
Winning the War Is Not the Same as Winning at Life
This may be the great connection between the two stories.
The Iliad is about what war can do to us.
The Odyssey is about what it takes to find ourselves again afterwards.
Odysseus leaves for Troy as a warrior.
Twenty years later, he returns having experienced victory, loss, temptation, fear, love, betrayal, loyalty, suffering and survival.
The journey has gone to the heart of who he is.
And when he finally reaches Ithaca, the journey is still not completely over.
His home has been occupied by suitors seeking to marry Penelope and take his place. Together with his son Telemachus, Odysseus must confront what awaits him before he can finally reclaim his home and reunite with Penelope.
The great warrior has finally come home.
But perhaps the greatest journey was not across the Mediterranean.
It was the journey within himself.
Strength. Wisdom. Compassion.
And perhaps these two ancient stories leave modern humanity with three extraordinary words:
Strength.
Wisdom.
Compassion.
Strength matters.
We need strength to protect ourselves, our families, our communities and the things we believe in.
But strength alone is not enough.
Because strength without wisdom can become aggression.
And wisdom without compassion can become cold calculation.
Achilles teaches us the limits of strength and revenge.
Odysseus teaches us the importance of intelligence, resilience and self-control.
Priam teaches us something perhaps even greater—the extraordinary power of recognising our shared humanity.
And so perhaps Homer’s lesson, nearly 3,000 years later, can be expressed simply:
Strength may help you defeat an enemy.
Wisdom may help you avoid creating one.
Compassion allows you to see the human being who remains when the battle is over.
That lesson is as relevant today as it was on the plains outside Troy.
It applies to business and leadership.
It applies to marriage, friendship and family.
It applies to politics and disagreement.
And perhaps most importantly, it applies to the conflicts that continue to divide peoples and nations.
Because The Iliad reminds us how quickly pride, anger, tribalism and revenge can consume us.
The Odyssey reminds us that finding our way back requires resilience, wisdom, loyalty and self-control.
And both remind us that after all the battles have been fought, there comes a moment when we must decide:
Do we continue fighting forever—or do we recognise the humanity in the person standing on the other side?