We’re Breaking Zeus’ Law

We moderns could learn a thing or two about hospitality from the Greeks. Penelope, by Francis Sydney Muschamp. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons) Turn any article into a podcast. Upgrade now to start listening. Members can share articles with friends & family to bypass the paywall. In Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is a man living through the end of the world. As he traces his looping path across the Mediterranean, he hears rumors of the mysterious, raiding people from the sea. Nolan frames these unseen barbarians as the externalization of the violent habits Odysseus and his men are carrying home from Troy. Leah Libresco Sargeant is a contributing writer at The Dispatch, and the author of ‘Building the Benedict Option’ and the Other Feminisms Substack. Her latest book, ‘The Dignity of Dependence,’ was published October 2025 by University of Notre Dame Press. More We Think You’d Like