{"id":799426,"date":"2026-08-02T14:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T14:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/799426\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T14:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T14:36:13","slug":"jesus-vs-odysseus-the-debate-about-the-odyssey-thats-been-overlooked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/799426\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesus vs. Odysseus: The debate about \u2018The Odyssey\u2019 that\u2019s been overlooked"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n If you love \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d<\/a> and wish you could see a spinoff of this summer\u2019s most popular movie, Dennis MacDonald<\/a> has some good news for you.\n <\/p>\n

\n A remake of Homer\u2019s epic poem has already been written. Open a Bible and you can see how Homer, the blind poet and author of the ancient epic poem, has also shaped some of the most popular stories about Jesus in major sections of the New Testament, he says.\n <\/p>\n

\n Christopher Nolan\u2019s blockbuster has kicked off debates about geopolitics, a dark-skinned woman<\/a> as Helen of Troy and a trans actor<\/a> playing a Greek warrior. But MacDonald, a biblical scholar, is at the center of an overlooked debate about Homer\u2019s work that has been simmering for years.\n <\/p>\n

\n MacDonald and a small group<\/a> of other Bible experts claim the DNA of Homer\u2019s epic poems is scattered throughout the New Testament. Classic biblical stories such as Jesus walking on water and encountering a demonic man living among the tombs, and Paul being mistaken for a God after being shipwrecked, were inspired by The Odyssey and Homer\u2019s The Iliad, they say.\n <\/p>\n

\n The writers of these biblical tales weren\u2019t plagiarizing Homer, MacDonald says. He believes they were using mimesis<\/a>, a common literary device of their time, to inject Jesus \u201cwith narrative steroids to let him compete with the mythological heroes of the Greeks and Romans.\u201d The poem is nearly 3,000 years old, emerging centuries before the New Testament was canonized<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n They wanted to show that Jesus was the \u201cultimate superhero,\u201d MacDonald says.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe purpose of many of these stories is to show that Jesus is better than the likes of Achilles, the likes of Odysseus, the likes of Hermes, and so on,\u201d MacDonald tells CNN, citing famous figures from Greek mythology. \u201cNot only is Jesus better than Homeric heroes, he\u2019s smarter and more compassionate.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n MacDonald\u2019s views contradict how many biblical scholars have traditionally viewed the creation of the New Testament. While some scholars say Homer\u2019s influence can be gleaned in some passages, most experts believe the primary sources for the New Testament\u2019s epistles still come from Jewish scriptures and oral traditions \u2014 gathered from eyewitness accounts of Jesus\u2019 healings and parables and passed from one generation to the next.\n <\/p>\n

\n Still, MacDonald\u2019s claims matter in part because of two opposing movements. There\u2019s a national push to mandate the teaching of Bible in public schools and the posting of the Ten Commandments in public places. For some Christians in the US, the Bible is the result of divine inspiration \u2014 something they say is essential<\/a> to understanding what it means to be an American.\n <\/p>\n

\n But there\u2019s also a growing public awareness driven by scholars<\/a> that the New Testament was formed by what one expert calls<\/a> \u201cGod\u2019s ghostwriters.\u201d These scholars argue biblical stories were shaped by enslaved<\/a> people who composed the New Testament, the writers of \u201clost gospels<\/a>\u201d that never made the biblical canon, and even the crosscurrents of Stoic<\/a> and Platonic philosophy that circulated in the ancient world.\n <\/p>\n

\n The clash between these two movements revolves around questions people have been asking for centuries:\n <\/p>\n

\n Who composed the Bible? Was it God, or humans? Or maybe both?\n <\/p>\n

\n The scholars who claim Homer influenced the Bible aren\u2019t fringe figures. They have some history on their side.\n <\/p>\n

\n It would be difficult for the first writers of the New Testament to escape Homer\u2019s influence, some scholars say. Homer\u2019s epics were, according to biblical scholar Margaret M. Mitchell,<\/a> the \u201ctheological textbook and cultural standard in the Greco-Roman world.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Roman children memorized Homer in school. Enslaved people recited his poetry at posh parties thrown by their masters. Politicians quoted Homer, and homes were decorated with frescoes depicting Odysseus and other Homeric characters.\n <\/p>\n

\"Homer,<\/p>\n

\n Homer in his time was like what Shakespeare is for us today \u2014 inescapable even for those who haven\u2019t read him, one scholar says.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI will say to my students: Regardless of where you went to school, or how much schooling you\u2019ve had, usually you\u2019ve been exposed to Shakespeare one way or another,\u201d says Robyn Faith Walsh,<\/a> a scholar of early Christianity at the University of Miami.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cAnd even if you haven\u2019t read Shakespeare. You\u2019ve been exposed to some of those plot points,\u201d she tells CNN, citing the 1999 movie \u201c10 Things I Hate About You,\u201d based on Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cThe Taming of the Shrew.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Walsh says MacDonald\u2019s perspective on the New Testament is not unique among biblical scholars.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe idea of Jesus as something of a hero-type figure is not far off \u2014 anybody in the ancient world who was educated enough to write literature would have read Homer,\u201d she says.\n <\/p>\n

\n But some scholars differ with MacDonald about the extent of Homer\u2019s influence on the New Testament. MacDonald says you can see Homer\u2019s influence in three New Testament books: the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. But while Walsh says it\u2019s not unreasonable to believe Homer had some influence on characterizations of Jesus, she doesn\u2019t embrace the full scope and detail of MacDonald\u2019s comparisons. Another scholar, Robert Rabel<\/a>, accuses MacDonald of engaging in \u201canalytic overkill\u201d<\/a> and making \u201cfarfetched comparisons.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Early Christian authors wouldn\u2019t take the risk of linking Jesus to Odysseus, a character whose cunning, cruelty and deceitfulness were well known in the world of the first Christian church, says Mitchell,<\/a> a professor of early Christianity at the University of Chicago Divinity School.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cHomeric lore was everywhere in the ancient world, and early Christ-believers were hardly sealed off from that pervasive influence \u2026\u201d Mitchell tells CNN. \u201cBut the thesis that major parts of the New Testament depend upon literary borrowing, imitation and transvaluation of Homer is grossly overstated.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

How The Odyssey and Nolan\u2019s movie compare to the Bible<\/p>\n

\n If you\u2019ve read The Odyssey or watched the movie, you can be the judge. Open the New Testament and consider the evidence.\n <\/p>\n

\n Walsh cites one clear link between Homer and the stories of Jesus. The Odyssey and the Gospels share a plot device in which both Odysseus and Jesus behave like undercover agents. They concealed<\/a> their identity from even their closest loved ones.\n <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\n In the The Odyssey, Odysseus tells Cyclops, the monster he encounters in a cave, that his name is \u201cnobody.\u201d When he returns home to Ithaca, he disguises himself as a beggar and hides his identity from his wife, Penelope, and his most loyal servant, Eumaeus.\n <\/p>\n

\n Throughout the Gospels, Jesus initially conceals his identity as the Messiah from even his closest disciples. This concealment is called the \u201cmessianic secret<\/a>.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Even as Jesus performs miracles, he asks his disciples not to tell anyone, Walsh says.\n <\/p>\n

\n The heroes of both stories shielded their identity as a strategic decision to help them accomplish their mission: Odysseus to exact revenge on his wife\u2019s suitors, and Jesus to fulfill his mission, which would entail his sacrificial death, Walsh says.\n <\/p>\n

\n A reader of the Gospel of Mark, for example, would recognize Homer\u2019s echoes in Jesus\u2019 efforts to hide his identity, Walsh says.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThat\u2019s exactly how Odysseus is presented throughout Homer,\u201d she says. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t reveal who he is until he\u2019s ready to reveal who he is, and that\u2019s what the hero does. That is a huge example that the writer of the Gospel of Mark read Homer. He read The Odyssey and saw that the hero reveals himself, when he\u2019s ready.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

\n MacDonald points to another famous New Testament passage involving Paul, one of the founders of the early church.\n <\/p>\n

\n In a passage from the Book of Acts, Paul is shipwrecked while sailing for Rome. He survives by landing on an island where its inhabitants mistake him for a God after he survived being bitten by a viper.\n <\/p>\n

\n In The Odyssey, a bedraggled Odysseus is shipwrecked and washes ashore where he encounters a princess by the name of Nausicaa<\/a>. After Odysseus bathes to wash off the salt and dirt from the shipwreck, the princess wonders aloud if he is a God.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIn both cases, you have the person who comes out of a shipwreck to be interpreted as a deity,\u201d MacDonald says.\n <\/p>\n

\n MacDonald also points to other plot similarities between Homer\u2019s poem and the New Testament.\n <\/p>\n

\n In The Odyssey, Odysseus falls into a deep sleep on the deck of his ship when an emergency arises <\/a>at sea. That episode inspires a Gospel story where Jesus is asleep on a cushion in the stern of the boat during a furious storm.\n <\/p>\n

\n In another passage, Jesus walks on water. That story mimics the god Hermes, who flies over water in The Odyssey. And in one of the most touching scenes in the Gospel, Jesus is anointed with oil by a woman in Mark 13-14. That\u2019s similar <\/a>to the story of Odysseus\u2019 anointing by an old woman in Odyssey 19, MacDonald says.\n <\/p>\n

\n There\u2019s another comparison between Homer and the Bible that demonstrates parallels between Jesus and Odysseus while asserting Jesus\u2019 superiority, MacDonald says. It involves horror stories.\n <\/p>\n

\n In one chilling scene, Jesus encounters a demon-possessed man who lives in the caves, or tombs. When Jesus asks the man his name, he says \u201cMy name is Legion for we are many.\u201d The man is so physically strong that chains cannot contain him. It\u2019s one of the few scenes in the Bible where Jesus struggles to heal someone. But Jesus eventually heals the man and casts the demons into a herd of pigs, which tumble over a cliff and drown.\n <\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

\n Odysseus encounters two monsters, with different results. These scenes appear in both the epic poem and the film. He encounters Cyclops in a cave, and Circe, a powerful sorceress who lures Odysseus\u2019 men to disaster. Odysseus blinds the Cyclops and escapes Circe with the help of a magic herb, but not before losing some of his men.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cMark wanted his readers to note that Jesus was a better and more powerful hero than Homer\u2019s. Whereas Odysseus blinded a monster, Jesus made a monster sane,\u201d MacDonald writes in his book, \u201cMythologizing Jesus.\u201d \u201cJesus is a hero of compassion.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n MacDonald, whose father was a fundamentalist preacher, says he has been blackballed by some colleagues over his claims. He jokes that some of his critics suffer from \u201cHomerphobia\u201d\u2014 an excessive reaction to the notion that Homer exerts a heavy influence on portions of the New Testament.\n <\/p>\n

\n He says it\u2019s dangerous to claim the New Testament is the result of divine inspiration.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cOnce one claims revelations from God, arrogance and worse \u2013 social competition \u2013 are likely to ensue,\u201d he says. \u201cThe New Testament Gospels are sophisticated and creative writings by early Christian intellectuals who shaped Jesus and his teachings to meet the human challenges of their ancient readers.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n But what happens when you tell someone that the New Testament is a literary creation? There are people whose faith is built on an infallible Bible and who say their lives have been transformed by the belief that \u201call scripture is God-breathed.\u201d<\/a>\n <\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

\n Walsh, the University of Miami professor, has another perspective.\n <\/p>\n

\n She says it\u2019s important for people to remember that everything we know about the past comes through humans, and that people often struggle to interpret events and make meaning from profound experiences.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cRather than undermining faith, some readers find that acknowledging those human fingerprints makes the texts more interesting and, in some ways, more relatable,\u201d she says.\n <\/p>\n

\n The debate over Homer\u2019s epic poems is nothing new. According to historians, people in the ancient world argued over where Odysseus\u2019 journeys took him and whether his wife, Penelope, was faithful. Seneca, the Roman philosopher, argued that people kept getting<\/a> the message of Homer\u2019s epic poems wrong.\n <\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s been said that \u201cThe Odyssey\u2019s\u201d popularity proves<\/a> that people are willing to go the movies again. It also proves something else. We don\u2019t wear togas anymore or sail \u201cwine-dark\u201d seas filled with monsters, but human nature remains the same.\n <\/p>\n

\n Homer, the enigmatic poet, still provokes and inspires us all.\n <\/p>\n