I knew the story of Troy — mainly because of that film with Brad Pitt looking suspiciously well-groomed for a man who had supposedly been fighting a war for ten years — but I didn’t really know much about The Odyssey. I hadn’t realised there were so many other stories surrounding Troy and what happened to everyone afterwards.

I always thought that, when I had enough time, I would read the original ancient texts. Then I discovered that The Odyssey is divided into 24 books and decided that watching the film might be a slightly faster way of getting the gist. 📚😅

And honestly, I’m glad I did, because the story was told in such an interesting way.

It was partly an adventure, partly a horror story and partly an exploration of what it means to be loyal — but not blindly loyal. It showed how loyalty can be admirable, but also destructive when it becomes an excuse to keep following someone who is making increasingly terrible decisions.

I didn’t expect to feel quite so physically disgusted by the Cyclops, Poseidon’s son. 👁️🤢 Nor did I expect Circe’s transformation scene to make me feel sick. There were no flashy special effects, but somehow that made it even worse. Your imagination filled in the details, which is rarely helpful when people are being transformed into animals.

I understood where Circe was coming from, though. She was a woman who had experienced the effects of cruel and dangerous men and had decided she was never going to take that risk again. Her solution was essentially to turn every suspicious man into an animal, which is perhaps a slightly extreme safeguarding policy, but you could see the logic.

She was also running away from her own family problems. She said that she and her sister got along much better when her sister was a crow.

Honestly, who hasn’t had a family gathering where that arrangement might have helped? 🐦‍⬛

One of the themes I hadn’t heard much about before was Zeus’s law of hospitality, known as xenia. Travellers and strangers were supposed to be welcomed, given food and shelter and treated with respect. In return, guests were expected not to abuse that generosity.

It made me realise how soldiers, sailors and travellers could survive such enormous journeys. They relied on the kindness of strangers. There were no Premier Inns, motorway services or Google Maps directing them towards the nearest Greggs. They survived because people opened their homes.

Hospitality wasn’t just considered polite. It was sacred.

I think ancient societies may have understood that obligation more strongly than we do now. We have gained so much — safety, infrastructure, transport, medicine and technology — but perhaps we have lost some of that instinct to welcome people simply because they need help.

You can still see glimpses of it in travel documentaries and blogs, particularly when people visit remote communities. Families invite complete strangers into their homes, feed them and offer them somewhere to sleep. They might not have much, but whatever they do have, they share.

It genuinely warms my heart to know that tradition is still alive somewhere. ❤️

Meanwhile, in much of the developed world, homelessness is often discussed as though it is an inconvenience or a problem to be removed rather than something happening to an actual human being. People without homes can become almost invisible. We walk past them, avoid eye contact and convince ourselves that their situation must somehow be entirely their own fault.

I know it is far more complicated than simply inviting every stranger into your spare room. There are issues involving mental health, addiction, safety and the failure of entire systems. But the story still made me wonder whether we have lost something important.

Perhaps Zeus’s law was never really about providing a perfect solution.

Perhaps it was simply a reminder that when another person arrives at your door hungry, exhausted and far from home, the first thing you should see is a human being.

Not a nuisance.

Not a threat.

Not somebody else’s problem.

Just a person who needs kindness. 🏺❤️