HeyJaredReal Nous
Exploring what Greco-Roman and medieval philosophy show us about how to how to live and how to understand reality.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 4
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- Aug 20, 2026
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- Jul 25, 2026
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Your Brain is Flabby: Hit the Mind Gym (opens the original)
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My Department of Philosophy is trying something new this semester to help our students focus their attention, build habit of thought, and foster genuine intellectual community. Here’s a version of the message I sent our majors and minors. I’d love to hear suggestions for refining the idea!The Problem: Focusing AttentionToday almost all of us have a problem with attention: focusing on what we care about or just holding onto basic concentration in the face of repeated distractions. <a href="https:
The Suffering Athena (opens the original)
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Spoiler Alert: Nolan’s Big Twist is a Christian ImageThe most striking depiction of the divine in Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey is entirely un-Greek. Zendaya’s suffering Athena, slain by the Greeks, is an image that only makes sense in light of the Hebrew and Christian tradition of thinking about the divine. The one case where the divine becomes personal to Odysseus is not through a god showing terrifying power or wondrous feats, but through seeing a human form sharing in suffering and showing the
The Morality of Christopher Nolan's Odyssey (opens the original)
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Treat People According to their Status: Xenia is Definitely Not the Golden RuleChristopher Nolan’s version of The Odyssey centers on “Zeus’s law,” a phrase uttered more often in the film than in any Greek text. This is Nolan’s paraphrase of xenia, the obligation of guest hospitality, guaranteed and defended by Ζεὺς Ξείνιος (Zeus of Hospitality or the Stranger). In the film, this obligation to act respectfully as a host or a guest is quickly reformulated by Penelope as the much broader “treat oth
The Real Historical Inaccuracy: Odysseus Becomes Aeneas (opens the original)
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The big “historical inaccuracy” in Nolan’s The Odyssey isn’t the skin tones of the actors or the American accents, but the character and moral values of Odysseus. Homer’s hero is a wily Greek trickster, in love with Penelope, but even more in love with his own renown and scheming. The only tricky thing about Nolan’s Odysseus is that he turns out to be the hero of a Roman epic. Pious Aeneas in disguise, he cares about restoring peace and order and preserving civilization.Other classicists such as
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