The Law of Zeus

The Odyssey is an epic film.  It recounts Homer’s 500 page poem that was written more than 2,700 years ago about events that occurred nearly a thousand years before that - at the end of the Bronze Age. A recurrent theme in both the poem and the film is the Law of Zeus, or xenia, which required hosts to welcome strangers into their homes and guests to respect the host’s home and property. Violating the law meant facing the direct wrath of Zeus.

Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism—indeed, all major religions--instruct us to provide hospitality to strangers.  In Matthew 25:35, Jesus tells us to give food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, and shelter to the stranger. 

The film reminds us that when this sacred law is broken, which has been echoed in all religions and passed down through thousands of generations over thousands of years, civilizations collapse.  The Bronze Age ended with a period of extreme war in the Mediterranean and Middle East, with societal breakdown, plummeting populations, the cessation of trade, and even the loss of literacy for centuries.

Surely, it is a warning for us today to do whatever we can individually and collectively to welcome the stranger and to respect the homes and property of others, wherever they may be.    

Holy One, let us remember your sacred laws and to work together to end our government’s unjust actions against the stranger and our destruction in other lands.  Amen 

Written by Judy B, who is proud that our Peace Church community welcomed the Garcia family, by helping them with food, drink, and shelter for more than a year!