‘The Odyssey’ reminds us of the nightmare we are leaving for American children

In Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey," the most uncomfortable scenes aren't the cyclops or the shipwreck. They're the ones set at home.

Dozens of men have moved into Odysseus's palace on Ithaca. They slaughter his herds. They drain his wine. They lounge in his hall demanding his wife choose one of them, and every day they consume a little more of an estate none of them will ever own. Telemachus watches it happen. He is a boy. He has no standing, no army and no idea when — or whether — his father is coming back.