The power went out during a screening of The Odyssey, so an audience member stood up and finished telling the story herself
The Odyssey by Christopher Nolan has become a box office hit. Although social media continuously debates the movie’s historical accuracy, one moviegoer, believed by some to be a history teacher, stood up and gave a lecture about Agamemnon at one premiere at a Cinepolis branch during a power outage.
Neileya Jones (@aneilnamedleya) from Dallas, Texas, shared a post on TikTok. Midway through a screening of The Odyssey, power went out in the Cinepolis where she was watching. But shortly after, a woman, whom she assumed to be a history teacher, spoke up. She started talking about one of the film’s characters, Agamemnon.
“When he got home, his brother and wife killed him. And then his son Orestes avenged him—and his sister sought to get revenge on their mother, which is called matricide. And so, they set out to kill their mother,” the woman explained. In the video, the woman recalled Homer’s version of the story, where Queen Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, her lover, killed King Agamemnon with his mistress, Cassandra. It’s important to note that Aegisthus is not Agamemnon’s brother but his competitor for the throne of Mycenae.
But Clytemnestra was also motivated to kill her husband for the sake of avenging their daughter, Iphigenia, whom Agamemnon sacrificed to the goddess Artemis. He did it to appease the goddess and gain favorable winds for his fleet. In another version of the story, Clytemnestra killed Agamemnon alone, but for the same motive.
Later on, Orestes and Electra, the son and daughter of the slain king, avenged their father by committing matricide. However, the act of the siblings would later invoke the anger of the furies for murdering their mother. The goddesses were known to exact vengeance on those who had gone against the natural order.
The Odyssey film turned into an impromptu history class
Despite the power interruption, the theater was silent as the woman explained the literature tidbit. Someone in the video could even be seen clapping at the woman.
Jones’ post went viral on social media, with many commenters praising the woman for explaining the story. While the story is estimated to have existed for three millennia, not everyone is familiar with its details. Many people may have been watching Christopher Nolan’s work with fresh eyes.
One commenter, amused by the woman at the Cinepolis, wrote, “She’s been waiting for this moment her entire life.”
Someone else said, “I love how she locked in, and everyone in the theater is watching respectfully.”
Another person commented, “The people yearn for tales around a fire.” Other commenters called her a “bard” who had arrived just in time to entertain people while the power was out. But amidst all the praise for this woman, another commenter who claimed to be a former math teacher talked about their experience of teaching someone at an unexpected moment.
They wrote, “I had been working in a bar, and I overheard a young man talking to his parents about how much trouble he was having with square roots. That particular bar had chalk you could use on the wall, and I politely asked if he wanted some tips and tricks, and he said yes! I taught the table a lesson on square roots on the bar wall.” Once a teacher, always a teacher.
While the woman in the video isn’t confirmed to be a history teacher, she knew the story well enough to deliver a lecture about Agamemnon and his brutal fate.
(Featured images: Wikimedia Commons, Neileya Jones, Universal Pictures)
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