Post by Dr. J. Bruce Stewart

The Hero We Imagine We don't see history as it was; we see the past as we've been shown. Have you ever noticed that some "historically inaccurate" portrayals spark outrage, while others have been accepted for centuries without question? When Christopher Nolan cast Lupita Nyong'o in The Odyssey, critics questioned whether she looked like Helen of Troy. Yet many of the same voices rarely question the familiar European image of Jesus—a depiction historians generally agree is unlikely to reflect his actual appearance. Why do some departures from history feel unacceptable while others become invisible? The answer has less to do with politics than psychology. My latest article explores how familiarity quietly becomes "truth" and why the stories we think we're defending may not be history at all. Read the full article below to dig deeper...