After being falsely accused of a crime and enslaved, his family and possessions are also taken away from him - leaving him with nothing. Much of the tale of Ben-Hur has to do with his journey toward revenge. The two men are depicted as having existed at the same time, both Jews in Roman-occupied Israel, and their lives mirror each other. It uses the fictional character of Judah Ben-Hur to work as an allegory for Jesus' life. So what is Jesus doing in the story?īen-Hur is considered a Christian novel, perhaps the most influential one of all time. And since it's a novel, that means the tale of Ben-Hur is 100 percent fiction, wholly created by Wallace.

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is an 1880 novel by American author Lew Wallace. So where did the story begin? In a book, actually. It was a remake of a 1925 silent film, which itself followed a 1907 silent short film. There's a 2003 animated version, featuring 1959 star Charlton Heston as the voice of Ben-Hur, but even Heston's classic mid-century version wasn't the original telling. The new version is actually the fifth film to tell the story of Ben-Hur. So where did this story come from? Is Ben-Hur a true story, or perhaps based on the Bible? Or, is it simply historical fiction? The movie raises some big questions. Oh, and Jesus also factors into the movie. The movie tells the tale of Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince from Jerusalem who is enslaved by the Romans after being betrayed by his adoptive brother Massala, a Roman officer. While obviously a reimagining of the 1959 classic film of the same name, its original roots are somewhat murkier.

At first glance, the new film Ben-Hur is a curious beast.

Ben hur novel