A fleet. A war. A man. And Travis Scott, dressed as a bard. With this image, director Christopher Nolan launched into a three-hour retelling of Homer’s famous epic, The Odyssey. Released on July 17, Nolan’s $250 million adaptation of The Odyssey has drawn mixed responses on campus.
Unlike many modern films, The Odyssey was shot on 70mm IMAX cameras and was designed to emphasize the big-screen experience. Alejandro Martinez ’29 commented on his experience watching the movie in the full IMAX 70mm projection.
“Having had the amazing opportunity of watching the movie in a 70mm IMAX movie theater, I can explain the stunning visual and audio qualities this movie possesses. From the scenic water scenes to the dark environments of the Underworld, and the battlegrounds in Troy, the way the scenes came to life and the amount of effort put into each and every one of them is reflected by the dazzling imagery this film shares with its viewer,” said Martinez.
In an email to The Phillipian, Classics Department teacher Dr. Jael Hernandez-Vasquez shared his thoughts on the movie adaptation and the common misconception that an original, concrete version of The Odyssey exists.
“The movie deviated away from the Ancient Greek text that we have come to know as Homer’s ‘Odyssey.’ With that being said, we have to remember that even the Ancient Greek text was one version of the ‘Odyssey.’ Ancient Greek epic thrived in an oral tradition that was not written down for centuries, which means that we cannot call the Ancient Greek text that we have ‘the original.’ Epic tradition involves reworking and remaking the myths and epics to reflect the maker’s time and place (remember that the word poet comes from the Ancient Greek word for ‘maker’). With that in mind, I believe Christopher Nolan kept with the spirit of reworking and remaking the myths to reflect his own time and space,” wrote Hernandez-Vasquez.
As an adaptation, the film took some liberties with certain storylines. Ioanna Gianoukos ’29 shared a detail she noticed was left out while watching the movie.
“Coming from someone who’s Greek, I’ve known the story since I was very, very little, there are a lot of small things that are inaccurate. When Odysseus and his men are with the Cyclops in the cave, the Cyclops asks Odysseus what his name is after eating a couple of his men, to which Odysseus responds, ‘Nobody. My name is Nobody.’ After Odysseus and his men stab the Cyclops in the eye, he yells out into the distance, ‘Nobody stabbed me. Nobody stabbed me.’ The other Cyclopes think he’s lying, like the boy who cried wolf. After he boarded his ship, he shouted his real name back to the Cyclops, who is a son of Poseidon, who then prayed to his father to curse Odysseus, leading to the ten-year journey to get back home. Odysseus put his thirst for glory in front of the lives of his men, believing he would receive praise and adoration for making himself known. It upset me that they left out a significant part of the story just to make Odysseus seem heroic instead of the selfish person he truly was,” said Gianoukos.
Hernandez-Vasquez offered a more critical view of Nolan’s creative choices when creating this movie adaptation, pointing out missed opportunities and places for better execution.
“I would not use the word inaccurate, given, again, the fact that even the Ancient Greek text that we have was not an original. What I would say is that the most egregious mistake was Nolan not engaging with the metapoetic power of the ‘Odyssey.’ ‘The Odyssey’s’ main critique is that we should not get stuck with ‘old’ songs but strive to make newer songs. This is why I was so interested in Nolan’s casting of Travis Scott, a rapper, as Phemius (the bard hired to perform in Odysseus’ palace). Nolan had the opportunity to make a critique of the power and position of rap as the newest kind of song that has taken over our modern world’s ears. I was hugely disappointed when Travis Scott’s character did not rap. Instead, he merely stood on a table, banged his staff, and simply yelled words. The power of music, poetry, and song was hugely lost in an epic that completely upholds the metrical and rhythmic form to convey its epic content,” wrote Hernandez-Vasquez.
Despite the liberties the adaptation took, it remains a visually ambitious piece of cinema. Karla Safarikova ’27 affirmed that this was a movie worth three hours of one’s day.
“I would definitely recommend the movie. Despite its variations on some parts of the epic, I think it portrays it very well, and it drives home a point about war and betrayal that feels especially important right now. I would say that, despite liking the variations and changes they made in the movie, you do have to watch out for the fact that it’s not fully accurate to Homer’s original epic. While this is a movie based on it, it is not a movie specifically about the epic,” said Safarikova.
