We went to see Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey on Tuesday (11 August 2026). We were a little disappointed after the high praise from many film critics. My wife and I thought it was entertaining but a little shallow and my son, who has studied ancient history at university, gave it 5/10. Some critics have suggested that the film’s dialogue was too modern, but it didn’t bother me too much, except for Telemachus (Odysseus’s son) calling Penelope and Odysseus “Mom” and “Dad” just a little too far from Bronze Age Greek for me!
But ironically for all the Americanised English that Nolan puts into the mouths of Homer’s characters (even the British ones) it is not as much as Homer has put into our mouths from both The Odyssey and The Illiad (the book that describes the Trojan War).
An ODYSSEY is a long, eventful and life-changing journey. It comes directly from Odysseus’s ten-year journey home to Ithaca, after the Trojan War.
Why so long from Turkey to Greece? Because Odysseus and his men upset too many Gods ( particularly Poseidon)! Thus Homer attributes the slow progress as a result of being “on the knees of the Gods”. Chapman, the first English translator, renders this as “IN THE LAP OF THE GODS” meaning the gods control our fate.
Homer’s heroes in the Odyssey and Illiad
A MENTOR is a wise and trusted adviser. Mentor was the friend that Odysseus entrusted his son Telemachus to, before he left.
Achilles, the champion of the Greeks, was made invulnerable when his mother dipped in the River Styx. But she had to hold his heal and that was his weakness—his ACHILLES HEAL where he is mortally wounded by an arrow.
The Myrmidons were the warriors commanded by Achilles in the Iliad. A MYRMIDON is an unquestioning follower, particularly one prepared to carry out unpleasant orders (akin to a minion).
Hector was the great Trojan warrior of the Iliad (doesn’t make the film). A hector became a swaggering bully (a bit unfair to Hector who was quite noble). HECTORING meant to bully or intimidate.
Something HOMERIC is heroic, monumental or on an enormous scale. We can have a Homeric appetite for reading, for instance. The Greek “epos” meant word, speech or song. EPIC described the long heroic narrative poem that The Odyssey (and The Iliad) represent.
Odysseus in the film has been eating lotus leaves on the island with the beautiful nymph, Calypso, which causes him to forget about returning home. A LOTUS-EATER is someone devoted to pleasure and indolence.
Homer’s monsters in the Odyssey
The Odyssey has supplied us with quite a few monsters.
The Sirens were creatures whose irresistible singing lured sailors to their deaths. A SIREN is now someone (particularly female) who is dangerously alluring. It has also been given to the warning sound on emergency vehicles.
Perhaps the most famous “monster” in the Odyssey is the Cyclops Polyphemus, the one-eyed giant. He has given us CYCLOPEAN, meaning gigantic. Cyclopean masonry describes walls (e.g. at Mycenae, Agammemnon’s fortress) made from enormous stones, fitted closely together with little or no mortar. The Greeks believed that such walls could only have been built by giants.
Odysseus must sail between Scylla, a monster that lives on the edge of a narrow passage, and Charybdis, a deadly whirlpool. To be between SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS is to choose between two equally unpleasant options. The modern term is being between a rock and a hard place.
Speaking with the dead
Odysseus travels to the edge of the underworld, makes sacrifices and summons the dead so that he can consult the prophet Tiresias. This is necromancy.
Tantalus appears among the dead. Although not in the film, he is condemned to stand in water that retreats whenever he tries to drink and beneath fruit that moves beyond his reach whenever he tries to eat. To TANTALISE is to tempt someone with something that remains just out of reach.
Sisyphus also appears among the dead. He has been condemned to push a huge stone uphill, only to have it roll back down as he approaches the top. A SISYPHEAN TASK is one requiring continuous effort but may never be completed.
Homeric language
Although Nolan’s film has been criticised it is important that he tells the story. It will introduce Homer to a a new audience, will encourage them to read it and certainly they will appreciate its depth and language. And it will be delightful to have some of this rich metaphorical vocabulary back in the mainstream.