In the early part of 2026,I read online that the movie director Christopher Nolan was involved in making "The Odyssey" based on the Greek poet Homer's poem. As https://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.com/2004/01/a-beautiful-book-fellowship-of-ring.html and https://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.com/2017/03/my-review-of-name-of-rose-by-umberto-eco.html discuss, I have read books after watching the movies. This time, I was determined not to let that happen. I read Homer's "The Odyssey" first, during my commute to work and back!
On a Saturday, my wife's brother, my wife and I watched the movie in IMAX format. It was a visual and aural treat! During battle scenes and scenes with people, the sound effect was such that our seats reverberated at the sound. It sent my heart racing.
This blog post talks about both, the book and the movie.
The book I read was a translation of the poem in prose form. In the book, the hero is Ulysses; in the movie the hero is called Odysseus. The Greek name is Odysseus, which changed to Ulysses in the Latin variant of the poem. It is worth remembering that the Roman civilisation emerged 2000 years after the decline of the Greek empire. https://theulyssesuniverse.com/blog/ulysses-vs-odysseus-same-hero-two-names describes the origin and its transformation.
"The Odyssey" is primarily the tale of the challenges that a hero faces while getting home after a long war campaign. The challenges include curses of Gods and facing monsters. The yearning for home is seen in this story.
"To a person with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.", is a true adage. I have always looked for parallels between cultures and stories! I wrote about how Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy of books resembles Bheeshma in https://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.com/2006/01/my-comments-on-lord-of-rings-trilogy.html. In other cases also, I have written about similarities across cultures. It was very easy for me to search for parallels to "The Odyssey".
Odysseus' son Telemachus conducts a test in the skill of archery where the archers have to string his father's bow and shoot the arrow through axes. In the movie, two axes are placed across each other forming a V shape. There is a row of six such pairs. The archers, suitors for Odysseus' wife Penelope have to shoot the arrow through the six Vs. In the book, it is said that the suitors have to shoot through the handle holes of twelve axes. Odysseus disguised as a beggar watches until all suitors fail and then completes the test!
Doesn't this ring a bell, if you know Hindu mythology?! As narrated in https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-ramayana-of-valmiki/d/doc424185.html, the story is that to give his friend Lord Sugreeva confidence regarding his archery skill, the God Rama shoots an arrow through seven sal trees. Isn't that similar to Odysseus' feat?
I find one more similarity in this incident. When Odysseus requests his chance to participate in the contest, the remaining suitors are upset and angry. Their primary objection is about the fact that a beggar has offered to test himself where kings are the other contestants.
In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, there is a similar incident. Arjuna, the foremost archer among the Pandava brothers is disguised as a Brahmin, an upper caste person. In the wedding contest ("swayamvara") for the princess Draupadi's hand, after the other contestants fail to string a bow, Arjuna steps up. Here too, there is an objection that someone outside the warrior caste ("kshatriya") has dared to contest! I find it similar to Odysseus' plea to the suitors to give him a chance.
Additionally, here is one more parallel with the Ramayana. In https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabandha, the demon Kabandha who Rama faces is described as someone with one eye and no head. One of the monsters that Odysseus encounters is Polyphemus, a member of the Cyclopean clan. The popular description of the Cyclopes people is that they have only one eye! Again, this is somewhat similar to Kabandha.
It is important to understand the context of the story. https://historycooperative.org/ancient-civilizations/ describes the timelines of civilisations. The Egyptian civilisation began at around 3000 BCE (Before Common Era). The ancient Egyptian civilisation worshipped many Gods.
I listen to a podcast on history called "Empire", hosted by William Dalrymple and Anita Anand, enjoying the insight I get into people and places and times. In one of its episodes, it was mentioned how there were a plethora of Gods in Egypt. There was one even for the hinges of the doors! The explanation provided was that the ancient Egyptians believed in reincarnation. If the soul had to enter or exit a tomb, the door had better be good! Even more important, the hinge of the door had to function! It is no wonder that there was a God for the hinges! The podcast is available at https://open.spotify.com/episode/4MPt091ir2EqGSmxoYy6dB. for listening.
Over time, Gods, myths and legends were transferred transferred and adapted from one place and time to another. Odysseus of Greece became Ulysses in Rome; Athena the Greek Goddess of wisdom became Minerva in the Roman civilisation. Over centuries, the civilisations learned and influenced each other.
The starting point was trade. Gold and copper from abroad found its way to Greece nd in turn Greece exported pottery and olives. When trade was done, languages had to be learned and ideas of Gods were exchanged too. Marriages and weddings must have helped in cementing ties between two different cultures.
The Ramayana is said to have been at written around 300 BCE. The Greek civilisation is supposed to have begun at 1000 BCE or so. In my mind, it is quite likely that myths and legends like Odysseus' skill in archery would have moved across time and space. This is probably one reason why there is some similarity across cultures and religions. "The Odysseus" could be the inspiration for incidents discussed in Hindu mythology.
Odysseus' journey from Troy to his home in Ithaca is an engrossing tale. In Troy, he leads his forces to victory by hiding in a giant horse along with a few other soldiers. The horse is offered to the people of Troy, who take it as a tribute to Athena. In the night, Odysseus and his comrades emerge from the belly of the giant horse, slay the guards at the castle door, allowing the king Agamemnon and his soldiers to storm the city. In the movie, Nolan brings out the feeling of suspense over the success of this ploy nicely when Odysseus and the soldiers are in the belly of the horse.
The story of this audacious idea of the Trojan horse is sung by bards, all across the kingdoms in Greece. In the book "The Odyssey", Troy is described briefly. It is the subject of another poem "Iliad". Nolan has introduced it in the movie to provide the context behind Odysseus' long journey home.
Once the journey begins, the mistake that Odysseus makes is to blind the Cyclopean Polyphemus and then, to add insult to injury, he wounds Polyphemus while escaping from the island. In an act of rage and pride, he shouts out his name. Polyphemus hears it and recognises the name that a prophet had foretold would blind him. Polyphemus prays and pleads with his father Poseidon to punish Odysseus.
This is the primary reason why Odysseus' journey home is full of obstacles and challenges. One of his next challenges is the island of Circe. In the book, it is Hermes (or Mercury in the Roman tradition) who warns Odysseus about Circe's sorcery. Circe transforms Odysseus' soldiers into pigs, using drugged wine. Forewarned, Odysseus resists the effects of the drug and asks Circe to return the soldiers. She does so, in both the book and the movie. The transformation of Odysseus' soldiers to pigs is shown graphically in the movie. In the book, there is just a brief mention of the drugged wine.
Circe asks Odysseus to go to the Hades. Odysseus does so and meets a prophet who tells him about events that would happen. In Hades,Odysseus meets many associates including his king. Odysseus' king Agamemnon was killed by his queen and her lover. His advice to Odysseus is to disguise himself while entering Ithaca.
The book narrates many more stories of people in the Hades. The word "tantalising" is derived from Tantalus. The story of Tantalus is narrated by Odysseus while recounting his adventure in Hades. All such incidental tales are missing in the movie, for obvious reasons: the movie is a long one already, for an English movie.
Odysseus encounters the sirens next. Circe warns Odysseus that the lure of the sirens' songs tempts nen into swimming to meet them. She advises him to put wax into the ears of his crew members. If they hear the song, they would swim to the island to meet the sirens. There, they would be killed by the sirens. Circe expresses her confidence that if Odysseus is tied to the mast he would be strong enough to withstand the temptation - and so it proves. The book states that the sirens tempt Odysseus by saying that they would tell him his future. Tied to the mast, Odysseus resists the call of the sirens. Since Odysseus is the only one who hears the sirens, his crew is curious about the sirens' songs. Odysseus is vague in his reply. In the movie, the spell cast by the music is downplayed, in my opinion. The vicious singing mermaids in "The Pirates of the Caribbean" were more deadly, if you ask me!
Scylla is a monster who devours six sailors. Charybdis is a whirlpool that destroys ships. Odysseus' ships would pass between them. An agonising choice awaits Odysseus: knowingly sacrifice six of his soldiers or risk the chance that all may die. He opts for the known devil: six of his team members lose their lives to Scylla.
Odysseus faces more challenges. He and his crew land on an island of giants. Defeated in the battle with them, the survivors flee. Then he and his crew are marooned on an island populated with Apollo's cows. Driven by hunger, Odysseus' crew slay some of the cows. They seem to get a favourable wind, but it is not so. Once they set sail, a violent thunderstorm ensues destroying all ships and crew members. The vastness of the sea with Odysseus' ship in its midst brought out the insignificance of humanity against the vagaries of nature (or God, in this case!) when seen on the IMAX screen. It made for compelling viewing.
Odysseus is the only survivor, rescued by Calypso. In the movie, Odysseus consumes lotuses that dull his memories, like an opiate. In the book, it is suggested that Calypso keeps him marooned on her island. Nolan shows Calypso urging Odysseus to remember his past, which he does, reducing the quantity of lotus eating gradually until he remembers everything. This gives an opportunity to go into flashback and narrate his adventures. In the book, it is the Gods who decide that Odysseus has suffered enough and can reach his homeland. He always remembers his adventures, his wife Penelope and his home Ithaca.
He lands among friends and eventually reaches Ithaca. His son Telemachus and a few faithful members support him. His wife Penelope arranges the archery contest for her suitors, an idea suggested by Odysseus in disguise as the beggar. Telemachus ensures that the suitors are locked in the room during the contest. Odysseus teams up with his supporters and kills the evil suitors.
In both the book and the movie, Odysseus goes abroad to pay the last respects to all departed souls. There are some important differences: in the book, Telemachus is somebody who actively partners Odysseus in his fight. In the movie, Odysseus asks Telemachus not to slay anybody so that he can rule the kingdom, untainted by the sin of slaughter. In the book, it is suggested that Telemachus is capable of stringing Odysseus' bow but receives a signal from Odysseus not to do so. In the movie, it is shown twice that Telemachus is simply too young to string the bow.
The performances in the movie are good, whether it is Matt Damon as Odysseus, Tom Holland as Telemachus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope or Zendaya as Athena. The hallmark of the movie is in the direction of Christopher Nolan and the narrative. Like Avatar or Interstellar, this is a movie made to be enjoyed in the big screen.
In the book, it is the Gods who are the driving force. This is significantly downplayed in the movie. One controversial point has been the depiction of a black Helen. Is that wrong or improper? I don't think so. Every person who builds on a previous story is entitled to his/ her interpretation. To me, such changes in the movie are only the artist's poetic license at work. I am quite OK with what Nolan has shown in the movie.
To me, the most important point in the movie was the conversation between Odysseus and Penelope when he is disguised as a beggar. He tells her that he fought with Odysseus and was in the belly of the Trojan horse with him.
As was the practice in the time, a gift was a means of establishing trust among strangers. By using the Trojan horse for invading and eventually destroying Troy, Odysseus committed a massive betrayal of this protocol! Even today there is the adage that we should be wary of people bringing expensive gifts! What a powerful idea Nolan has expressed: the Trojan horse was not just a clever idea, it was also the betrayal of an honoured protocol!
The trials Odysseus faces are considered like a punishment for the deception and the betrayal of trust. I was just bowled over by this interpretation of Odysseus' journey.
A question that I got after watching the movie was: "Which was better? The book Or the movie?" For "The Lord of the Rings" my answer would be "The books". For "The Odyssey", I sit on the fence.
The poem/ book is far more richer when it comes to characters and stories. The movie does not capture everything detailed in the book. The role of the Gods is pronounced in the book. How Odysseus triumphs thanks to divine assistance is something that is downplayed in the movie - and to me, it is appropriate.
There are many stories inspired by "The Odyssey". To me, "Star Trek: Voyager", the sci-fi TV series is a pale reflection of "The Odyssey". My blog post https://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.com/2003/05/star-trek-voyager-climax.html discusses about the series. It is interesting to see how a poem written about a warrior making his way home, written thousands of years ago inspires a sci-fi series set hundreds of years in the future! How is that for timeless appeal?!
The movie has its merits. The performance of the actors, the awesome grandeur in a few scenes, the direction and above all, the adaptation to current times and ideals make it an experience.
So, here is my overall recommendation: do watch the movie, but read the book too!
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