Thursday, July 23, 2026
Tell me — O, Muse, daughter of Zeus — of that complicated man, the man of twists and turns driven time and again off course, how his trick destroyed the holy city of Troy and how he returned to his wife and son.
While we await her divine response, there are plenty of others who have already jumped in the fray and commented on the new film, “The Odyssey,” by Christopher Nolan. Yes, the torrent of words and images is too much, swirling like Charybdis — and that includes the actors of the movie chatting, post-production, about their experiences.
Nolan’s “The Odyssey” cost $250 million to produce, with an additional $125 million for marketing. It grossed over $264 million globally during its opening weekend. And, of course, it is a cinematic masterpiece.
Viewed at the AMC Georgetown 14 on K Street (IMAX with Laser), my fellow movie-goer, who was casually familiar with the story, found the experience immersive, loud and often reminding you that we were at sea — the wine-dark sea, I might add. Despite its flashbacks and stories in stories, the movie told the tale well. The almost 3-hour film moved along briskly.
Nolan’s version of Homer’s tale loosely hews to the original — spoiler alert — with omissions like Odysseus’s father Laertes, Princess Nausicaa and the Phaeacians and the addition of another journey to the West.
The story of the hero Odysseus is so rich and many-sided that it has held the attention of listeners, readers and, now, viewers for millennia.
With connections to other Nolan films, the principal actors of this new “Odyssey” pushed the action and pulled at the heart when their characters demanded it. They made it personal.
Who did not fall for Penelope (Anne Hathaway) with her anxious, stoic yet regal face? Who did not gulp when Telemachus (Tom Holland) realizes that the beggar is his father Odysseus? Who did not shake their head along with Athena (Zendaya) when she appears to that liar and pillager of cities, Odysseus? Who did not pity the lovelorn Calypso (Charlize Theron)? Who did not feel the bitterness of Helen Troy (Lupita Nyong’o) at the banquet with her husband Menelaus (Jon Bernthal), King of Sparta? Who did not hold their breath as the city of Troy was burning down to the ground? Who did not shudder when all of Odysseus’s crew was all killed, one by one, or in a handful?
Most of all, who did not wish to look away from or applaud the world-weary/war-weary Odysseus (Matt Damon)? A glorious warrior or guilt ridden veteran?
In his version, Nolan stresses that Bronze Age is ending — the age where the story takes place — with the violations of Zeus’s law. The law, known as xenia, dictates that the stranger be taken care of but also that the guest not abuse the host. The additional warning is that your guest might be a god in disguise. This law is spoken of several times throughout the film. It explains the situation of the suitors at Queen Penelope’s palace.
Why do I, do we care about these fictional persons from thousand years ago?
It was instructive to go back to school — and speak with Alexander Sens, Professor of Hellenic Studies at Georgetown University.
So, why does this ancient poem continue to captivate audiences and writers through the millennia? Because it illustrates what it means to be human and mortal, observes Sens. “Odysseus loses his identity,” he said. “The real threat of the poem is that Odysseus will become invisible and will not be remembered, and it emphasizes that we live on in the stories people tell about us.”
In an interview after seeing the film, Sens told The Georgetowner. “In the post-Homeric tradition, what Nolan is doing, I think, is engaging with the ethical challenge of what it means to be a Greek hero. He’s picked a particular theme, the theme of hospitality and guest, and he’s acknowledging what is the central problem in the poem to focus on the sort of the journey to the West. The exile, right?”
Sens also touched upon the idea of what’s in the best interest of the failing community of Ithaca — “For Penelope just to get on with it and marry somebody.”
In the book, it takes Athena to deal with “an otherwise intractable tension between the community and the hero’s interests,” Sens said, adding in the movie, “I thought that the whole notion that Telemachus was just going to be king, and they go off is a very different take, right?”
While it doesn’t take a professor to appreciate “The Odyssey,” it helps. Meanwhile, in the final scene, Nolan has — spoiler alert again — Odysseus and Penelope board a ship and leave Ithaca to sail to the far West to honor his dead comrades, as the new king, Telemachus, looks on. (Is this all a dream? I thought.)
A new age is coming, and the Sea People are upon us and may even be us. The future is still unwritten, and we have questions. Is this turning of the age what is happening to us in the 21st century?
And, so, we journey on. O, Muse, what say you?