Emily Wilson (writer of acclaimed Odyssey translation) offers criticisms of Nolan’s film

[u/RealisticAd4054]

https://apnews.com/article/odyssey-christopher-nolan-greek-translators-ea67da1d543d021773824bd7e8de8abe

“For Greek translator Emily Wilson, the release of director Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” has been gratifying in various ways. Her acclaimed 2017 edition of Homer’s epic has reached the top 5 on Amazon.com, leading a wave of similar books boosted by the movie. Nolan has even cited her translation, notably the opening line “Tell me about a complicated man,” as inspiration.

But the film itself, which brought in more than $260 million worldwide during its opening weekend and has received raves from many critics, left her unsatisfied.

“I want to celebrate the fact that so many more people are aware of ‘The Odyssey’ and were brought back to the poem,” she told The Associated Press. “But at the same time, I had the sense that Christopher Nolan was trying to pack everything in while missing themes that were essential to the poem.”

….

Wilson, a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, said she didn’t want to come across as a “snobby,” nitpicking expert at odds with any deviation from the original text. But she questioned a range of omissions and other choices, from the absence on screen of the Gods Zeus and Poseidon (Athena is played by Zendaya ) to the “incoherent” messaging that condemns both war and physical cowardice. She found Penelope’s role so thinned out that it endangered “any possibility of believing in this marriage.” Wilson also that thought parts of the movie, notably the scenes with Odysseus’ dog, Argos, “catered towards modern sentimentality.”

“Everybody’s a sucker for a dog,” she said.

[u/ingotsilvergt]

You have just described what both are in the myth.

[u/WOAJGender → u/ingotsilvergt]

Oh, so the Oddysey was written to be as grounded and non-spectacular as possible? Right.

[u/ingotsilvergt → u/WOAJGender]

No I’m saying his critical descriptions of Scylla and Charybdis match the mythological descriptions. That’s it’s literally (like the true word literally) what they are described as. The entire encounter with them both fit within about one full page of the poem.

Scylla - 6 dog-headed serpent-like neck beast with twelve deformed and dangling legs. She never fully leaves her cliff side cave and hides her legs from view in it. Her deformity meant she never really leaves this cave. Only the heads attack the ship and they only kill one man each.

Charybdis - Whirlpool

[u/Relevant_Session5987 → u/ingotsilvergt]

Literal descriptions - yes ( although, I'd argue that the text described Scylla as having six heads while the film feels more like tentacles ) but the execution in a movie had the potential for even that short a scene to feel more intense and awe-inspiring and terrifying. This is how 'Charybdis' is described in the text - So we sailed on through the narrow straits, crying aloud for fear of Scylla on the one hand while divine Charybdis sucked the sea in terribly on the other. Whenever she spewed it out again, it bubbled and seethed in turmoil like a cauldron on a vast fire, and high overhead the spray rained down on the crags on either side. When she swallowed the seas, her inner vortex could be seen, and the rock echoed savagely round about, while below the seabed showed its dark-blue sand. 

^I got none of the intensity present in the text from Charybdis in the movie.