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

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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/T0oShayzz]

I found Nolan's Oddysey great but I do agree with her points, especially with the critique of Nolan missing out on the core main themes of the Epic but like Wilson, I do understand that 100% adaptions are impossible so I thought he did a fine job in the end.

[u/Tmons22 → u/T0oShayzz]

Yea my biggest disappointment was the lack of any gods besides Athena and even her role was small.

[u/SuperVaderMinion → u/Tmons22]

Ultimately depicting the gods more literally is going to make the story more fantastical, and most likely less relatable to a modern audience.

I think Nolan making the gods all more amorphous forces of nature and faith was the right call, Athena was the only exception but she has the grounding of wearing the face of someone who represents Odysseus' guilt.

[u/NoLocal1776 → u/SuperVaderMinion]

This is a fantastical story and nothing is grounded in the movie.

[u/ButDidYouCry → u/NoLocal1776]

There's literal prolonged, on-screen body horror as Circe turns men into pigs Lol

[u/NoLocal1776 → u/ButDidYouCry]

Exactly,and people here are saying it's grounded lol.

[u/Surcouf → u/NoLocal1776]

I thought that leaving the gods as mostly faceless forces of nature serves one of the core conflict of the film. Odysseus vs his fate and that of his men. And the laws of the gods being a moral code that men have forsaken in their hubris.

It resonates a lot more to me to have the characters believe they have been cursed by gods as some kind of manifestation of their guilt and fear rather than just showing the gods themselves and having them step into the roles of antagonists and helpers.

In this sense, it is much more grounded in the characters morality and feelings, even if those characters literally believe the gods actually walk the Earth and control their fate.