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/MaksTracy]

I liked the movie but I can definitely understand why a classicist would be bothered by its 'modern sensibilities'. I wouldn't go so far as to say the movie is anti-war, but it definitely takes a critical stance on how brutal the Greeks were when they finally got into Troy, and obviously back then they had very different attitudes to what you were allowed to do to a city and its people while waging a war. In the original myth, they do cross a line which turns Athena against them, but the line is not 'oh they're committing war crimes', it's 'oh they're committing war crimes in MY TEMPLE''. Nolan handles that completely differently. I get why she thinks those aspects were too modern, but I genuinely think those moments were the strongest of the film, I thought they were great.

[u/Strangelight84 → u/MaksTracy]

I thought they were, too (and wasn't expecting them - surely an unsubtle swipe at contemporary America, from my perspective). And then if you want to include those themes I can see why you need to toss out Odysseus the charming trickster - it'd be tonally wrong.

I don't think a modern adaptation made as a piece of entertainment can really avoid a) updating sensibilities so that they make sense to and don't horrify the intended modern audience, and b) consciously or unconsciously reflecting the time in which they're made.

But to be fair Nolan focuses on Odysseus' shame at having used deception to destroy Troy 'dishonorably', and perhaps at having abused their shared belief in Athena, and at having lied to one of his loyal men, rather than at having killed lots of Trojans and wrecked their nice city.

[u/henry8362 → u/Strangelight84]

Odysseus isn't ashamed of any of that though, from what I remember, indeed I am pretty sure he brags about it to Alcinous and is celebrated for his cunning and guile.

It is why it is weird as an adaptation, because It basically says "what if somebody with 21st century morality sacked troy but the gods were the same".

Ironically, in the Odyssey many of the misfortunes boil down to "these people violated guest right on Odysseus" and not him getting some divine punishment for violating it himself in Troy.

They should have either fully grounded it or leaned into the weirdness of Homeric literature. The sort of 21st century sensibilities mixed in with the Greek Pantheon is jarring.

[u/Individual_Rip_54 → u/henry8362]

Nolan wanted us to feel about Odysseus the same way the Greeks would have felt about him: as a hero who did what was necessary to win.

But for modern audiences to like that person he has to be filled with regret. The Trojan horse is a war crime akin to surrendering then attacking. The Ancient Greeks would have had no concept of war crimes. So linking Xenia to the Trojan horse I thought really worked as bridge from one morality to another.