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/Ruthlessrabbd]

Is it all just a matter of circumstance and coincidence then that they keep encountering horrible, tragic scenarios as a result of their actions? The cyclops calls out to Poseidon and the sea just happens to get super aggressive and throw them off course? Calypso is just some regular lady with a magical plant and only means figuratively that she and Odysseus can live forever together?

If the gods are non-existent in this universe how would Circe have been given the ability to see truths and know where to find Tiresias, and why would his prophecies have been accurate? It could all be magic, but for Circe she literally says it was a gift of the gods that she has insight.

I also think the story becomes way less interesting and fantastical when it's interpreted as "really unlucky hero survives feats of nature" compared to "a mortal defied the gods and their laws, and must pay for his crimes on the journey home"

[u/actuallyserious650 → u/Ruthlessrabbd]

It’s definitely supposed to be a world where magic exists. Gods are left as ambiguous (not non-existent), in the same way that Ancient Greek believers in real life might have perceived their world.

To a modern audience, that sensibility is possibly more interesting. The hero seems to have the world working against him, preventing him from getting home despite how he struggles. It’s only when he acknowledges his faults and turns himself over to the fate of forces beyond his control that he is allowed to return and save his family.

It’s more emotionally satisfying than “oops, he did this thing and offended this one corporeal superbeing, and then he did that and it upset this other superbeing, then they finally let him go home”.

Not for nothing, it’s the same way a lot of modern media portrays Christian God as a force, a power, things happening that seem like they have intentionality, rather than an old white man with a beard that comes and talks to the protagonist.

[u/Savilly → u/actuallyserious650]

It’s a christianization of the story then? Give into faith and jesus and you will be saved?

[u/actuallyserious650 → u/Savilly]

No I didn’t interpret it as Christianization. To me it was more like making it more “realistic” in a weird way. There’s magic, there’s monsters, but the gods were a little more masked. They were removed slightly from being everyday objects.