The Odyssey is an incredible journey.
Director Christopher Nolan once again assembles a cast of A-list actors and jumbles the timeline to tell an ambitious version of Odysseus’ journey in Homer’s The Odyssey.
Set after the end of the 10-year Trojan War, the story follows the hero Odysseus (Matt Damon) as he returns to Ithaca, a journey that takes almost as long as the war itself. Borrowing from the tradition of Greek oral storytelling, Nolan’s nearly three-hour adaptation is told through the story of a bard (played by Travis Scott) who weaves the story of the great warrior and Odysseus himself, reflecting on the events of his voyage home.
If understanding The Odyssey feels like an arduous journey in itself, let us break down the timeline, monsters, and mythology behind Nolan’s epic film adaptation.
war
In times of peace, Odysseus, King of Ithaca, and his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) host parties for all in their palace, and even beggars are welcome. Zeus’ law required that all guests be hospitable, since anyone could disguise themselves as a god. Odysseus also prided himself on being the only person who could string a sturdy bow. At these celebrations, he would have the men try out the use of the bow, and then, for fun, he could easily string it himself and shoot an arrow into the twelve axes.
Before “The Odyssey” begins, a conflict has broken out overseas. Queen Helen of Sparta (Lupita Nyong’o) was the most beautiful woman in the world. Paris, the prince of Troy, fell in love with her and Helen left Sparta for Troy. Her despised husband, King Menelaus (Jon Bernthal), seeks help from his brother Agamemnon (Benny Safdie), king of all ancient Greece. Although Agamemnon was also married to Helen’s twin sister Clytemnestra (also played by Nyong’o), his loyalty was to his brother. Agamemnon raised an army and the Trojan War began.
Before joining the war, Odysseus tells Penelope that she must remarry when her young son Telemachus (Tom Holland) reaches adulthood before his return from Troy. Odysseus then cast lots to determine who would serve in Ithaca’s army. When Antinous (Robert Pattinson) tries to get Sinon (Elliot Page) to take his place, Odysseus intervenes. He chose Sinon as his servant so that Antinous could remain at home and care for his family.
The Greeks spent ten grueling years fighting at Troy. As the war dragged on, Odysseus came up with the idea of building a wooden horse to hide his soldiers and allow them to sneak through the city gates. The rest of the army sailed away to avoid arousing suspicion, and one man remained to present the horse as a peace offering. That one man was Sinon, who was deliberately kept in the dark about the plan in order to give a convincing performance.
A few days later, Odysseus’ enemies discover the Trojan horse, but believe Sinon to be a threat and kill him. Until her last breath, Sinon claimed that the horse was an offering to Athena (Zendaya). The soldiers brought the Trojan horse into the gate. Odysseus and his men waited until nightfall. They quickly opened the city gates, where Agamemnon and the rest of the Greek army were waiting, and together they took control of the city of Troy and secured victory. The war is finally over.
Journey
The three kings, Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Odysseus, parted ways at Troy and set out on their way home.
Helen reluctantly returned to Sparta with Menelaus. To prevent a similar war from happening again, Menelaus scarred her face, permanently disfiguring her famous beauty. Agamemnon is excited to return to his homeland, believing that he will be welcomed with open arms by Clytemnestra, even though he publicly sacrificed his daughter for good fortune before the war. During Agamemnon’s absence, Clytemnestra planned revenge for her daughter’s death. As soon as he returned, she murdered him.
Odysseus and his men had similar bad luck. With the fall of Troy, the laws of Zeus were also violated and proved dangerous to the returning Ithacans. They angered the gods, especially the god of the sky, during the battle. The wind unwittingly leads the Ithacans to the island of Polyphemus (Bill Irwin), a one-eyed cyclops.
While exploring the island in search of food, the men become trapped in Polyphemus’ cave with the Cyclops’ flock. In a desperate attempt to escape, they stab Polyphemus in the eye, rendering him blind. However, the Cyclops was the son of Poseidon, and this attack provoked the wrath of the sea god. With the winds and seas against them, Odysseus and his men were then led by the giants of Laestrygonia. The giants attacked them brutally, leaving them with only one ship and its crew.
Their next journey is to the island of Aeaea, where Circe (Samantha Morton) turns Odysseus’ men into pigs. The protagonists eventually persuade the sorcerer to return them to human form, but before departing Circe tells Odysseus that if he wants to return home, the army must visit the underworld and speak with the prophet Tiresias (James Remar).
The men sailed to the underworld, where they formed an army of the dead. One of the spirits was Sinon, who was angry at Odysseus for betraying him and not telling him of the Trojans’ plans. Sinon also tells Odysseus that the Ithacan soldiers who died in battle could not rest because they did not receive a proper Greek warrior funeral. Sinon instructs Odysseus to seek revenge on Antinous in Sinon’s name and orders him to sail west to honor the lives lost. Agamemnon then appears and warns Odysseus, telling him how he was killed by his wife because he was too confident in receiving a hero’s welcome. He advised Odysseus to return home in disguise and secretly find true allies. Tiresias then told Odysseus how to get home. First, he and his men must overcome terrifying sirens. They must then choose between going through the whirlpool Charybdis, where all the crew members die, or the sea monster Scylla, where only six people die.
In the end, Odysseus’ choices become unimportant, since Tiresias, after arriving on Apollo’s island and killing the sun god’s bull, tells Odysseus that all of his men will die. Convinced that he can fool the prophecy, Odysseus decides not to tell his men their fate (or the choice of Charybdis or Scylla). However, he informed them of the danger of sirens and instructed his men to put wax in their ears so they would not be tempted by their deadly songs. Odysseus insists on hearing their song and is tied to the mast. After they passed, he told his men about the song, and the song brought him to tears, saying that the song not only revealed everything he wanted, but also why he couldn’t have it.
Odysseus must choose between Charybdis and Scylla. Convinced that he could defy the prophecy, he instructed his men to cross the vortex and come out the other side. His men, distrustful of what they believed to be misguidance, advanced towards Scylla. As predicted, six people died.
Realizing that Odysseus had not revealed what Tiresias had told him, the soldiers demanded that Odysseus share everything he had learned, primarily to his second-in-command Eurylochus (Himsesh Patel). Odysseus told his prophecy and begged his men to promise not to kill any cattle on the island that Apollo approached. They agreed, albeit briefly.
Shortly after arriving, the men found themselves unable to sail due to the wind and trapped on the island of the Sun God. They became increasingly tired and hungry, and became frustrated with Odysseus for withholding information, even offering to leave the king on the island. Their hunger reaches new levels, and the men eventually break their promise to Odysseus and kill one of Apollo’s cows.
As the wind died down, they were able to continue their voyage home. Odysseus’ men argued that they would rather drown than starve to death. Soon after, the anger of Zeus, Poseidon, and Apollo combined to create a storm that killed everyone but the king.
Odysseus is washed ashore on the island of Calypso (Charlize Theron), where he spends seven years. Calypso was exiled to live on the island of Ogygia long ago after the Olympians defeated the Titans. She gave him a lotus flower, made him forget about Penelope and Telemachus, and returned his mind to a state of peace. After Odysseus finally faces his trauma and the real reason he doesn’t want to return home, Calypso helps bring him back to Ithaca.
Calypso tells Odysseus that he must submit to the will of the gods, which he has been reluctant to do. To escape from Ogygia, he built a raft, sank it into the sea, and lowered it onto land. Athena appears before him, revealing that she has finally returned to Ithaca.
finally go home
Twenty years after his first departure, Odysseus returns to Ithaca disguised as a beggar. The first person he finds is Eumaeus (John Leguizamo), a blind swineherd who has just been attacked. He then encountered Telemachus. Telemachus did not recognize his father until he met Odysseus’ old dog Argus. After waiting for Odysseus to return, the dog wagged its tail and died. Odysseus tells Telemachus not to tell Penelope anything about his return, but to persuade her to choose a suitor.
The laws of Zeus still held sway in Ithaca, despite whispers that “people from the sea” were approaching their homeland, plundering everything in their path. During Odysseus’ absence, Penelope held court with dozens of suitors eager to marry her and rule Ithaca. She fends off their advances, believing that her husband will return, but becomes furious when Telemachus tells her that the time has come to choose a mate.
Odysseus, still disguised, begs the suitors for food at dinner that night. Antinous spat into the bowl, and two of the suitors beat him. Telemachus stopped it, respecting the laws of Zeus. Penelope wanted to meet the mysterious beggar, not knowing that he was Odysseus. Odysseus hides behind a screen and tells Penelope’s story as if he were serving alongside Odysseus, trying to convince her to let her go and find a new suitor. One of Penelope’s long-time slaves noticed the scar on Odysseus’s leg and begged her to be quiet. Odysseus finally puts a name to his trauma and the reason he doesn’t want to return home – it’s because he broke Zeus’ laws after capturing Troy.
Meanwhile, Antinous lurks nearby with a knife and is about to kill Telemachus, but is distracted by Penelope’s announcement that she is ready to choose a suitor. The next day, the door is sealed due to Penelope’s challenge. The suitors must string Odysseus’ arrows and shoot them straight into the twelve axes, just as the king once did. Telemachus and Eumaeus locked the remaining weapons upstairs. One by one, the suitors were perplexed, but Antinous demanded that Penelope only choose the best of them. Odysseus then takes off his disguise and completes the challenge without difficulty.
A battle begins when the suitors attempt to overthrow Odysseus, and Melantius (Logan Marshall-Green) manages to break into an upstairs room to retrieve his weapon. The king successfully fought the battle of the Hundred and won, but he stopped short of killing Antinous in the name of Sinon.
Odysseus and Penelope are reunited, Odysseus vows to sail west in honor of those who died on the way, and Telemachus is crowned the new king of Ithaca. The West is a symbol of death in mythology, but it is also associated with the land of Elysium, the final resting place of Greek heroes.
