News Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey

[JD]

I think you need to adjust the settings on your screen because there are a lot of natural, ambient colors in that trailer.

As for fantasy, I guess cyclopes, giants, monsters, the undead, and massive whirlpools don't count for anything.

Not to mention we've also got at least one god with Zendaya as Athena, Charlize Theron as the nymphy Calypso, and we haven't gotten a casting announcement, but I can't believe we aren't going to get Circe the witch since she's one of the most well know parts of the story. We've got quite a few actors who's roles haven't been announced yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if we get at least a few more gods like Poseidon, Hermes, and Zeus.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Nolan was deliberately coy about the gods in his interview with Colbert but Athena is definitely confirmed and, as you said, there's no way we don't have at least Poseidon, but I could see it going either way with Zeus and Hermes.

I think the gods will play a role in the film but they won't be as directly involved except Athena as a guide and Poseidon as an obstacle.

 

[JD]

I admit, I was just skimming the Wikipedia article and saw Hermes and Zeus mentioned a couple times. It looks like Posiedon has a fairly significant role, so I can't imagine him not being in the movie. I'm planning on reading some of the classics that I've never read over the next few months, and The Illiad & The Odessey are on the list, so I'm hoping to have them done by the time the movie comes out.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Gods such as Athena could be like Baltars's head Six in new Battlestar Galactica. I've already forgotten what we see in the trailer and can't be arsed to watch it again, so I don't know if that's demonstrably not the approach taken.

The only word about Circe, Calypso, Polyphemus etc. is that of Odysseus, and he's a known deceiver, having devised the wooden horse of Troy. He says of himself: "I am Odysseus, son of Laertes,
known to all for my deceptive skills—
my fame extends all the way to heaven."

Has Nolan explained why he didn't use late Bronze Age armour and weaponry as Homer describes? Perhaps he thought modern audiences wouldn't accept anything other than what we see.

There is no word for the colour blue in ancient Greek, so perhaps Nolan should have eliminated that hue from the movie as well. The sea had better be wine-dark or I'll complain to the manager. /j

ETA: I asked Chat GPT: "What evidence is there in "The Odyssey" that Odysseus is making up the stories of his encounters with the sirens, Circe, Calypso, Polyphemus and so on, when in reality he might have been taking part in the raids of the Sea Peoples in the hope of acquiring booty?"

This was its summary:

The best scholarly position is probably not:

“Odysseus invented everything.”

But rather:

the poem may preserve mythologized memories of real Bronze Age maritime violence, displacement, trade, piracy, colonization, and intercultural encounters.

Odysseus is simultaneously:

• a heroic king,
• a traumatized veteran,
• a raider,
• a con artist,
• a survivor,
• and a master storyteller.

Homer leaves enough ambiguity that the reader can never entirely separate:

• history from legend,
• truth from performance,
• or memory from propaganda.

The details of its analysis seem pretty much spot on, I would say:

ChatGPT - Odysseus and Sea Peoples

Shared via ChatGPT

chatgpt.com

 

[The Nth Doctor]

You lost me at ChatGPT.

I admit, I was just skimming the Wikipedia article and saw Hermes and Zeus mentioned a couple times. It looks like Posiedon has a fairly significant role, so I can't imagine him not being in the movie. I'm planning on reading some of the classics that I've never read over the next few months, and The Illiad & The Odessey are on the list, so I'm hoping to have them done by the time the movie comes out.

Poseidon is the main reason why Odysseus struggles to get home because of what Odysseus did to Poseidon's son, Polyphemus. He doesn't have much of the way of dialogue (except with Zeus, I believe) and instead acts from afar to deter Odysseus' journey.

Zeus' role is mostly as an observer (much as seen with the gods in Jason and the Argonauts, which Nolan is a fan of), one who deliberately doesn't get directly involved but sends Hermes to act in his stead in a few situations.

Athena has a large role in the story, often guiding events in disguise (both as women and men!) before directly advising and aiding Odysseus upon his return in Ithaca.

As I said before, I can see Zeus and Hermes going either way while Poseidon would needed to be present as an obstacle. I suspect Athena's role would more of just a guide until Odysseus arrives in Ithaca.

 

[Samurai8472]

Nolan was deliberately coy about the gods in his interview with Colbert but Athena is definitely confirmed and, as you said, there's no way we don't have at least Poseidon, but I could see it going either way with Zeus and Hermes.

I think the gods will play a role in the film but they won't be as directly involved except Athena as a guide and Poseidon as an obstacle.

From past interviews it seems he doesn’t believe in god or aliens. Remember the teserect in interstellar was sent by advanced humans

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In the Colbert interview it seemed like Colbert was ribbing Nolan to acknowledge that’s god exists