The Odyssey: cinematic sensation or sin against the Greeks?

Christopher Nolan’s 2026 version of Homer’s The Odyssey has taken the box office by storm, taking more than $1.1 billion globally. Using IMAX film and encouraging fans to go to the cinema for a full experience seems to have paid off, with the film beating Nolan’s previous directorial record with The Dark Knight Rises.

There seems to be something of a fashion for modern adaptations. Much like Wuthering Heights, which screened earlier this year, The Odyssey generated a lot of online discussion before it premiered. There were concerns over whether the casting of Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy, Elliot Page as Sinon and Travis Scott as the Bard were a sign that Nolan’s take on the epic would be too ‘woke’ – particularly as he had based the film on the translation by Emily Wilson, whose work had been touted as adding a feminist twist to the Greek classic.

And yet, reactions to the film seem to have defied all expectation. For some, qualms about casting melted away thanks to brilliant performances, while for others, hopes of something different fell flat. Wilson herself has made headlines for panning Nolan’s interpretation as not going far enough. While some have championed the film as a rip-roaring blockbuster that Hollywood needs more of, those more dedicated to the literature have criticised Nolan’s very modern take on Greek heroism. Odysseus is no longer a cunning, many-sided, morally ambiguous trickster hero, but a warning against the immorality of men’s greed or worse, a ‘simple action hero who feels bad about being an action hero’.

Regardless of scholarly rows about whether the film flattens Homer’s psychological, ethical and narrative complexity, it seems to have inspired a new audience to read Homer, explore related mythology or translations, and visit museums. Sales of The Odyssey rose substantially after the film’s release and even in anticipation. Emily Wilson’s translation has been especially popular. Audiobook listens on Spotify surged hundreds of per cent post-release, with strong Gen Z/millennial engagement. Library demand also spiked dramatically. For example, the New York Public Library reported a 338 per cent increase. UK searches for ‘learn Greek’ rose sharply, and despite some grumbles from Ancient Greek scholars, academics have reported heightened public engagement and discussion of the poem, adaptations and the ancient world in general, as well as an increase in inquiries about studying Classics.

So, whether you loved it or loathed it, The Odyssey has generated huge conversation, even creating that now rare moment of ‘watercooler moment’ social connection, with everyone simultaneously discussing the same film. Was The Odyssey a triumph or a disservice to Western civilisation’s greatest tale? Should we pay less attention to online grumbling or classicists’ ire, instead celebrating the ‘Odyssey Effect’? Or are we doing the classics a dishonour by allowing Hollywood’s adaptations to dumb them down?