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Posted on 07/27/2026 7:56:11 PM PDT by Rummyfan
Christopher Nolan cited Emily Wilson’s 2017 translation of “The Odyssey” as an influence on his own interpretation of Homer’s epic poem while on the press tour for his latest blockbuster. Wilson is not returning the favor. In a negative review of Nolan’s “The Odyssey” for the London Review of Books (via The Guardian), Wilson criticized Nolan’s adaptation for lacking “psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth.” The author, who is also a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, added that Nolan’s “The Odyssey” has “nothing convincing to say.”
“I had hoped that Nolan’s affinity with these Homeric themes might push him to new creative heights, and enable him to conjure more believable characters. But ‘The Odyssey’ features his usual combination of grandiosity and superficiality … the film’s vision is too confused, its characters too underdeveloped, to deliver what it half-promises in terms of big ideas – although it is very good at conveying big bangs and big giants,” Wilson’s scathing review reads.
She adds: “Nolan’s ‘Odyssey’ lacks many of the elements that make the poem great. It has nothing convincing to say about time, memory, history, war, or about the relationship between one warrior’s glorious return and the lives of his family, adversaries, comrades, friends and neighbors. It lacks psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth. Its narrative structure is gimmicky. The writing is abysmal. None of the characters has convincing motivation for their actions or words. There are no sex scenes, and all the food looks horrible.”
(Excerpt) Read more at variety.com ...
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I have not read Emily Wilson’s version of The Odyssey but I’ll take a shot in the dark that she’s woke.
The Odyssey is a poem????
To be called a hack by a hack must be depressing.
That would appeal to me. Too many movies these days feature sex scenes.
I really liked "The Darkest Hour," a film about Winston Churchill, which I saw a few years ago. There were no sex scenes, no nude scenes, no profanity--and there was even a cat!
Over 12000 lines of dirty Greek limericks.
Seriously, it is over 12,000 lines of dactylic hexameter.
I have no idea what the hell that means. Explain it to me as if I was an audience member of The View.
If that is even possible.
Emily, Emily, Emily...
The goal is to ‘dumb it down’ for the younger generations of low-attention-span, ignorant moviegoers.
All that matters is the flash and sizzle, not the substance.
It’s a poetic form, like the limerick is a different poetic form. That’s all you need to know.
Here’s the Wiki page. Warning: You don’t want to know. Seriously.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dactylic_hexameter
Yes, it has always been known as an ‘epic poem’.
Okay... 'derp derp derp, duh... derp derp duh.
I hope that's clear enough.
BM
Chris Nolan and his wife brought the world this POS movie.
I’ll wait until I see it.
Wilson may be angling for publicity.
She’s gotten a lot lately.
Ah, yes. Thank you. I feel like someone should toss me a herring.
I told my daughter I would join her to see it as her husband refuses to. I first read it in high school in the 70’s. Very bloody home coming. Loved it. I’ve seen every movie/tv version. I’ll try and keep my mouth shut and not ruin it for my daughter.
It's designed to sound serious and inexorable to match the story (plot), which is why Aristotle classifies epic as a less perfect form of tragedy, although the tragedies use a different meter.
Homer's Iliad was also composed in dactylic hexameter.
One lesson I would take is from the ending: the absence of leadership leads to great domestic disorder, a disorder that cannot be remedied without great violence.
The West establish a stupendous civil peace through 300 years of the liberal application of gallows. Allowing disorder to grow to its current tsunami of criminality (both public and private) is unlikely to be remedied through the application of liberal norms of law and procedure. See El Salvador.
The epic Greek poems such as the Iliad and Odyssey were originally sung. This site offers a reconstruction of what it may have sounded like:
“Seriously, it is over 12,000 lines of dactylic hexameter
I have no idea what the hell that means. Explain it to me as if I was an audience member of The View. If that is even possible.”
Lemme hep:
“Dactylic hexameter is a famous poetic rhythm with six rhythm groups (feet) per line, famous for use in old Greek and Latin epic poems like the Iliad. Each line has six parts: the first four can be dactyls (one long sound and two short sounds) or spondees (two long sounds), the fifth is usually a dactyl, and the last is a short two-sound block.”
You’re welcome.
In contrast, the discussions in Plato's dialogues oppose narrated portions of the epics vs. performative or acted portions when the rhapsode is "in character," highlighting the mimetic aspect of the live performance. Aristotle reduces both both tragedy and epic to one big narration.
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