Taming Odysseus

Law & Liberty ^ | 8/14/26 | James Rogers

[EnderWiggin1970]

There’s too little sex and violence in Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey. And it matters. There’s too little religion and supernaturalism, too. That the anodyne Epicureanism of Nolan’s Odyssey is widely construed as Nolan “Christianizing” Homer’s story is testimony to the insipidity of much of what passes today for Christianity.

We’ll start with sex and violence, and then get to religion.

First, though, a preliminary comment on film adaptations of books: Screen adaptations of books must necessarily alter the story. Even a three-hour movie cannot reproduce an epic poem the length of Homer’s Odyssey. But the necessity of change does not grant a director or screenwriter carte blanche. Viewers (and readers) can ask about the film’s selection of scenes from a book and whether the changes made by a director faithfully reflect a book’s story.

It’s also fine for directors to be inspired by a story to adapt it to other situations or thematic ends. That said, these directors often signal the significance of the changes they made by renaming the film. Apocalypse Now (based on Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness), O Brother Where Art Thou (also based on The Odyssey), or even Clueless (based on Jane Austen’s novel Emma) are examples.

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TOPICS: Culture/Society; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: aircraftcarrier; britain; navy; royalnavy

[EnderWiggin1970]

A long but good read. In Nolan's handling of the surrendered suitors I see an allegory for why the West now loses all its wars that scale larger than a SWAT raid. In the last section, the weakly deistic popular notion that God is distant stands in stark contrast with biblical teaching.

"He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own [Greek] poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ (Acts 17:26-28)

[for-q-clinton]

I watched the movie Troy...then started the first 10 minutes of the odyssey and quit. It was a joke!

[BenLurkin]

Is this guy saying he wants sex, violence, and things which are not natural in his movies? Seriously, saying there's not enough sex and violence in a movie is kinda perverted.

[EnderWiggin1970]

One outcome of the 2026 Odyssey movie has been to make everyone appreciate the 2004 Troy movie a lot more by comparison.

[EnderWiggin1970]

I wouldn’t want to be assaulted by pornography, but the sexual elements of Homer’s Odyssey, and how Odysseus responds to the temptations, are central to the story. Personally I find it astonishing that Nolan would skip the whole encounter with Naussica and her parents. It’s like skipping the Two Towers in telling the story of the Lord of the Rings.

[BenLurkin]

Funny you should mention that, because I was just thinking about how many movies Peter Jackson would have tried to squeeze out the story.

[Bob Wills is still the king]

“I wouldn’t want to be assaulted by pornography, but the sexual elements of Homer’s Odyssey, and how Odysseus responds to the temptations, are central to the story. Personally I find it astonishing that Nolan would skip the whole encounter with Naussica and her parents. It’s like skipping the Two Towers in telling the story of the Lord of the Rings.”
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Bowdler would be so proud!

[Gasshog]

Troy was a truly an enjoyable film on the level of big 50s-60s grand spectacles.

It was inevitable some Troy-Wanna Be film would follow.

In general these flicks that try to ride on the coattails of others are spectacular Failures.

[Gasshog]

Hmmm also sounds like a way of saying - Talent not needed.

[Ciexyz]

The 1997 TV miniseries of The Odyssey with Armand Assante is available for free streaming on Amazon Prime and other places on Internet. I recently bought excellent Troy film (2004, Brad Pitt) for reasonable price for streaming through Amazon Prime.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I still prefer the 1956 version of Helen of Troy.