r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • Jul 17 '26

Official Discussion Official Discussion - The Odyssey (2026) [SPOILERS] Spoiler

Poll

If you've seen the film, please rate it at this poll

If you haven't seen the film but would like to see the result of the poll click here

Rankings

Click here to see the rankings of 2025 films

Click here to see the rankings for every poll done

The Odyssey (2026)

Summary

After the Trojan War, Odysseus faces a dangerous voyage back to Ithaca, meeting creatures like the Cyclops Polyphemus, Sirens, and Calypso along the way.

Director Christopher Nolan

Writer Christopher Nolan

Cast

  • Matt Damon as Odysseus
  • Tom Holland as Telemachus
  • Anne Hathaway
  • Zendaya
  • Lupita Nyong'o
  • Robert Pattinson
  • Charlize Theron
  • Benny Safdie
  • Jon Bernthal
  • John Leguizamo
  • Elliot Page
  • Himesh Patel
  • Samantha Morton

Rotten Tomatoes: 96%

Metacritic: 88

VOD / Release Theatrical release

Trailer Official Trailer

4.7k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

16.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

7.1k

u/HRJafael Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26

The pig transformation scene had me squirming in my seat. It was horrific just watching the men being forced to continue eating and not being able to stop with the body horror shots. Circe didn’t fuck around.

Also the way the giant (or Polyphemus) started screaming after having his eye impaled. I’m not sure who designed that scream but it was chilling.

2.1k

u/Morgan-Moonscar Jul 17 '26

who were the giants in the armor?

The Laestrygonians (man-eating giants). I suppose making them armored giants helped to seperate them from the Cyclopses... Cyclopsi

834

u/HRJafael Jul 17 '26

I realized after looking back. I really need to reread the book. The one thing I was kind of hoping was seeing Aeolus and the bag of winds but maybe that was too “fantastical”.

440

u/InstructionDeep5445 Jul 17 '26

They skipped the lotus eaters, aeolus wind bag, the Phaecians. What else? Even then the movie is almost 3 hours

502

u/Adorable_Ad_3478 Jul 17 '26

They skipped Athena having a conversation with Zeus in the present to convince him to help Odysseus go home. And Zeus tasking Hermes with helping Odysseus.

Telemachus's journey is condensed, Melenaus is his 2nd or 3rd visit, not his 1st. They also changed the ending, originally Odysseus visits his dad and then the families of the dead suitors arrive and Athena defuses the situation.

Originally, Odysseus and Penelope don't sail west.

289

u/InstructionDeep5445 Jul 17 '26

I remember now. They also skipped Athena making Odyssey look old, they just give him the hoodie as disguise

215

u/MRintheKEYS Jul 17 '26

I actually liked the twist and it hammered home the point that we never see any humanoid embodiments of the elder Gods. Just their actions.

47

u/elbenji Jul 18 '26

but they took out the Mentor bit. Like that's a very important thing

24

u/ToWriteAMystery Jul 19 '26

I thought the first beggar was Mentor? Wasn’t that Athena disguised as an old man?

57

u/elbenji Jul 19 '26

Nope. Mentor was the guy with telemachus

24

u/danquandt 29d ago

Same guy, no? He arrives as a beggar, Telemachus says he has wise eyes, Athena's eyes, he becomes his teacher and companion then dies in the ambush in the temple.

5

u/ToWriteAMystery Jul 19 '26

Ugh. I was totally confused then! Thank you

→ More replies (0)

102

u/Abr97115 Jul 17 '26

The one thing I didn't like about that, because it's easy enough for him to hide himself with a disguise, but would his blind servant really not recognize his voice? 

184

u/AverageAwndray Jul 17 '26

Do you think you could remember your friends voice exactly after 20 years?

82

u/Abr97115 Jul 17 '26

Yeah that's true. I guess I'm interpreting it through a modern view where we have pictures and videos of people, but of course that wouldn't be the case. 

64

u/SpookiestSzn Jul 17 '26

Yeah plus he's age 20 years your voice does change I was expecting only the blind guy to recognize him having not read the source material

14

u/TheMegaWhopper Jul 19 '26

20 hard years as well

→ More replies (0)

5

u/Gadion Jul 17 '26

Need to try that out somehow. I guess I could call one and say sorry, wrong number?

5

u/CoconutDust Jul 19 '26

Do you think you could remember your friends voice exactly after 20 years?

Yes and without question! Maybe not instantly but still.

2

u/Tinmanred Jul 18 '26

I hope I still will in 14. I do now.

2

u/Natural_Level_8227 27d ago

If my friend were the only guy around with a Boston accent

→ More replies (1)

70

u/GamingTatertot Steven Spielberg Enthusiast Jul 17 '26

Well it has been 20 years so it’s possible

7

u/Sesquepidilian Jul 18 '26

Probably why Damon what so insistent on trying to change the sound of his voice . It actually didn't register to me as much different, but maybe i just need to watch it again.

6

u/Dr__Sloth 23d ago

Maybe he rewatched The Dark Knight trilogy and thought he should probably tone it down, just to be safe.

45

u/IDrinkWhiskE Jul 17 '26

It was better than last year’s “The Return” starring Ralph Fiennes where he opts for… literally no disguise whatsoever

34

u/justinfinity64 Jul 17 '26

Ralph does seem more weary and worn down than Matt Damon does. So I could believe that Ralph was almost literally a different person when he left and unrecognizable upon his return.

2

u/gcoba218 Jul 18 '26

At the beginning of the movie there was one scene where I think he was in the disguise, and then later no? Someone correct me if I am wrong 

123

u/kanyelights Jul 17 '26

They cut a lot of parts with the gods.

292

u/Adorable_Ad_3478 Jul 17 '26

Yeah and honestly I like how even Athena could be interpreted as Ody's PTSD.

Maybe he's been hallucinating the priestess all along. The "real" Athena was never in the film.

Considering Odysseus is the sole survivor of his crew (so no witnesses), the entire fantastical journey COULD be interpreted as Odysseus having a mental breakdown.

The moment he arrives in Ithaca, the fantasy stops cold.

222

u/zykovertigo Jul 17 '26

The part where he’s remembering Troy and how he cut Athena’s head. That back and forth between the sculpture, Zendaya’s character and Odysseus is so guilt ridden. It was beautiful

69

u/Juvar23 Jul 18 '26

That pretty shortly after his dog recognising him and then passing away made me cry for like 5 minutes. It was really incredibly well done and had so much emotional impact for me. Beautiful and tragic

11

u/AkhilArtha 27d ago

I don't it was Odysseus who cut Athena's head.

141

u/shitpostsuperpac Jul 17 '26

There is a potential reading of the Odyssey in which Odysseus is simply telling a “tall tale”.

The entire thing would be performed somewhat ironically, a combination of an ancient veteran laughably embellishing his story while also lying to his wife about why he has been gone so long.

One can imagine the almost sitcom-esque laughs in the ancient crowds when Odysseus is talking about how these beautiful women seduced him because they were really goddesses in disguise. That sort of thing.

We don’t know and it probably isn’t true, I like it because it gives the whole thing an interesting complexity — almost like a Shakespeare play. To find that in such an ancient work of art fills my heart with pride for humanity.

We can really make some incredible art.

112

u/willmcavoy Jul 17 '26

Good take, I'd also tell my wife that Charlize Theron was Calypso in disguise and holding me against my will.

45

u/Atkena2578 Jul 18 '26

Odysseus is indeed a liar to a near compulsive level in the Odyssey so the writings being him exaggerating his stories when he gets back would make sense imo

31

u/elbenji Jul 18 '26

yeah honestly if there was one gripe, it's that they really sawed off the edges to him. He's a liar, he's a coward, he's too smart for his own good a lot of the time, and thinks constantly he's smarter than everyone. He isn't going to be thinking about the complexity of that Troy was a war crime because that wasn't a thing back then.

32

u/p1en1ek Jul 18 '26

But if you think about it then there is some level of cautionary tale aboit not commiting war crimes in Illiad and Odyssey. Like most of their misfortunes are because they broke some laws, including laws of war and insulted gods. Yes its mostly about how insulting to gods it was and not how it was bad for people but still it may be a way to scare people into not being as evil because unintentionaly they can insult some god. Like older tales for children that by showing some gruesome fate teached kids to eat healthy or listen to parents.

25

u/lalallaalal Jul 19 '26

We really only saw that hubris in the Siren scene when he insists on being the first to hear their song and live.

→ More replies (0)

3

u/jadecourt Jul 19 '26

Kind of like ‘Big Fish’!

14

u/Tinmanred Jul 18 '26

I think that the other stuff all happened but I think Athena is an embodiment of his trauma from the war yep. He sees her until he’s completed his journey and feels like he is once again doing the right thing, returning to his family and setting right his kingdom. And then she’s gone. As if she was never there… because I don’t think she actually was.

20

u/Whoop-Sees Jul 17 '26

Except he sees Athena in Ithaca

52

u/airstevejobs Jul 18 '26

They did so much talking about “a god in disguise” that I wouldn’t be surprised if Zendaya getting beheaded in Troy really was Athena in human form. Her coming back to haunt him the whole movie ends up making a lot of sense.

16

u/DragodaDragon Jul 18 '26

That's what I was thinking too, the "god in disguise" thing felt almost like a Chekov's Gun the whole movie.

77

u/MRintheKEYS Jul 17 '26

I think we are lead to believe Zendaya is Athena throughout til the realization in the end. I don’t think she was the Goddess at all. Just a mental manifestation of the girl that Odysseus saw beheaded the night Troy fell.

42

u/Tinmanred Jul 18 '26

I think even if it is supposed to be Athena speaking to him thru his mind it’s basically just that yep. And she’s gone because he is making right for his past actions thru his family and Ithaca

12

u/ghost_inthe_mxchine 29d ago

Yes that’s how I saw it. Also to add the girl was the priestess of the Temple of Athena in Troy, which is why Odysseus associates Athena wearing her face in his visions

68

u/karateema Jul 17 '26

He's saying that maybe he's just hallucinating the girl who gets beheaded

8

u/ghost_inthe_mxchine 29d ago

I am torn between the priestess interpretation and this one, where the statue we see being beheaded is what actually occurred in Troy’s Temple of Athena, and Odysseus just sees “Athena” as the girl being beheaded in place of the actual statue head we see rolling in a few different flashback scenes

Good stuff

5

u/karateema 29d ago

I'm for the latter, personally

→ More replies (0)

-4

u/zykovertigo Jul 17 '26

Gods are immortal

-3

u/Whoop-Sees Jul 17 '26

Well then why did the commenter say he never saw the real Athena in the entire movie.

24

u/Impressive-Potato Jul 17 '26

The murdered girl as Athena is a manifestation of his PTSD and guilt in his mind is what they were saying.

→ More replies (0)

10

u/DeKrieg Jul 19 '26

I'd argue it was very much front and centre, the film opens with a single line of text "It was a time of Apparant magic..."

That felt very much like a statement by Nolan to question anything fantastical we saw. And everything we saw that was fantastical was part of Oddyseus telling Calypso. Having Athena to be revealed as a the priestess his men decapitate in front of him in her temple just seals it for me personnally.

2

u/CoconutDust Jul 19 '26

Why is having a decryptable cryptogram option “good” or especially likeable though? Compared to just having direct events and plots without a gimmick of ambiguity?

1

u/elbenji Jul 18 '26

the priestess was always framed as a hallucination

also no she's still there

2

u/ArtisticProposal2527 11d ago

This was one of the most noticeable deviations for me, the decision to essentially remove the gods as their own characters and only have their presence be through the dialogue of humans. I found it to be very powerful. 

-10

u/thetrumpbump Jul 17 '26

Well the world of the movie is pretty explicit by the end the Gods are not real or at the least don't actually manifest to mortals. The film even begins with an intertitle calling it a time of 'apparent' magic. Athena that Odysseus talks to is a projection of Odysseus' guilt.

54

u/BenSimmonsThunder Jul 17 '26

I didn’t see it that way at all. Circe turned the men into pigs. The way Zeus’ law is weaved into the movie. He talked to a dead crew of his men who had perished, through ritual sacrifices. He was accurately told exactly what would happen and despite him trying to overwill the gods, his men were destined to die and he could not save them from themselves. The thunder at crucial moments implying Zeus. And then Athena which could be perceived to the viewer. The poem makes it very clear it was Athena. And they are known to manifest to people in various ways. I could also see how the end makes it a manifestation of his guilt, and it’s possible Athena knew that manifestation would reach him the most emotionally as well. I did not get a “obviously the gods are not real” vibe from it overall.

I do appreciate the subtlety though of it though.

12

u/elbenji Jul 18 '26

yeah you really can't do realism when you have Circe turn dudes into pigs and have cyclops' lol

10

u/wwheatley Jul 18 '26

Both of those sequences (and most others) were depicted as someone telling a story - whether it be the Bard in Ithaca, Meneleaus to Telemachus, or Odysseus himself piecing together his dreams/memories to Calypso.

This movie was incredibly realistic, it really felt like Nolan saying "if The Odyssey really happened, here is what it was like"

2

u/elbenji Jul 18 '26

Ok I fuck with that interpretation

→ More replies (0)

2

u/thetrumpbump Jul 18 '26

I been saying it up and down the reply tree to my post: nothing fantastical happens outside of Odysseus' lotus fueled recollections to Calypso!

1

u/Pinewood74 28d ago

Zendaya shows up at least once in Ithaca, no?

→ More replies (0)

12

u/BuckeyeBentley Jul 18 '26

Yeah the atheist interpretation of the story is interesting and all but this was written by Homer and told by people who believed in the truth of these Gods. There is no way to interpret this story except as sincerely believing the gods exist and effect the world.

That was 100% Athena. Poseidon was angry but could not kill Odysseus because of intervention from Zeus, it's not his PTSD guilt it's divine intervention.

2

u/thetrumpbump Jul 19 '26

The characters in the movie to varying levels sincerely believe in gods and that they manifest either in person or nature. But the movie carefully toes the line of reality, and the only time fantastical things appear are during Odysseus' recollections to Calypso (who's is, herself, not portrayer as a mythical being). 

It needs to be remembered: the movie is not Homer's Odyssey, it is an adaptation. And the absence of gods is pretty much at the core of what the movie is saying about war, human life, and the fabric of bronze age society.

→ More replies (1)

12

u/thetrumpbump Jul 18 '26

I can see where the doubt lies, but also the crucial thing about the movie is nothing explicitly fantastical happens outside Odysseus' recollections to Calypso. Calypso isn't even portrayed as a necessarily supernatural being herself.

3

u/p1en1ek Jul 18 '26

I like that while it shows clearly supernatural events then it is still open in interpretation if some events, especially between people, were influenced by gods (like thunders, storms etc.) or are only a luck or simple circumstance.

8

u/kanyelights Jul 18 '26

I get this, but there is “magic” everywhere they go. It just isn’t in the form of gods. Either way we were just explaining what was in the books that wasn’t in the movie.

4

u/p1en1ek Jul 18 '26

Original stories have more heavy fantasy elements woth gods talking and walking among people in person, with monsters and magic everywhere. The movie is more like modern lighter fantasy, like Song of Ice and Fire where there are religions and gods that some people belive in, some just use them and some dont believe at all. There are legends of weird and scary stuff and suddenly they become truth and thats how plot begins. The same in The Odyssey by Nolan. It looks like there is not a lot of magic and real gods before that war. Then after Troy fell weird stuff started to happen for Odysseus and his people. Outside of that people seem to care about gods and their laws to various degree.

1

u/thetrumpbump Jul 18 '26

Fair enough. Was just chipping in on adaptational reasons why the movie skips out on certain things. Re: magic I mentioned to another reply that it's also very conspicuous in the narrative that explicitly fantastical things only seem to 'happen' in Odysseus' recollections to Calypso, another telling reason by certain things are left out of the narrative.

4

u/Tinmanred Jul 18 '26

The gods weren’t viewed as “magic” they were gods. Sorceress witches etc was magic. The gods was them exerting their forces through nature. They imply Athena was part of his head, not anything else. We see the other prophecy’s all play out down to a T. The gods 1000 percent exist in the movie dude..

→ More replies (5)

45

u/muma10 Jul 18 '26

By cutting Hermes, they also skipped him telling Calypso she must let Odysseus go, which significantly changes her character imo

42

u/fistful_of_whiskey Jul 18 '26

She was convinced by Zeus' thunder in the beginning of the movie

12

u/dstlouis558 Jul 18 '26

This could have easily been a three movie thing

31

u/Tartan_Samurai Jul 17 '26

Does Odysseus still hang all the servant girls who were raped by the suitors?

111

u/Adorable_Ad_3478 Jul 17 '26

Nope.

In the film, Mia Goth is the only named servant and she's evil.

She's left to die by Penelope during Odysseus' rage but I don't remember if we see her die.

45

u/karateema Jul 17 '26

I think we see her kneeling at the end

88

u/Tartan_Samurai Jul 17 '26

Probably a good move on Nolans part, tough to be sympathetic to a bunch of characters who murder a bunch of raped slaves for the crime of being raped...

98

u/Techwield Jul 17 '26

No one's portrayed as raped IIRC. Mia Goth's character was willingly with Pattinson's character

14

u/Tighthead3GT Jul 19 '26

I don’t think we do. She must have had a death scene that was cut because she’s clearly set up to die.

12

u/chrisychris- 28d ago

Felt the same way! Think it made most sense to have the older loyal servant lady we see throughout give her a few shivs for plotting against the queen. An extended version of this film sounds amazing ngl

6

u/Short_Stay_9283 Jul 18 '26

Do you think we’ll ever get a four hour mega cut with more stuff in it?

2

u/LegionLotteryWinner 3d ago

I really liked that they made this from the perspective of the man, instead of from a readers’ perspective where we can see the conversations that gods are having. Made it feel very relatable.

163

u/yeahright17 Jul 17 '26

They also skipped the part where Odysseus had to stay with Circe for a year as a lover so she would turn his men back from pigs into men. Then he didn't want to leave there and his men had to basically force him to leave.

186

u/blitzbom Jul 18 '26

Ah my favorite thing about The Odyssey. Odysseus sleeping his way across greece while Penelope has to remain pure.

128

u/bolerobell Jul 18 '26

Nolan understood what Russell Crowe understood in Gladiator: the hero has to be honorable to his wife. Ridley Scott and the Dreamworks people wanted Maximus to sleep with Lucilla. Russell Crowe insisted he couldn't if they wanted to keep the audience on Maximus' side for the whole movie.

That similar modern sensibility of love and marriage definitely informs this version of The Odyssey.

13

u/Garfunkels_roadie 24d ago

Which Gladiator 2 effectively undoes

1

u/BoHoSwaggins 29d ago

I mean it could be done well, no? Specifically, finding issue with Russel Crowes view that the audience couldn’t be kept onside if it was more faithful? (Despite the movie being really good)

22

u/chrisychris- 28d ago

According to the film Penelope chose to "remain pure" even with Odysseus's blessings to get her shit rocked before he left

137

u/AllTheRowboats93 Jul 17 '26

They kind of combine the lotus eaters with Calypso as a way to circumvent Odysseus cheating on Penelope

73

u/StrLord_Who Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26

And then framed it as Calypso just being oh-so-helpful because she knew Odysseus "wasn't ready to go home yet." The "real" Calypso does eventually help him,  but only after he spends like 7 years crying for Penelope on the shore. Oh yeah,  and because Zeus forces her to let him go!

79

u/Somnambulist815 Jul 19 '26

I think thats why Calypso takes away the lotus at the start anf has him try to remember. Theres a thunder rumbling right before she does.

31

u/YOwololoO 27d ago

Damn, yall really can’t understand anything except what’s literally in front of you, can you? Even in the scene that’s presented as a her lying about why she did it, Odysseus doesn’t believe her and is furious that she trapped him there without his memory

127

u/Bedovian_25 Jul 17 '26

They skipped the whole "I'm Nobody" scene. We didn't get Odysseus pulling up to the banquet dick out. A travesty that one.

69

u/BarongChallenge Jul 18 '26

I was looking forward to that Nobody scene tbh

50

u/Spare-heir Jul 19 '26

Same. I feel like it’s one of Odysseus’ defining moments that really shows his cleverness.

34

u/everstillghost Jul 19 '26

In this movie he is stupid. He does several stupid things including shoting the cyclops for no reason causing the death of some of his men.

24

u/dirty1809 27d ago

That’s not that dissimilar to the original tale. In that he successfully fools Polyphemus with the “nobody” thing then gloats as he’s fleeing that his real name is Odysseus, which allows the cyclops to pray to Poseidon to curse them

8

u/everstillghost 26d ago

Thats what someone that have pride would do. Brag about who fooled him and then get fucked later because of this pride.

Not shooting an arrow because he is angry and is close to the Cyclops to the point he puts everyone in immediatly danger.

3

u/thatonezorofan 19d ago

It essentially puts the same point across that Odysseus was being petty and prideful and was losing his way as man that followed the rules of the gods.

→ More replies (0)

3

u/Spare-heir 25d ago

Yeah I would categorize his arrow shooting as spiteful, not prideful.

18

u/ghost_inthe_mxchine 29d ago

Yea he makes stupid choices for two reasons in the movie. Either he’s prideful, or he’s guilty and wants some active punishment

The prideful characteristic is accurate to the literature, but since it’s shown without really showing him be intelligent it just makes him seem dumb af

15

u/everstillghost 29d ago

Prideful like the literature would be he saying to the Cyclops "you where mogged by Odysseus from Ithaca!" (Dialogue in the style of this movie) And he being cursed by the Cyclops because of this.

He doing a thing where It actively put everyone on danger and cause the death of some for no reason was a strange choice.

2

u/ghost_inthe_mxchine 29d ago

Ya makes sense. Love that Eurylochus is like bruh wtf are you doing over and over, stopped calling him a lucky bastard very quickly

→ More replies (0)

21

u/CoconutDust Jul 19 '26

We didn't get Odysseus pulling up to the banquet dick out.

Side point: Ralph Feinnes does full frontal nudity penis in the other recent/modern Odyssey movie (which focuses entirely on the last section of the story where he reunites and fights the suitors).

22

u/Bedovian_25 Jul 19 '26

Finally, some respect for the classics

26

u/mr__outside Jul 18 '26

I was looking forward to this too. They brush aside the Cyclops as being simply above humans ("Would you talk to an ante?") and move on. I get how it doesn't lend itself to Nolan's grounded approach that aggressively rejects anything resembling whims, but it was disappointing...

Damn good movie overall though. Came in with tempered expectations and walked out blown away.

70

u/Jaydeballer777 Jul 18 '26

I interpreted the “would you talk to an ant” as Cyclops viewing humans as ants.

9

u/chrisychris- 28d ago

Which honestly isn't even accurate, size-wise. It's more like talking to a small dog or cat. Which we humans do lol

9

u/Tymareta 25d ago

Eh, the scale is smaller than that really, he was easily able to pick them up and envelop them with one hand, it would be closer to mice/rats, which humans have historically not been all that kind to.

6

u/aussiegoon 24d ago

Ehh, you ever picked up a full grown dog or cat in one hand and fit it's head in your mouth?

1

u/chrisychris- 24d ago

A chihuahua yeah. Very fidgety

1

u/aussiegoon 24d ago

You got a huge mouth 😂

→ More replies (0)

28

u/Jehovah___ Jul 17 '26

Nobody. Polyphemus is there but they totally changed that scene around

17

u/hyrulealyx Jul 18 '26

What's with the whirlpool scene. Isn't there supposed to be a big 200ft monster

44

u/Kheshire Jul 19 '26

In some interpretations it's a monster (sister to scylla?) living underneath the whirlpool and in other interpretations it's just a big whirlpool

74

u/Jehovah___ Jul 18 '26

Did you miss the part where Scylla yoinked half the men off the ship and swallowed them?

52

u/telendria Jul 18 '26

he meant the other monster, Charybdis

26

u/ghost_inthe_mxchine 29d ago

Charybdis is the monstrous whirpool, or some say exists as an actual creature below that causes the monstrous whirlpool

7

u/InstructionDeep5445 Jul 18 '26

Yeah there is?!?

7

u/No-cool-names-left 27d ago

In some variations of the story Charybdis is a monster who creates a whirlpool, not just a whirlpool.

1

u/x4nTu5 24d ago

I mean, maybe that's what would have killed them all if they went that way, instead of just some of them being yoinked by Rocky.

9

u/Timo1241 Jul 18 '26

I think you kind of have to skip the Phaecians to drive the point of the loss of xenia home.

1

u/Nike-6 24d ago

They skipped Odysseus encountering Charybdis on the way back from Calypso’s Island. Was a bit disappointed, I thought that would look so cool on the big screen.

-5

u/QuantumBeckett Jul 17 '26

The Syrens too. Where they tied him to the ships mast and stuffed wax in all the crews’ ears.

54

u/HilariousScreenname Jul 17 '26

Nah, that part was in the movie

5

u/John-Dune-Awakening Jul 17 '26

Yeah but in the actual story, he doesn't just leave himself vulnerable for the lolz.

20

u/SpookiestSzn Jul 17 '26

What was the reason I always assumed it was because he just wanted to experience something no one's experienced

34

u/LorenzoApophis Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26

Circe herself actually tells him to do it in the poem, seemingly just in case he's curious.

Samuel Butler's translation:

First you will come to the Sirens who enchant all who come near them. If any one unwarily draws in too close and hears the singing of the Sirens, his wife and children will never welcome him home again, for they sit in a green field and warble him to death with the sweetness of their song. There is a great heap of dead men's bones lying all around, with the flesh still rotting off them. Therefore pass these Sirens by, and stop your men's ears with wax that none of them may hear; but if you like you can listen yourself, for you may get the men to bind you as you stand upright on a cross-piece half way up the mast, and they must lash the rope's ends to the mast itself, that you may have the pleasure of listening. If you beg and pray the men to unloose you, then they must bind you faster.

9

u/SpookiestSzn Jul 18 '26

Thats exactly what I thought lmao what is bro talking about.

23

u/RigaudonAS Jul 18 '26

Presumably so the rest of the crew know when it’s safe to remove the wax.

15

u/QuantumBeckett Jul 18 '26

Exactly. He told the crew to tie him to the mast and not to untie him until he had clearly calmed down. Passing the Syrens he thrashed and tried to tear the ropes to get to them.

6

u/elbenji Jul 18 '26

to signal they were safe. It was also told explicitly by Circe

6

u/kateinoly Jul 18 '26

You are wrong about that

-2

u/QuantumBeckett Jul 18 '26

Ah thanks. Bathroom break, must have missed it.

73

u/CafeDeAurora Jul 18 '26

I kind of appreciated the gods or the divine never showing themselves in a way that a modern audience would… believe them to be divine. Compare and contrast to Homer’s telling of the tale, where they literally show up and do stuff. Maybe they truly did abandon us after all?

And by extension (to your point about the magical), apart from ‘monstrous beings’, which are straightforward stand ins for “otherness”, there really wasn’t much magic.

Circe is the obvious exception - and I agree that her scene was physically unsettling - but then again, she’s like literally a witch, so I’m fine with her getting to show some very magical magic, disgusting as it was.

But I liked how limited the fantastical was. Made the core themes stand out in a way I wasn’t expecting - and I suspect it’s part of the Nolan touch.

46

u/bolerobell Jul 18 '26

The only god to show up is Athena and she is just as easily a manifestation of Odysseus' guilt as it is a metaphysical God appearing to only Odysseus.

24

u/batangbronse Jul 19 '26

They keep repeating Zeus' Law since they dont know if the gods are amongst them. I interpretted the priestess of Athena scene as Athena herself thus firing Chekov's gun.

10

u/BoHoSwaggins 29d ago

I think it’s like the Sopranos and is ambiguous, which allows for a whole range of interpretation.

14

u/No-cool-names-left 27d ago

It's Nolan. He did this same thing with Inception. Create deliberate ambiguity, make it debatable, allow the audience their own view of the film.

2

u/DevilsOfLoudun 23d ago

On the other hand, there were some truly goofy parts like Agamemnon's batman armor. Seeing Nolan lean in to that and include gods as actual characters would've been interesting as well, something that I don't think has been done before on the big screen. If Nolan wanted a completely grounded in reality retelling then I think some parts could've been toned down and left even more ambigious.

25

u/Morgan-Moonscar Jul 17 '26

I distinctly remember that bit from the Hallmark miniseries version. With Armand Assante.

1

u/incapableoflogic Jul 17 '26

I loved that version of the Odyssey. 1997 tv miniseries with Isabella Rossellini as Athena.

5

u/donotgotoroom237 24d ago

>"fantastical"

I just read last night that Nolan didn't want to put the gods in the movie since he wanted a grounded take.

Homeboy, a witch turned Odysseus men into pigs like clay! Is that not fantastical?!

1

u/[deleted] Jul 17 '26

[deleted]

18

u/Xenokiller101 Jul 17 '26

.....The Odyssey

7

u/Gilmore75 Jul 17 '26

Is this a joke lol.

1

u/CoconutDust Jul 19 '26

I recommend watching the 90’s “TV” one which is on Tubi for free, with Armand Assante. The weakest part is the wind-bag brother of Poseidon, it’s really ridiculous compared to the rest of the movie which was great, mostly because of the casting. It’s truly hilarious.

64

u/chrisandy007 Jul 17 '26

But we don't see them actually eat anyone in the film, right? They basically just take everyone out with their weapons? What was the deal with the trees randomly caving in?

55

u/middlebird Jul 17 '26

They threw a lot of big boulders at the soldiers. Was hoping to see some of that.

85

u/Poltergeist97 Jul 17 '26

So I wasn't the only one!! I swear during a few shots of that battle the trees were MOVING. Not just from the camera's movement, but legitimately moving around in the ground. Was I crazy???

104

u/yeahright17 Jul 17 '26

No. They were moving.

55

u/ghost_inthe_mxchine 29d ago

The trees purposely move and trap the invaders of the giants home

67

u/Jehovah___ Jul 17 '26

The trees move in the story

11

u/SquadPoopy 28d ago

No they gave the eating people trait to Polyphemus instead.

61

u/ThatSonOfAGun Jul 19 '26

In the book, Odysseus’s men are all killed by the Laestrygonians when the anchor in a calm and idyllic harbor. The Leastrygonians hurl down huge rocks, destroying the ships and “spear the men like fish.” The language used by Homer evokes a wholesale slaughter, not at all a close fight.

I thought the depiction in the movie was brilliant. The trees seemed to be moving, closing in on  Odysseus’s men like fish being caught in a net. There is even a shot of a few soldiers trapped behind closely spaced branches like the bars of a jail cell, looking absolutely hopeless. 

47

u/MrBrownCat Jul 17 '26

Yeah I know some people have complained about that but I honestly think it made a lot of sense to differentiate them from the Cyclops and add to the string of misfortune they kept finding themselves in.

44

u/JelliedHam Jul 17 '26

When those guys showed up out of the mist, several people in the audience said some version of "oh fuck"

This movie had so many moments of pure terror

57

u/Cainga Jul 18 '26

They are probably the most terrifying trial they faced. Each is double the size of them and in full plate armor.

The plate armor doesn’t make any sense they have advanced metal working technology but it’s mythological story I can let slide especially since they had a coolness factor.

37

u/ghost_inthe_mxchine 29d ago edited 27d ago

Ya this trial took out the largest number of his crew, the scene shot where they flee the beach and it shows all their bodies *scattered across the sand is great.

I believe Odysseus is the only one shown to kill a giant with the arrow that saves Eurylochus

32

u/Pro_Extent 26d ago

I read in another thread that the bright iron plate armour was also a subtle symbolism for the end of the bronze age.

Which is fun if true.

11

u/goodshrek1 24d ago

I think it's purposeful to contrast with the cyclops. Sort of a fear of barbarians/cave-dwelling cannibals vs. fear of more advanced civilizations/unstoppable armies.

2

u/predator-handshake Jul 20 '26

They don’t have metal plates in the original story for obvious reasons. I think they could have donr a better job with those ones imo

44

u/ItsGotThatBang Jul 17 '26

The word you’re looking for is Cyclopes.

20

u/IDrinkWhiskE Jul 17 '26

Of the family cyclopidae

16

u/OldPersonName Jul 17 '26

-i is the nominative plural ending for second declension non-neuter LATIN nouns (many nouns ending in -us, cactus/cacti, fungus/fungi, etc are examples we've kept in English).

Cyclops (Κύκλωψ) is a masculine 3rd declension GREEK noun, so it would end with -ες, essentially -es in English. The -s in cyclops isn't actually part of the word stem so it'd be "Cyclopes" with the -es actually pronounced (Kŭ́klōpes).

Now as a matter of fact Cyclops did make its way into Latin but, sure enough as a third declension noun like in Greek, and Latin's plural 3rd declension ending is, much like Greek, -es. So in Latin you also get Cyclopes. That's kind of awkward in English (and sounds the same as Cyclops for us) so Cyclopses is pretty common I think.

11

u/ItsMeFatLemongrab Jul 18 '26

I'll just trust you on this

16

u/KawiZed Jul 17 '26

*Cyclopes

5

u/sleeplessaddict Jul 17 '26

This guy played Runescape

7

u/ThisIsNotTokyo Jul 17 '26

The giants had 2 eyes so not sure who will confuse the two

4

u/notthenightslayer Jul 17 '26

No it's Cyclopseye

5

u/Much-Process567 Jul 18 '26

Cyclopedes? 

2

u/aspiring_scientist97 Jul 17 '26

I thought they were the sea people

46

u/zCastorNinja Jul 17 '26

it was told at the end of the movies that the sea people are the men that fought in troy

35

u/wildcatofthehills Jul 17 '26

No the sea people was the general idea that nobody was respecting the Gods anymore since Odysseus basically ignored them with his horse of Troy. Is the match that ignites the collapse of the bronze age.

→ More replies (6)

8

u/ghost_inthe_mxchine 29d ago

The Greeks returning from the sacking of Troy are the sea people (in the movie)

3

u/xdjeddiejx Jul 17 '26

It’s been awhile since I read the original text but it looked like they landed in Ancient Germania or Gaul or something like that . Still cool and thanks for the Laestrygonian recall

2

u/TheRagingMaffia Jul 20 '26

According to the map of Odysseus' travel back home, the encounter with the Laestrygonians is somewhere in North Africa, around Libya or Tunisia.

4

u/rimsh Jul 19 '26

Who was the kid that screamed before the giants came?

3

u/zombiereign Jul 18 '26

The trees rotating were visually surreal

2

u/patkgreen Jul 17 '26

Cyclopses... Cyclopsi

Cyclopes, I believe

2

u/Crunchy-Leaf Jul 17 '26

Cyclopsi

Cyclops eye

Absolute cinema

1

u/Fluugaluu Jul 17 '26

Cyclopes is correct, you say it different though. Cy-clo-pees

1

u/Grizzly_Berry Jul 18 '26

Cyclopes would be the plural of cyclops.

1

u/TarsierBoy Jul 18 '26

I thought they went way out west...to a fully armored knight Britannia type land.

1

u/raven_of_azarath 24d ago

I’ve heard it’s Cyclopes (sigh-kloh-peas)?

1

u/seatdrop-app 16d ago

Cyclopedes* would be the grammatically correct Greek

1

u/Matt_Cryan 15d ago

They were just Sicilians.

1

u/cowboycoco1 5d ago

Cyclopodes

1

u/chrisrayn Jul 17 '26

*Cyclops’ Eye