‘Troy,’ ‘The Odyssey,’ and the Controversy of Adapting Cherished Literature into Film 

Warning: this article contains spoilers for Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” as well as Homer’s “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey.” 

I haven’t seen a bigger controversy in years to match the absurdity of the ‘authenticity’ of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey.” These Internet voices come in two forms — the anti-woke crowd who deride casting choices such as Elliot Page and Lupita Nyong’o, and the erudite crowd, spearheaded by recent Homer translator and professor Emily Wilson. We’ve come to expect the former. Everything these days is a culture war, especially around casting choices of persons of color or the LGBTQ+ community. The latter was more of a surprise. Not so much because criticism from academics is unwanted, but in how mean-spirited it was. The cynical part of me feels like this happened mostly because it’s a film from a popular, Oscar-winning filmmaker. I don’t remember any of this fuss during “Troy’s” release in 2004. 

Just having re-watched “Troy” this week, criticism over “The Odyssey’s” inauthenticity becomes even more bizarre. In his 2004 review, critic Roger Ebert bemoaned the film’s near-total abandonment of Greek mythology, opining that “the Homer Estate should sue.” He’s not wrong about the almost complete neglecting of mythology in the run-time of “Troy.” However, I can’t help but laugh at the quip about Homer’s Estate. “Homer” was likely the name given to a set of oral traditions and spoken poems ultimately put into writing, and not one person. “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” take place more than a generation apart; clearly the man wasn’t alive to pen them. 

‘The Odyssey’ and the Latest Culture War

And now we have Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” which, aside Wilson’s criticisms, I’ve also seen derided as a “boring slog.” It’s an odd criticism as the film contains a modestly-serious attempt at Greek mythology. It brings more to the screen of myths and Gods than I’ve hitherto seen. But the film is slow. Its 2 hour and 53-minute run-time feels like it, whereas “Troy’s” 2 hour and 45-minute allotment seemed to fly by. “Troy” is mostly action and “The Odyssey” is mostly slow-burn spectacle (aside its brief action sequences). The film’s also both differ in tone. “Troy” centers around Achilles’ (Brad Pitt’s) disdain for King Agamemnon (Brian Cox) and his affection towards a slave girl (Rose Byrne) and his cousin Patroclus (Garrett Hedlund). The film carries a thesis of immortality through having your name remembered — Achilles is obsessed with the idea — and of not fading into the anonymity of history. 

“The Odyssey,” on the other hand, brings the Gods to bear more and centers on the idea of ‘home.’ In Homer’s “The Odyssey,” King Odysseus (Matt Damon) would take 10 years to return to his home in Ithaca after already having spent 10 years waging war on Troy. It also has a thematic take on what Nolan calls “Zeus’s Law.” He likens to the Golden Rule: treat others as you want to be treated. “The Odyssey” is a full spectacle. It almost certainly requires a second viewing.

Nolan and His Thesis of ‘Home’

However, it isn’t hard to see how Nolan’s thesis plays out here. We see this especially in the suffering Odysseus and his compatriots endure at the hands of the Gods. “Troy” barely opined on Odysseus’ more barbaric nature (he came up with the idea for the Trojan Horse, which led to the sack, rape, and murder of most of Troy). In contrast, “The Odyssey” kind of keeps him a blank slate for most of the film until the end. It’s here we see him regret what he’s done to Troy — and to his men along the voyage home — offering to go into exile to pay his men the honor and prayers they deserve. Here, Nolan drastically changed Odysseus’ finale. Homer’s poem paints him much more monstrous. He kills the hundreds of suitors who loiter his palace, makes his slaves clean up their bodies, and then has the slaves executed. 

And it’s here I broach the thesis of my own writing: filmmakers make decisions based on what they feel will best translate to screen. Their job is not to include “periphery gods from the poem,” as covered by Looper. It’s also not to cover everything in the literary works. They have to make it work for the screen. For instance, in “The Iliad,” King Agamemnon takes the priestess Briseis from Achilles after having to give up his own captive girl, Clytemnestra. This was after the God Apollo literally rained down silver arrows on his army for nine days until Agamemnon had no choice but to relent. And while “The Iliad” shows the ancient Greek’s fear of the Gods and what they believed about their world at the time, this would certainly make for ludicrous cinema. In “Troy,” director Wolfgang Peterson instead has Agamemnon and Achilles’ feud the cause of the latter losing Briseis. It’s not hard to see it’s a wiser choice. 

Understanding Cinema vs. Written Texts

Likewise, the epic battle of Hector vs. Achilles has this same treatment. I felt the sequence in Peterson’s film was excellent. We see Hector getting ready, reluctantly, to face an angered Achilles after he mistakenly killed the warrior’s cousin, Patroclus, in combat. It feels like a funeral march; there’s never a moment where we wonder if Hector is going to die. We know he is. Yet in Homer’s poem, we don’t see Hector as this brave man going to his death valiantly. Rather, he flees around the palace three times before the Goddess Athena intervenes, tricking him into standing his ground. 

Again: this is not something that makes good cinema. 

Both Nolan and ‘Troy’ Director Wolfgang Peterson Humanize Inhuman Characters

And this comes from the fact that in order to enjoy a film, we have to care about its characters. Achilles is a vicious warlord. Yet in “Troy” I was able to like him due to his philosophical nature (“the Gods envy us”) and his love for Briseis. And Odysseus is painted in the same light. His savagery at Troy — devoid of any regret aside the curse he and his men acquired from the Gods — does not make a good picture. We can get behind the Odysseus Nolan provides us. He’s someone who regretted what he did with such awareness that he felt exile and atonement the only recompense. Should Nolan instead have shown the man eviscerating the suitors in his temple and executing a bunch of innocent slaves? The point here is that Homer’s works contain a legion of vengeful, opportunistic Gods and some really despicable men. Do we really want to watch a movie devoted to that?

Toxic Males and Scholars Join Forces

And then the criticisms. I found Emily Wilson’s piece snooty and arrogant. Her opening paragraph alone (“My teenagers had a good time. Unlike some of Nolan’s other films, â€œThe Odyssey” is not boring, thanks to the source material, which is impossible to mess up entirely“) is one of the most pretentious things I’ve read to date. I’m not sure what she was trying to accomplish here, but it struck me in a funny way. I’m used to reading insults from fan boys about how a DC film got Superman’s cape or suit wrong. But in an age of anti-intellectualism, where conspiracy theory and meming answer for thought, I found the virility of Wilson’s critique ludicrous. It’s all the Internet has talked about for almost two weeks. 

Of course, Wilson’s criticism follows weeks of the usual cries from immature white men. These have been led by Elon Musk, who clamor about the inaccurate casting choices of Elliot Page and Lupita Nyong’o. Of course, these people use the term inaccurate when they mean woke. And by that, I mean they take offense a film adaptation about ancient literature includes a Transman and a Black woman. I don’t recall this criticism of “Troy,” whose leads were played by an Englishman, an American, an Irishman, a German, and a Scot (Sean Bean, Brad Pitt, Brendan Gleeson, Diane Kruger, and Brian Cox, respectfully) for “not being authentically cast.” 

Have we reached a critical point where we simply can’t enjoy movies?

The reason for these arguments’ absurdity is of course because Helen of Troy and the Trojan war are not real. It’s even more absurd realizing ancient Greek thought on Blacks (Aithiops/Ethiopians) ranged from exotic fascination to a study of their beauty, artwork, and more. The standards of beauty change over time. Obesity was once a sign of privilege, and there’s no reason Nyong’o’s Helen of Troy wouldn’t be the hegemony of beauty men would fight over. Of course, that’s not even what the Trojan War was about. Spurned King Menelaus wanted her back to kill her and his brother Agamemnon used her to destroy Troy, which stood in his way of trade routes. Read: these are boring, immoral people. But since we live in a climate of cultural warfare, no casting choice is sacrosanct. The Internet often reverberates with racism and hate in most of its corners. 

Remembering Films Before the Age of Culture Wars

All-in-all, I think my basic point is we’re at a critical junction where people simply can’t enjoy movies anymore. Of course, “The Odyssey” is faring extremely well with audiences and critics alike and is crushing Box Office records. But you’re allowed to dislike it. Of course you are. I found it head scratching that a Facebook article asked, pointedly, “are you allowed to dislike “The Odyssey?” with only Forbes magazine having the wherewithal to comment on how the film’s criticism is absurd and the latest example of placing culture wars above art. The word “adaptation” exists for a reason. Storytellers and film directors take what they have and make us feel something. 

Personally, I felt “Troy” did a better job at making me feel its characters drives and emotions. However, “The Odyssey” did a better job in atmosphere and making me feel the actual myths and the Greek’s fear of the Gods. Yet most films come and go without the acrimony and incessant buzzing and criticism to face this film. I’m hoping eventually we can open social media without hearing the hot take de jour of Nolan’s latest and get back to business as usual. At least until the release of next Marvel or “Star Wars” film. And then the vitriol will start again, subjecting us to an endless cycle of culture wars and toxic fandom where in the past we simply had these things called movies. 

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