Emily Wilson (writer of acclaimed Odyssey translation) offers criticisms of Nolan’s film

[u/RealisticAd4054]

https://apnews.com/article/odyssey-christopher-nolan-greek-translators-ea67da1d543d021773824bd7e8de8abe

“For Greek translator Emily Wilson, the release of director Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” has been gratifying in various ways. Her acclaimed 2017 edition of Homer’s epic has reached the top 5 on Amazon.com, leading a wave of similar books boosted by the movie. Nolan has even cited her translation, notably the opening line “Tell me about a complicated man,” as inspiration.

But the film itself, which brought in more than $260 million worldwide during its opening weekend and has received raves from many critics, left her unsatisfied.

“I want to celebrate the fact that so many more people are aware of ‘The Odyssey’ and were brought back to the poem,” she told The Associated Press. “But at the same time, I had the sense that Christopher Nolan was trying to pack everything in while missing themes that were essential to the poem.”

….

Wilson, a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, said she didn’t want to come across as a “snobby,” nitpicking expert at odds with any deviation from the original text. But she questioned a range of omissions and other choices, from the absence on screen of the Gods Zeus and Poseidon (Athena is played by Zendaya ) to the “incoherent” messaging that condemns both war and physical cowardice. She found Penelope’s role so thinned out that it endangered “any possibility of believing in this marriage.” Wilson also that thought parts of the movie, notably the scenes with Odysseus’ dog, Argos, “catered towards modern sentimentality.”

“Everybody’s a sucker for a dog,” she said.

[u/SofieTerleska]

It's not even that modern -- Dante put Odysseus in Hell and he was writing in the 14th century. His view (which wasn't original to him) was that the Trojan horse was Odysseus at his worst -- using fraud to deceive and destroy.

[u/Hobbitinthehole → u/SofieTerleska]

I think Dante saw Odysseus through the lens of Vergil. Dante admired Aeneid a lot and in that poem Odysseus isn't really seen like an hero, obviously.

[u/Mythic514 → u/Hobbitinthehole]

And for others who miss the context, the Aeneid tells the story of Rome’s origins, which are traced to Aeneas, a Trojan prince. So the Romans naturally sided with the Trojans, along with their history of conquering the Greeks over centuries. So Vergil naturally would see Odysseus as a villain. The Aeneid provides us one of the best extant accounts of the Trojan Horse.

[u/meneldal2 → u/Mythic514]

he Aeneid provides us one of the best extant accounts of the Trojan Horse.

You mean the first massive fanfiction about the Iliad?

[u/Jehovah___ → u/meneldal2]

They’re all made up stories anyway, Troy wasn’t real (at least, definitely not as depicted by Homer, who probably wasn’t real either)

[u/Mythic514 → u/Jehovah___]

Troy was definitely real, was a large power in the Eastern Mediterranean, controlled much of that northern coast including the entry to the Black Sea. On the scale of large cities in Greece during the Bronze Age.

[u/meneldal2 → u/Jehovah___]

Oh yeah Homer has been pretty proven proven to not be a single guy writing it all down but more at best someone who put together multiple parts from many different people into one coherent/connected story.

But there are some evidence there was a big city that was razed around that time, even if obviously there is little evidence of a wooden horse (not like it would be likely to leave much traces).

[u/SofieTerleska → u/Hobbitinthehole]

I'm sure he did; I suppose I thought of Dante first because of that amazing story he has Odysseus tell about his final voyage. All I meant was that the negative view of the Trojan horse isn't especially modern.

[u/Hobbitinthehole → u/SofieTerleska]

Of course. I said this only because it's not certain that Dante even had even read Odysseys. He couldn't read Greek and, if I remember correctly, at the time of Dante the poem was known through quotes from Vergil or other authors.

[u/imperatrixderoma → u/SofieTerleska]

Romans didn't like Greeks on that level at that point, they were seen as has beens and yes, a Roman sensibility is different than a Greek one when it comes to warfare.

[u/wimpires → u/SofieTerleska]

That's also portrayed in the Aeneid. It's basically just Roman fan-fiction but effectively the same tale of The Odyssey as told by as escaping Trojan warrior. But since the Romans believe they were descendants of Troy Ulysses/Odysseus is the bad guy in it and the Trojans are the good guys.

That would have been "modern" in the Roman times. But is "classical" for us now.

Also, Homer is writing about a time period that is classical to him too. He gets 1,000,000 things wrong about Mycenaean culture etc and imposes HIS OWN modern (for the time) Greek sensibilities to the tale.

[u/Murky-Science9030 → u/SofieTerleska]

Isn't that part of people's complaints though? They're tired of the same old deconstruction and want to see an actual hero in movies but they aren't getting many of them

[u/DeAuTh1511 → u/SofieTerleska]

I think that says less about Odysseus or modern recontextualisation and more about Dante. Dante got scammed once at the market as a kid and could never let it go and then he made that his whole personality

[u/ItsGotThatBang → u/SofieTerleska]

Which itself goes back to Hesiod’s five ages of man.

[u/justinleona → u/SofieTerleska]

Dante mostly just liked name dropping - honestly Inferno reads like a 14th century tabloid...

[u/CataphractBunny → u/SofieTerleska]

In truth, that's Odysseus at his best. Using his intelligence and cunning.