Christopher Nolan Explains Some of the Changes He Made for The Odyssey Compared to Homer's Epic Poem, Including the New Ending

The Odyssey is simply a smash deed with critics and connected people to marque implicit $1 cardinal astatine the planetary container office, but immoderate person questioned changes made by Nolan for his adaptation of Homer's epic poem.

Warning! Spoilers for The Odyssey follow:

For example, Greek translator Emily Wilson, who is down the 2017 translation of The Odyssey that Nolan reportedly credited with inspiring his instrumentality connected the poem, has questioned the lack of the gods Zeus and Poseidon successful the movie, and called the film’s anti-war and anti-cowardice connection “incoherent.” She was besides captious of Anne Hathaway’s Penelope, saying the relation was truthful reduced it endangered “any anticipation of believing successful this marriage.” Neither did she similar the scenes with Odysseus' dog, Argos, which she said “catered towards modern sentimentality.” Overall, Wilson said she thought Nolan “was trying to battalion everything successful portion missing themes that were indispensable to the poem.”

In an interrogation with Time Magazine, Nolan explained immoderate of his changes astir Helen of Troy, Athena, and his caller ending — though helium inactive near overmuch to assemblage interpretation.

For a start, Nolan wouldn’t corroborate that Athena — played by Zendaya — is really the deity Athena, arsenic she is successful the poem, oregon a manifestation of Odysseus’ guilt implicit the Trojan war. Referencing however helium learnt his acquisition from explaining Memento, Nolan refused to specify the experience. But helium did speech mostly astir his instrumentality connected The Odyssey and the question of whether the gods beryllium successful his adaptation, insisting that “we presumption the gods the mode that radical astatine the clip mightiness person viewed them. So they’re seeing grounds of the gods successful nature. They’re seeking and uncovering gods and the power of gods successful the radical astir them.”

One of the large changes Nolan makes is to Helen of Troy, played by Lupita Nyong'o, with the proposition that Menelaus (Jon Bernthal) deliberately scarred Helen’s look upon her instrumentality to Sparta. In Greek mythology, Menelaus forgives Helen. In Nolan’s adaptation, Menelaus and Helen person a toxic marriage, and helium forces her to amusement her scarred look to Tom Holland’s Telemachus, saying: “The look that launched 1,000 ships, oregon possibly conscionable 500.”

So, wherefore marque this change? Nolan said helium felt Homer’s poem “didn’t needfully code what it is for Helen to beryllium brought backmost by Menelaus and however that would ever work,” saying helium felt it would beryllium an “acidic, atrocious marriage.”

“There’s a batch of s**t that’s happened successful that relationship, and we person a precise little infinitesimal of clip with them successful this story,” Nolan continued. “I was looking for a shorthand mode to pass the aftermath of the warfare and however it’s been traumatic for the full world.”

Nolan besides touched connected changes helium made successful effect to the extremity of Homer’s poem, which helium said is “so grim and truthful misogynistic, I had to exclude immoderate of that material. But I didn’t privation to wholly instrumentality it disconnected the array successful presumption of what it is saying astir men and the mode they wage war.”

This is seemingly successful notation to the extremity of Homer’s poem, wherever Odysseus kills the disloyal maidservants alongside the suitors. My instrumentality connected Nolan’s mentation present is that helium benignant of transposes his feelings astir the execution of the maidservants into Circe’s information for turning Odysseus’ soldiers into pigs. Circe successful Homer's poem is simply a precise antithetic character, and the country successful question plays retired precise differently.

And, briefly, Nolan discussed his caller ending, wherever Odysseus and Penelope sail distant into the sunset portion predicting however aboriginal civilizations are destined to repetition the aforesaid mistakes. This, again, is antithetic from Homer’s poem, wherever Odysseus remains arsenic king with a small divine involution helping him retired on the way.

“For me, it was important successful looking astatine the ending to effort and onslaught the close equilibrium betwixt pessimism and optimism,” Nolan explained, “pessimism astir what mightiness person precipitated the Bronze Age catastrophe and the optimism that affirmative things volition reassert themselves.”

My instrumentality present is that Nolan changed the ending to hammer location the film’s overarching connection astir the horrors of war. Indeed, the last changeable of the movie is the burning caput of Odysseus’ horse, utilized to instrumentality the Trojans into opening their doors, and, successful the movie’s view, sparking the opening of the extremity of occidental civilization. Watching the movie, I felt immoderate ambiguity implicit the ending — is it Odysseus’ dying dream? Is it real? But the mode Nolan talks astir it here, it does consciousness similar thing that really happened, insofar arsenic thing successful The Odyssey really happened.

Is that a atrocious thing? As I’ve said before, it is wholly imaginable to bask Nolan’s The Odyssey for what it is: a spectacular and affectional blockbuster movie with a message, portion acknowledging it deviates from the root worldly successful immoderate cardinal ways.

Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for Universal Pictures.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].