“The Odyssey” is one hell of a journey.
Once again, director Christopher Nolan enlists a cast of A-list actors and jumbles timelines to tell his ambitious version of Odysseus’ journey from Homer’s “The Odyssey.”
Set after the conclusion of the 10-year Trojan War, the story follows the hero Odysseus (Matt Damon) as he returns to Ithaca, a journey that takes nearly as much time as the war. Borrowing from the Greek tradition of oral storytelling, Nolan’s nearly three-hour adaptation is told through the accounts of a bard (played by Travis Scott) who spins tales of the great warrior and Odysseus himself as he reflects on the events of his homecoming voyage.
If understanding “The Odyssey” feels like a laborious journey in itself, here’s a breakdown of the timeline, monsters and myths behind Nolan’s epic adaptation.
The War
In times of peace, Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) had hosted parties in their palace for all — even beggars were welcome. Zeus’ law insisted upon showing hospitality to every guest because anybody could be a god in disguise. Odysseus also prided himself on being the only person able to string his sturdy bow. At these celebrations, he would invite men to try to wield the bow before easily stringing it himself and shooting an arrow through 12 axes as entertainment.
Before “The Odyssey” kicks off, conflict was brewing overseas. The queen of Sparta, Helen (Lupita Nyong’o), was the most beautiful woman in the world. Prince Paris of Troy took a liking to her, and Helen left Sparta for Troy. Her scorned husband, King Menelaus (Jon Bernthal), turned to his brother Agamemnon (Benny Safdie), the king of all ancient Greece, for help. Agamemnon was also married to Helen’s twin sister, Clytemnestra (also played by Nyong’o), but his loyalty was with his brother. Agamemnon raised an army, thus beginning the Trojan War.
Before joining the war, Odysseus told Penelope that she must remarry if their young son Telemachus (Tom Holland) came of age before his return from Troy. Odysseus then held a lottery to determine who would serve in Ithaca’s army. When Antinous (Robert Pattinson) tried to have Sinon (Elliot Page) take his place, Odysseus intervened. He selected Sinon to serve so Antinous could stay back and care for his family.
The Greeks spent a grueling 10 years fighting at Troy. As the war dragged on, Odysseus got the idea to build a wooden horse to hide his soldiers, allowing them to sneak through the gates of the city. The rest of the army would sail away to not draw suspicion, and one man would stay behind to present the horse as a peace offering. That one man was Sinon, who was intentionally kept unaware of the plan so he could deliver a convincing performance.
Days later, Odysseus’ enemies discovered the Trojan Horse but believed Sinon to be a threat, so they killed him. Sinon claimed the horse was an offering to Athena (Zendaya) until his dying breath. The soldiers brought the Trojan Horse inside the gates. Odysseus and his men waited until nightfall to emerge. They rushed to open the gates, where Agamemnon and the rest of the Greek army were waiting, and together they took over the city of Troy, securing their victory. The war was finally over.
The Journey
The three kings — Agamemnon, Menelaus and Odysseus — parted ways at Troy and began their return voyages.
Helen unwillingly returned to Sparta with Menelaus. To prevent a similar war from happening again, Menelaus scarred her face, permanently marring her famous beauty. Agamemnon was thrilled to return home, where he believed he would be welcomed with open arms by Clytemnestra, despite publicly sacrificing their daughter for good fortune before the war. In Agamemnon’s absence, Clytemnestra plotted her revenge for the death of their daughter. Soon after his return, she murdered him.
Odysseus and his men were similarly experiencing poor luck. With the ruin of Troy also came the desecration of Zeus’ law, which proved dangerous to the returning Ithacans. They had angered the gods while in battle, especially the god of the sky. The winds unknowingly steered the Ithacans to the island of Polyphemus (Bill Irwin), the one-eyed cyclops.
While exploring the island for food, the men were trapped in Polyphemus’ cave with the cyclops’ herd of sheep. In a desperate attempt to escape, they stabbed Polyphemus in the eye, blinding him. However, the cyclops was a son of Poseidon, and this attack angered the sea god. With the wind and the sea now working against them, Odysseus and his men were next led to the Laestrygonian giants, who brutally attacked them, leaving them with only one ship and its crew.
Their next journey was to the island of Aeaea, where Circe (Samantha Morton) turned Odysseus’ men into pigs. The hero ultimately convinced the sorceress to return them to human form, but before they left, Circe told Odysseus his army must visit the underworld and speak to the prophet, Tiresias (James Remar), if they wish to return home.
The men sailed to the underworld, where they raised an army of the dead. One of the spirits was Sinon, who was upset with Odysseus for betraying him and not telling him the Trojan Horse plan. Sinon also told Odysseus the fallen Ithacan soldiers were unable to rest because they weren’t honored with proper Greek warrior funeral rites. Sinon instructed Odysseus to seek vengeance against Antinous in Sinon’s name and that he must also sail west to honor the lives lost. Agamemnon emerged next and cautioned Odysseus, sharing how he was murdered by his wife after being too confident in receiving a hero’s welcome. He advised Odysseus to return home in disguise and stealthily discover his true allies. Tiresias then told Odysseus how he can return home. First, he and his men must sail past the deadly sirens. Then, they must choose to sail either through the whirlpool Charybdis, which will kill every man on board, or past the sea monster Scylla, who will only kill six men.
In the end, Odysseus’ choice won’t matter, as Tiresias told him all of his men will die after they reach Apollo’s island and kill the sun god’s cattle. Odysseus was convinced he could cheat the prophecy and decided not to tell his men of their fate (nor their choice between Charybdis or Scylla). He did tell them the danger of the sirens, though, and instructed his men to put wax in their ears so they were not tempted by their fatal song. Odysseus insisted on hearing their song and was tied to the mast. Once they sailed past, he told his men of the song, which left him weeping, and that it revealed everything he could ever want but also why he could never have it.
Odysseus must then make his choice between Charybdis or Scylla. Confident he could defy the prophecy, he instructed his men to attempt the whirlpool crossing and emerge from the other side. His men, distrustful of what they believed to be bad guidance, steered toward Scylla. As foretold, six men died.
Now realizing Odysseus did not reveal what Tiresias told him, the soldiers demanded he share everything he learned, mainly second-in-command Eurylochus (Himsesh Patel). Odysseus told him of the prophecy and begged his men to promise not to kill any cattle on Apollo’s island, which they neared. They agreed — for a short time.
Soon after their arrival, the men realized they were trapped on the sun god’s island, as the wind wouldn’t allow them to sail away. They grew increasingly tired, hungry and frustrated with Odysseus for withholding information, even proposing to leave the king on the island. Their starvation reached new heights, and the men ultimately broke their promise to Odysseus and killed one of Apollo’s cattle.
The winds eased, allowing them to continue their voyage home. Odysseus’ men insisted they would rather drown than starve. Soon after, the combined anger of Zeus, Poseidon and Apollo created a storm that killed everyone except the king.
Odysseus washed up on Calypso’s (Charlize Theron) island, where he ended up spending seven years. Calypso had been banished to live on the island of Ogygia after the Olympians defeated the Titans long ago. She fed him lotus flowers that made him forget about Penelope and Telemachus, sending his mind into a peaceful state. After Odysseus finally confronted his trauma and the real reason why he didn’t want to return home, Calypso helped guide him back to Ithaca.
Calypso told Odysseus he must submit to the will of the gods, something he had been loath to do thus far. He built a raft to escape Ogygia, letting the ocean take him under and deposit him on land. Athena appeared to him and revealed that he was finally back in Ithaca.
Home at Last
Odysseus returned to Ithaca 20 years after his initial departure, disguised as a beggar. The first person he found was the blind swineherd Eumaeus (John Leguizamo), who had just been attacked. He then ran into Telemachus, who doesn’t recognize his father until they stumble across Argus, Odysseus’ old dog. After waiting for Odysseus to return, the dog wagged its tail and died. Odysseus instructed Telemachus to tell Penelope nothing of his return, but to convince her she must select a suitor.
Zeus’ law still held weight in Ithaca, despite whispers of “the people from the sea” who plundered everything in their path getting closer to home. In Odysseus’ absence, Penelope held court to dozens of suitors eager to wed and control Ithaca. She fended off their advances, believing her husband would return home, and becomes angered when Telemachus says it is time to choose a spouse.
Odysseus, still under disguise, begged for food from the suitors at dinner that night. Antinous spit in his bowl, and two of the suitors beat him. Telemachus put a stop to it in honor of Zeus’ law. Penelope wanted to meet the mysterious beggar, not knowing he was Odysseus. Secluded behind a screen, Odysseus told Penelope stories as if he served alongside Odysseus, trying to convince her to let go and find a new suitor. One of Penelope’s longtime slaves recognized Odysseus’ scar on his leg, and he implored her to stay quiet. Odysseus finally named his trauma and why he did not want to go home — because he had broken Zeus’ law after taking Troy.
Meanwhile, Antinous lurked nearby with a knife, ready to kill Telemachus, but gets distracted by Penelope announcing she is ready to choose a suitor. The next day, the doors are sealed for Penelope’s challenge: The suitors must string Odysseus’ arrow and shoot an arrow straight through 12 axes, just as the king once did. Telemachus and Eumaeus locked the remaining weapons upstairs. The suitors embarrassed themselves one by one, until Antinous demanded Penelope simply choose the best of them. Odysseus then shed his disguise and completes the challenge easily.
A fight broke out as the suitors tried to overthrow Odysseus, and Melanthius (Logan Marshall-Green) managed to break into the room upstairs to retrieve weapons. The king successfully fought a hundred men and emerged victorious, but not before killing Antinous in Sinon’s name.
Odysseus and Penelope reunited, and Telemachus was crowned the new king of Ithaca as Odysseus vowed to sail west to honor the men who died along the way. The west is symbolic of death in mythology, but also connected to the land of Elysium, the final resting place for Greek heroes.
