In a new series of interviews conducted by Variety, leading Homer scholars and historians steered the conversation in a different direction, with one arguing that the picture is quite the opposite of what many people have claimed.
A Homer Expert Says the Conversation Around ‘The Odyssey’ Has Missed the Point
In the months before “The Odyssey” reached theaters, much of the online discussion focused on the casting of Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy and Elliot Page as the Greek soldier Sinon, with some critics questioning whether those choices fit the world traditionally associated with Homer’s poem. The film, which stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, adapts the legendary hero’s journey home following the Trojan War.
Joel P. Christensen, editor of The Oxford Critical Guide to Homer’s Odyssey, said he has been frustrated by the way that debate has unfolded. “I’m really disturbed that so much of the conversation has been about how ‘woke’ or progressive this film was going to be,” he said. Rather than agreeing with that criticism, Christensen argued that “it’s a very conservative film.”
He pointed to the way the adaptation handles its female characters, adding, “The roles for women are constrained.” Christensen also dismissed the idea that the movie’s casting makes it especially progressive, saying, “The interracial casting is women of color who just get to be married to white men, which is not progressive.”
The remarks stand in contrast to months of online debate that framed “The Odyssey “as a politically charged reinterpretation of the classic tale. Among scholars interviewed by Variety, however, the larger conversations have focused on Nolan’s creative decisions, his approach to adapting Homer, and the film’s place within a tradition that has been reimagined for centuries, rather than on the culture war arguments that have dominated social media.