Very nice overview of the treatment of Odysseus/Ulysses in the subsequent literary tradition. I'd like to add one more title, Nikos Kazantzakis' "The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel," translated by Kimon Friar. Kazantzakis was very well-known way back when I was young; his best known work is "Zorba the Greek" which was made into a wonderful movie starring Anthony Quinn.
His "Odyssey," however was really his magnum opus. FWIW, it includes three lines that I think are among the sexiest lines of poetry I've ever read:
A woman's body is a dark and monstrous mystery;
between her supple thighs a heavy whirlpool swirls,
two rivers crash, and woe to him who slips and falls!
I haven't seen the movie yet; maybe I will, maybe I won't. Probably will, at some point. I'm a former classicist and am not sure I'm ready for his reinterpretation. Homer's Odyssey is so wonderful as it is, I worry about people messing it up.
Kazantzakis' Odyssey is enormous: 33,333 lines, or around three times the length of Homer's Odyssey. To be honest, I never did get all the way through it. If you (or your audience) want to learn more about Odysseus in the literary tradition, let me recommend W.B. Stanford's "The Ulysses Theme."
I agree Chandi. Retelling apparently is always an outcome because different people with different perspectives interpret events and causes differently as they are influenced by their own life experiences. The Odyssey is a tale rich in imagery embedded in a theology that few today know anything about. Yet the poem is a skeletal structure upon which can be developed a fleshed out story of our own individual lives. Yet, even in this, the search continues for the good, the true, and the beautiful.
Hi! Thanks for your articulation of this! I was struck by your sentence about there not being one canonical and correct version of the story. It reminded me that it’s the same with the bible. Both are known through centuries of editorial reconstructions and translations.
This was very much my take on the movie. We live in the age of Agamemnon. Thank you for explaining for the pedants why it does not have to be,an exact recreation.
The other theme I saw was Ulysses becoming conscious.
I was also interested in the film's apparent awareness of what is now called the Late Bronze Age Collapse. The heartily recommend the books and online lectures on this subject by archaeologist and historian Eric Cline. Here's a link to videos of a bunch of his lectures on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=eric+cline+bronze+age+collapse I find this subject to be a fascinating hypothesis to contemplate.
Thanks for cautioning to wait to see the movie before reading this excellent review and "interpretation". Kudos. I was champing at the bit to read your essay but somehow willed myself to wait until seeing the movie today. I managed to spy the Sea Peoples kernel; a new twist. As for the debates on interpretations, we all would do well to remember these poems began in an oral storytelling tradition, itself subject to interpretations, varying emphases and performance choices. I recall a post you had not long ago of celebrities reciting variations of Hamlet's "To be or not to be..." Quite funny and just the thing to remind us of interpretations. Bravo.
Really enjoyed this. One thing worth adding from the study of oral tradition: there was never a single fixed Odyssey to betray. The poem we have grew out of generations of singers reshaping the story in performance for whichever audience sat in front of them, so Nolan is doing what the tradition has always done, just with a bigger budget.
Your account of Nolan’s interpretation suggests an inversion of 'nostos' more disturbing than the fear of civilisational collapse itself. In Homer, the return of Odysseus, however bloody its completion, restores the order broken by his absence; here, the returning king is himself the disorder from which the household and the civilisation must be defended. He does not bring civilisation home from war, but carries home the violation by which the war was won. Xenia thus ceases to be merely an ancient law of hospitality and becomes the boundary beyond which victory, having destroyed the rules it claims to preserve, begins to resemble defeat. This may be the peculiarly modern force of Nolan’s reading: not the familiar fear that barbarism waits beyond the walls, but the graver suspicion that it may pass through the gates in triumph, bearing the face and receiving the honours of the hero.
Very nice overview of the treatment of Odysseus/Ulysses in the subsequent literary tradition. I'd like to add one more title, Nikos Kazantzakis' "The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel," translated by Kimon Friar. Kazantzakis was very well-known way back when I was young; his best known work is "Zorba the Greek" which was made into a wonderful movie starring Anthony Quinn.
His "Odyssey," however was really his magnum opus. FWIW, it includes three lines that I think are among the sexiest lines of poetry I've ever read:
A woman's body is a dark and monstrous mystery;
between her supple thighs a heavy whirlpool swirls,
two rivers crash, and woe to him who slips and falls!
I haven't seen the movie yet; maybe I will, maybe I won't. Probably will, at some point. I'm a former classicist and am not sure I'm ready for his reinterpretation. Homer's Odyssey is so wonderful as it is, I worry about people messing it up.
I don’t know that one! Sounds very interesting
Kazantzakis' Odyssey is enormous: 33,333 lines, or around three times the length of Homer's Odyssey. To be honest, I never did get all the way through it. If you (or your audience) want to learn more about Odysseus in the literary tradition, let me recommend W.B. Stanford's "The Ulysses Theme."
I agree Chandi. Retelling apparently is always an outcome because different people with different perspectives interpret events and causes differently as they are influenced by their own life experiences. The Odyssey is a tale rich in imagery embedded in a theology that few today know anything about. Yet the poem is a skeletal structure upon which can be developed a fleshed out story of our own individual lives. Yet, even in this, the search continues for the good, the true, and the beautiful.
Hi! Thanks for your articulation of this! I was struck by your sentence about there not being one canonical and correct version of the story. It reminded me that it’s the same with the bible. Both are known through centuries of editorial reconstructions and translations.
This was very much my take on the movie. We live in the age of Agamemnon. Thank you for explaining for the pedants why it does not have to be,an exact recreation.
The other theme I saw was Ulysses becoming conscious.
I was also interested in the film's apparent awareness of what is now called the Late Bronze Age Collapse. The heartily recommend the books and online lectures on this subject by archaeologist and historian Eric Cline. Here's a link to videos of a bunch of his lectures on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=eric+cline+bronze+age+collapse I find this subject to be a fascinating hypothesis to contemplate.
This is the best thing I've read about the Odyssey in the wake of the movie coming out!
Thank you!
Thanks for cautioning to wait to see the movie before reading this excellent review and "interpretation". Kudos. I was champing at the bit to read your essay but somehow willed myself to wait until seeing the movie today. I managed to spy the Sea Peoples kernel; a new twist. As for the debates on interpretations, we all would do well to remember these poems began in an oral storytelling tradition, itself subject to interpretations, varying emphases and performance choices. I recall a post you had not long ago of celebrities reciting variations of Hamlet's "To be or not to be..." Quite funny and just the thing to remind us of interpretations. Bravo.
I want to read this so bad but I haven’t seen the movie yet. I feel like Tantalus in Hades
Really enjoyed this. One thing worth adding from the study of oral tradition: there was never a single fixed Odyssey to betray. The poem we have grew out of generations of singers reshaping the story in performance for whichever audience sat in front of them, so Nolan is doing what the tradition has always done, just with a bigger budget.
Excellent summary of the retellings of this age old tale that speaks to us from deep in our unconciousness.
My thoughts on Odyssey !
https://ghazibenahmed.substack.com/p/christopher-nolans-the-odyssey-when?r=4ukxmm&utm_medium=ios
Your account of Nolan’s interpretation suggests an inversion of 'nostos' more disturbing than the fear of civilisational collapse itself. In Homer, the return of Odysseus, however bloody its completion, restores the order broken by his absence; here, the returning king is himself the disorder from which the household and the civilisation must be defended. He does not bring civilisation home from war, but carries home the violation by which the war was won. Xenia thus ceases to be merely an ancient law of hospitality and becomes the boundary beyond which victory, having destroyed the rules it claims to preserve, begins to resemble defeat. This may be the peculiarly modern force of Nolan’s reading: not the familiar fear that barbarism waits beyond the walls, but the graver suspicion that it may pass through the gates in triumph, bearing the face and receiving the honours of the hero.