Christopher Nolan’s version of The Odyssey runs for almost three hours, but even that wasn’t enough to include every major moment from Homer’s original poem.
Since arriving in cinemas on July 17, The Odyssey has dominated the box office. As of its second weekend, the film had taken an estimated $639,600,000 worldwide, with $289,394,310 from North America alone.
Nolan’s film draws from Homer’s ancient epic of the same name, a work generally dated to between 725 and 675 BCE, which means it predates the Bible.
That source material is vast. The poem stretches across more than 12,000 lines and is divided into 24 books, so adapting it into a single feature inevitably meant trimming, reshaping and omitting parts of the story.
As a result, several notable scenes from Homer’s version do not appear in Nolan’s retelling.
Although the film includes war and violence, it is relatively restrained when it comes to explicit gore. During the Battle of Troy, for instance, a woman is beheaded by soldiers, but the moment itself is not shown in full.
That approach may help explain why one especially grim episode from the poem was left out entirely. In Homer’s text, 12 enslaved women are hanged.
According to The Guardian, the women are punished for being disloyal to the household and for sleeping with the suitors, leading Telemachus to order their deaths.
One sequence that certainly made it into the film is Circe turning Odysseus’ men into pigs, a moment many viewers will remember as one of the story’s most disturbing images.
In Nolan’s version, Circe spares Odysseus when he arrives on her island searching for his men. In the poem, the encounter plays out differently: Circe attempts to use her magic on him as well, but Hermes has already given Odysseus a magical herb that protects him. Hermes’ intervention is not shown in the film.
Another major part of that episode is also absent. In Homer’s telling, after Circe fails to overpower Odysseus and restores his men to human form, she and Odysseus become lovers. The Tab notes that Odysseus and his crew then remain on her island for a full year.
The reunion between Odysseus and Penelope is also handled differently on screen. In the movie, after defeating the remaining suitors, Odysseus proves who he is by giving Penelope the small Athena figurine she had given him before he left.
In the poem, Penelope tests him another way. She asks Odysseus to describe their marriage bed, knowledge only he would have, because it was made from an olive tree.
If you have not seen the ending yet, this is the point where spoilers begin.
The final scenes of the film diverge sharply from Homer’s original ending. In the poem, the relatives of the slain suitors gather into an angry mob and clash briefly with Odysseus. Athena then steps in on Zeus’ orders and forces both sides to accept peace.
After that, Odysseus resumes his place as king of Ithaca.
Nolan’s film takes another route. Instead, Odysseus and Penelope sail off together toward the sunset after their long-awaited reunion, while Telemachus is left to rule as king.
Nolan has already addressed criticism surrounding the film’s departures from the text. Speaking to The Telegraph about the complaints over historical or literary inaccuracies before release, he said that it “comes with the territory”.
“But look,” he went on, “these conversations that happen before people see the film – they’re always irrelevant, because no one having them knows what the film actually is yet.”
Written: Between 725 BC and 675 BC, meaning it is more than 2,500 years old
Based on a true story? Mostly no. Cyclops are mythical, and historians still debate whether the Trojan War really happened
Who wrote The Odyssey? Homer, though historians know very little about him and continue to debate whether he was one person or a group of poets
How long is the movie? 2hrs, 52mins
How much did The Odyssey cost to make? A reported $250 million
The Odyssey’s box office performance so far: $639.6 million globally after its second weekend
How long did it take to film The Odyssey? Principal photography lasted 91 days, or roughly 13 weeks
Where was the movie filmed? The Hellenic Film Commission said Nolan and the production team shot in several locations across the Peloponnese, including Nestor’s Cave, Voidokilia Beach, Almyrolaka Beach and Methoni Castle, along with Acrocorinth, the monolith overlooking ancient Corinth.
Vogue also reported that production took place in Morocco, including Marrakech, Tahanaoute, El Haouz, Essaouira and Ouarzazate. Filming was also spotted on the Sicilian island of Favignana, while Iceland was used for the underworld sequences.
The European shoot continued in Scotland too, with locations along the Moray Firth Coast as well as Findlater Castle and Culbin Forest.
The Odyssey in IMAX 70mm vs normal cinema screens: The film’s website compares multiple trailer versions across six formats, each with its own aspect ratio. That includes a look at the difference between IMAX 70mm — of which there are only 25 screens in the entire US — and standard 35mm presentation.
The Odyssey is in cinemas now.