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Lupita Nyong\u2019o at the London premiere of The Odyssey. (Supplied: Universal)<\/p>\n
Following a Time profile with Nolan in May, Musk reignited his tirade on the platform he bought for billions in 2022, agreeing with Daily Wire podcaster Matt Walsh<\/a> when he said: “Christopher Nolan knows that he would be called racist if he gave ‘the most beautiful woman’ role to a white woman.”<\/p>\n Days later, Musk accused Nolan of “desecrating”<\/a> The Odyssey to win Oscars, later linking his statement to the Academy\u2019s 2020\u00a0diversity guidelines, ignoring that the guidelines were already in place in 2023, when Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which had a predominantly white and male cast, won seven Oscars.<\/p>\n As late as June 6, Musk was calling Nolan a “worm”<\/a> and again accusing him of bowing to “woke” pressure to win awards.<\/p>\n The online noise amplified by Musk didn’t stop at Nyong’o’s casting; dozens of blue-tick X accounts have decried everything from the type of armour to the use of the word ‘dad’, with their complaints being justified by one aspect \u2014 historical accuracy.<\/p>\n But how far does historical accuracy go with Homer’s poems?<\/p>\n What is The Odyssey about?<\/p>\n The Odyssey is one half of a pair of poems assumed to have been written by the ancient Greek poet Homer.<\/p>\n The Iliad, widely regarded as the first work of European literature, comes first. It chronologically weaves the tale of the battle for and eventual downfall of the city of Troy, focusing on the 10th year of the Trojan War, all while taking place under the watchful gaze of the Olympian Gods. The key character in the Iliad is Achilles \u2014 son of a mortal and a goddess \u2014 who is a brilliant fighter but not a great diplomat.<\/p>\n The Odyssey takes place after the end of the war, following Odysseus’s journey from the war at Troy back to his kingdom of Ithaca and his wife, Penelope. Odysseus shares tales of his encounters with Sirens, memory-wiping fruit, the Cyclops, and the full wrath of the sea god, Poseidon.<\/p>\n Homer’s Odyssey has been a fixture of art for millennia. This vase depicting Odysseus tied to the mast listening to the songs of the Sirens is dated circa 480 BC. (Getty: Werner Forman\/Universal Images Group)<\/p>\n “The Odyssey, together with the Iliad, were probably circulating in the 8th or 7th century BC, which is ‘early’ among scholars of ancient Greek literature,” says Christopher Mackie, emeritus professor of Classics and Ancient History at La Trobe University.<\/p>\n “Whether the two poems are by the same poet \u2014 ie. Homer \u2014 is unclear. There were other epic poems telling the story of the fall of Troy in the early period \u2014 called the ‘Epic Cycle’ \u2014 but these have not survived.”<\/p>\n Professor Mackie says that while Achilles is revered for his fighting skills, Odysseus is admired for his cunning intellect in the face of ruin.<\/p>\n Goddess Athena (Zendaya) assists Odysseus (Matt Damon) on his epic journey.\u00a0 (Supplied: Universal)<\/p>\n “Odysseus is the quintessential tale-teller \u2014 he is a trickster and liar, and he survives when all his men die on the way home from Troy,” he says.<\/p>\n “His capacity to defeat overwhelming odds makes him a favourite of the Gods and one who is like them.”<\/p>\n But it’s not just Odysseus who has to think on their feet. While the king is fighting to return home, Penelope is fighting to keep 108 boorish suitors at bay until she’s reunited with her love. She tells the hoard taking up space in her home that she will choose the lucky man upon the completion of a woven shroud, but secretly unpicks her work at night.<\/p>\n Odysseus’s wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland) await his return to Ithaca. (Supplied: Universal)<\/p>\n “[Penelope] wins her own victories over the men invading her house by showing just how smart she is in deceiving the suitors,” Professor Mackie says.<\/p>\n “The victory over the men in the house is a victory for the whole family led by Odysseus with his son and wife and father, together with the goddess Athena.”<\/p>\n In the end, with some help from the Gods, Odysseus is reunited with Penelope and his son Telemachus and slays the suitors. The suitors’ families are poised for revenge, but Athena steps in to prevent further bloodshed.<\/p>\n What is the internet saying?<\/p>\n Homer’s Odyssey has been adapted for screen in numerous ways, from the 1911 silent film L’Odissea to the Coen Brothers’ satirical musical O Brother, Where Art Thou? to a 2002 episode of The Simpsons called Tales of the Public Domain.<\/p>\n Rarely have these adaptations kicked up the stink over the perceived anachronisms like Nolan’s most recent attempt, and it doesn’t stop at Nyong’o’s casting.<\/p>\n Newsmax presenter Rob Finnerty went on a multi-minute tirade<\/a> against transgender actor Elliot Page when it was rumoured he had been cast as super warrior Achilles. It was later confirmed that Page would portray soldier Sinon, Odysseus’s cousin.<\/p>\n Online commentators have also criticised the film’s costumes for being inaccurate, the ships for being too similar to Viking vessels and for the use of modern language and US accents.<\/p>\n There have been accusations that some of the ships featured in The Odyssey trailer more closely resemble Viking longships. (Supplied: Universal)<\/p>\n But Professor Mackie says these complaints miss a crucial aspect \u2014 Homer’s poems were written from myth.<\/p>\n “Most people don’t realise that Homer’s poems are pre-Socratic, pre-historical,” he says.<\/p>\n “This is not a historical text, not least because history hadn’t been invented when the poem was created. Likewise, there are preconceived notions about what individuals might have looked like when the text may give us very little evidence.”<\/p>\n While much of the vitriol has been directed at Nyong’o \u2014 who is Nigerian Mexican \u2014 casting, it is not even the first time a Black woman has played Helen of Troy in an adaptation. Singer and actor Eartha Kitt portrayed the legendary beauty in Orson Welles’s 1950 stage play Time Runs, while Galyn G\u00f6rg made a brief appearance as Helen in a 1996 episode of Xena: Warrior Princess.<\/p>\n Nyong’o dismissed the controversy in May, reinforcing that The Odyssey is a “mythological story”.<\/p>\n “Our cast is representative of the world. I\u2019m not spending my time thinking of a defence. The criticism will exist whether I engage with it or not,\u201d Nyong’o told Elle<\/a>.<\/p>\n Beyond text-to-screen adaptations, Homer’s poems have been translated from their original Ancient Greek numerous times, with various interpretations. The most recent of which, and the translation Nolan has said inspired him, is Emily Wilson’s 2017 edition. The first English translation by a woman, Wilson’s take was praised for its modern lilt and expose of “centuries of masculinist translations”<\/a>.<\/p>\n Eartha Kitt as Helen of Troy alongside Orson Welles as Faustus in the latter’s 1950 production of Time Runs. (Getty: Roger Viollet)<\/p>\n “One of the curiosities of the audience response to filmmakers like Christopher Nolan is how entrenched people can be when they are reading. The Greek poets did it their way, and we would expect a film director to do it their way today,” Professor Mackie says.<\/p>\n “[The Odyssey] belongs to a world that hadn’t embarked on rational inquiry and was happy enough to ascribe human activity to divine causation.<\/p>\n “That is what I like about Homer most; it doesn’t seek after empirical analysis the way that later Greek thinkers do.”<\/p>\n What are the critics saying?<\/p>\n From those who have been allowed access to Nolan’s Odyssey (the director reportedly cancelled influencer screenings<\/a>), the reviews have been largely positive.<\/p>\n Los Angeles Times film editor Joshua Rothkopf calls the film “staggering. Earthy, ghostly, weighty, touched by humour and grandeur alike. It’s pure cinema.”<\/p>\n![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/c0156ce40afda3af3c0b3a019d9e6ea3.jpeg\")
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