In The Odyssey, It’s The Women (And Gods) Who Guide The Path To Restoration

Christopher Nolan takes The Odyssey, a story filled with gods, monsters and war, and makes it both spectacular and stunningly human. Known for his grandiose auteur, Nolan approached a millenia-old text that is already massive in nature with restraint that gives this adaptation about war-torn consequences, mythological creatures and fantastically fatal voyages a relatable grounding. And even with the film’s hypermasculine themes, the women are the beating heart.

This isn’t the Odyssey you may have read in AP literature. Even still, the Academy Award-winning director doesn’t take the creative liberties for this adaptation, shot in IMAX 70mm, fans of Oppenheimer and his other films may expect. Instead, he infuses Homer’s story with his signature style of flashbacks as a statement of how time and memory affect a character’s identity and purpose remain. The film becomes a puzzle assembled over the course of nearly three hours. It’s that same disorienting invitation that allows audiences to live in the psyche of Odysseus, played by Matt Damon. (Spoilers ahead.)

During the Bronze Age, Zeus’ Law is the alpha and the omega. It demands that citizens welcome beggars to their table as they would kings and that soldiers fight with integrity and honesty. Zeus’ Law serves as the sociopolitical contract that ensures people, no matter the class status, treat each other with honor, dignity and respect — even in war. The price to pay for disregarding that contract is to face the wrath of the gods. 

Today we see so many social contracts thrown out of the window at an alarming rate through corrupt political regimes, gluttonous billionaires and hyperindividualism. We’re experiencing an attack on our rights — voting, freedom of the press and due process for immigrants — while the president gives unprecedented power to Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and more of the 1%. Like Ithaca, greed at the top has weakened our society. Look no further than the broken healthcare system, lack of affordable housing and an institutional disregard for universal equity as proof. Nolan presents parallels that show that is the right time for his interpretation of Homer’s classic poem. 

Odysseus, the king of Ithaca who is as much of an anti-hero as he is herculean, experiences just that over the course of the two decades the film takes place. Though he’s a fearless leader, his ego and impulsion cost him time, blood and memory of family. Back at home, the 20-something-year-old son who never knew him, Telemachus, played by an endearing Tom Holland, sets off to find answers about the father he never knew while helping his mother hold off the men looking to take the throne. Among them is Robert Pattinson’s conniving portrayal of Antinous.

Though their time on screen is limited, the women of The Odyssey deliver magnificently — and fashionable so during the red carpet premieres. In the wake of a society crumbling before them, their characters uphold an undeniable morality and calculated strength. Most notably, Anne Hathaway’s portrayal of Queen Penelope is a true standout. Her anger and grief are palpable as she draws closer and closer to her breaking point entertaining slobbish suitors while holding out on news of whether or not her husband was alive. Penelope is well aware of the patriarchal system that sees her as a mere chessboard piece rather than a powerful woman holding together a post-war society on the verge of collapse. Hathaway brilliantly captures Penelope’s tacticality and wisdom, especially as she gives suitors a final challenge she knows only Odysseus can conquer.

And despite the racist criticism from Elon Musk and others, Lupita Nyong’o is such a fitting choice to play Helen of Troy, considered the most beautiful woman in the world. Nyong’o heartbreakingly captures her sadness and regret as she remains trapped in a marriage against her will. She secretly warns Telemachus of what may come if Penelope remarries. Even the women who make “bad” decisions do so in an attempt to reset the scales of justice. We learn that Clytemnestra, Helen’s twin sister also played by Nyong’o, killed her husband upon his return from war to avenge their daughter’s ritual sacrifice. And in this adaptation, Circe (Samantha Morton) used her sorceress powers to turn Odysseus’ men into pigs as an anti-war protest before guiding them to hell to receive an important prophecy about their journey. Morton’s impact sticks with you, not only because she molds men’s faces into swine like Play-Doh, but she skillfully expresses a range of meekness, warmth, vengeance and terror during her short stint on screen.

In contrast to the masculine gods Zeus and Poseidon, Athena (Zendaya) is a deity that Odysseus — and solely him — can see. The Emmy Award-winner brings a regality and grace to the principled goddess who protects our protagonist. It’s the subtleties in this role opposite Damon that remind you that this 29-year-old carries the force and stature of a Hollywood veteran.

Damon himself is mesmerizingly sharp as Odysseus. His character’s karmic cycle begins when he deceives even his own to infiltrate the walls of Troy with a Trojan horse, a decision for which he would have to answer to the dead. 

With the decade-long war now over, Odysseus and his soldiers set sail to return home to Ithaca. While searching for food to sustain them on their journey, they run into a giant man-eating cyclops, Polyphemus. As they are escaping, Odysseus blinds Polyphemus and angers his father, Poseidon, ruler of the sea. This makes for hellish travel conditions that lead the soldiers to precarious locations — an island full of massive, armored super-soldiers, the home of a witch who turns the men into pigs and through a channel of deadly sirens — and cost them most of their fleet.

Odysseus’ starving men then offend Zeus by eating sun god Helio’s sacred cattle, despite being warned against it. All but Odysseus, who refused to eat the cattle, are killed after a bolt of lightning strikes and destroys the last remaining ship. Odysseus washes ashore and is healed then held captive by Calypso (Charlize Theron), a lonely nymph who has been feeding him a memory-erasing lotus flower. The Oscar-winner is ethereal as Calypso. She appears throughout the film’s first two acts, serving as a guide as we learn Odysseus. Calypso helps him recall who he is and how he got to her island, leading to this long awaited return to Ithaca.

It doesn’t feel coincidental that the women in this film are working in tandem with the skies to restore the social order that has been broken by war — and in the former’s case, mitigate further harm. The Odyssey may not be an overtly feminist tale, but it’s evident that both women and divine feminine energy paved a way for Odysseus, lost both literally and spiritually, to find his way back to Ithaca. And back to himself.

At a time when it feels like our own society has wandered far from the principles that make community work with each other, The Odyssey functions as a mirror. We may not be bound by the fiction law of Zeus, but codes and ethics are still necessary, even for the most powerful. Whether he knew it or not, Nolan has delivered a 27-century-old message calling for restoration for the sake of societal checks and balances. And, more than likely, it will be women who lead us on the right track.

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