With the premiere of Christopher Nolan's film 'The Odyssey,' a global wave of intense publicity began. The film, with its grandeur, plot, and cast, has turned into a phenomenon garnering attention, success, and above all, record-breaking box office revenues.

The film has become the talk of the town everywhere; everyone is discussing the cinematic techniques Nolan used. Some talk about the film being shot with IMAX cameras, others discuss the soundtrack composed using instruments resembling those of ancient Greece. There are also those who speak about the director's adherence to the details of Homer's epic. Historical podcasts have found rich material to discuss, and history-focused social media influencers are competing to talk about the details of the story of the warrior Odysseus, the Trojan War, his absence from his homeland of Ithaca, his faithful wife Penelope, and their son Telemachus.

Penelope and her son Telemachus in the film 'The Odyssey' (Universal - AP)

A Boost for Books and Podcasts

The film has propelled the book to the top of book sales in the UK. Sales of the paperback edition have surged by 700% compared to the same period last year, with 8,000 copies sold in the past week alone. The epic film has tempted many to return to the original book and its various translations, although the translation used by Christopher Nolan, by Emily Wilson, has received the greatest demand—a situation for which bookstores seem unprepared. According to the BBC, the British bookstore chain Waterstones described the demand for 'The Odyssey' as 'exceptional,' especially for Emily Wilson's translation. Bookstores tried to stock copies for readers, but demand outstripped supply. Kate Skipper, Chief Operating Officer at Waterstones, confirmed this in an interview with BBC Radio 4: 'We ordered more copies, but we did not expect this level of demand, especially for Emily Wilson's translation. Shipments arrive daily, but the books sell out as soon as they are displayed in stores.'

Emily Wilson’s Translation of 'The Odyssey' Sells Out at Bookstores

Audiobook versions have also seen great demand. The edition narrated by British actor Stephen Fry has reached a high position on the list of the top 10 most-downloaded audiobooks on Spotify in the UK, while the version read by veteran actor Ian McKellen holds a similar position on the list in the United States.

Alongside the original text of 'The Odyssey,' modern novels inspired by it have also seen demand, such as Madeline Miller's 'Circe,' which tells the story of the sorceress Circe who turned Odysseus' men into pigs, one of the author's most popular works. Readers are also flocking to Margaret Atwood's 'The Penelopiad' and Claire North's 'Ithaca' (The Songs of Penelope, Book One), about Penelope, Odysseus' wife, who patiently waited for his return for twenty years, successfully protected her son Telemachus' inheritance, and fended off 108 suitors during Odysseus' absence through the ruse of weaving a shroud each day and then unraveling it to start over.

The list of modern novels dealing with the heroes and heroines of Homer's epic is long, and there is no doubt that the film has enticed many to immerse themselves in contemporary treatments of the legendary epic. Reports indicate a significant surge in reading the epic and its derivative novels among millennials.

Madeline Miller's 'Circe'

Criticisms and Comments

However, the film has also opened a wide door for discussion about the story, its events, and what the director adhered to or deviated from. For Christopher Nolan, there was a specific thread that seemed like a comment on our contemporary world: the 'Law of Zeus,' which the film's characters mention in various situations. The Law of Zeus in Greek epics concerns hospitality and the reception of strangers—treat others as you wish to be treated. In the film, the gods punish Odysseus for deceiving the people of Troy by entering with his soldiers hidden inside the giant wooden horse, offered as a gift to the city, but used by the hero and his men to attack and open the gates for warriors. Odysseus violated the sacred law of mutual hospitality between guests and hosts, which demands compassion and welcoming strangers into homes. In a way, Nolan subtly alludes to contemporary wars and the treatment of refugees.

As for author Emily Wilson, whose translation of Homer's epic was used by Nolan for the screenplay, she felt the film lacked some key threads of the epic. She told the Associated Press: 'I want to celebrate the fact that many people have returned to the epic, but at the same time I feel that Nolan was trying to cram everything in, while overlooking essential themes of the poem.' Historian Mary Beard commented that Nolan omitted all the jokes and humorous situations from the epic.

Matt Damon as Odysseus in the film 'The Odyssey' (IMDb)

On the other side of historical criticism, there was criticism based on political stances, such as Elon Musk's criticism of Christopher Nolan for not using actors of Greek descent or for using a black actress to portray the character of Helen, known for her beauty. He said on X that he would make a film about The Odyssey using the Grok AI program that would be 'historically accurate,' which drew ridicule from social media users who pointed out that Musk does not realize that the entire story of The Odyssey is fictional, with its gods and mythical monsters, and even Homer is believed by many to be a fictional character."); googletag.cmd.push(function() { onDvtagReady(function () { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-3341368-4'); }); }); }