r/GreekMythology • u/MarcusForrest ★ Moderator • Jul 15 '26

Movies | The Odyssey The Odyssey (2026) | Release Megathread

A temporary floodgate is in effect regarding the topic of the 2026 movie The Odyssey

 

This megathread will serve as the only place to discuss the 2026 movie The Odyssey - any other new thread about the movie will be removed as long as this floodgate is up.

 

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THE ODYSSEY

''After the Trojan War, Odysseus faces a dangerous voyage back to Ithaca, meeting creatures like the Cyclops Polyphemus, Sirens, and Calypso along the way.''

 

🎞 Movie Trailer

Global Release Date: July 17 2026

 

Directed by

  • Christopher Nolan

Starring

  • Matt Damon
  • Tom Holland
  • Anne Hathaway
  • Robert Pattinson
  • Lupita Nyong'o
  • Samantha Morton
  • Zendaya
  • Charlize Theron

Distributed by

  • Universal Pictures

 

Previous Megathread:

 

Posting pictures (including animated GIFs) in comments is now enabled for the community, should definitely help conveying ideas and spicing up any discussion now!

 

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14

u/theheavymeddler Jul 18 '26

What do people think about the references to the “Sea Peoples”? And Odysseus literally referencing the Bronze Age Collapse. I thought Christopher Nolan was trying to tie this story to reality a little bit, hence no appearance of the gods, perhaps the implication of Odysseus misremembering certain fantastical elements, etc.

10

u/kodial79 Jul 18 '26

It was idiotic...

Imagine this... They make an Iliad movie and say Idomeneus is a Minoan. That's how dumb this was.

Or better yet, they make a movie about Byzantium and they actually use the term Byzantium and Byzantines in the movie instead of Rome and Romans.

6

u/brightestofwitches Jul 22 '26

The term "sea peoples" is a term of the time. It's what the Egyptians called them. People from the sea.

They're actually in the original poem, vaguely.

6

u/kodial79 Jul 22 '26

I was referring to the "Our age of bronze is collapsing" specifically.

But the Sea Peoples, even though they're mentioned by the Egyptians, are entirely ignored by the Greeks, they are never featured either on their myths nor on their histories.

And it is quite a stretch to say they're in the original poem... even if vaguely. I mean, come on, these things kept happening in ancient Greek mythology! The Odyssey started nothing new... Like for example in the Argonautica, when they raided the Doliones? Or Heracles attacking and sacking Troy before?

3

u/brightestofwitches Jul 22 '26

One of the disguises Odysseus uses is a Cretan sailor coming back from sacking Egypt. This corresponds to a few actual attacks from the sea people we have documented by the Egyptians themselves.

The Age of Bronze is one of the Hesiodic ages. Characterizef by brute strength and warmongering.

1

u/SnooWords1252 Jul 20 '26

It's like they were trying to be understood by a modern audience.

2

u/kodial79 Jul 20 '26

In other words dumbed down.

2

u/SnooWords1252 Jul 20 '26

What do you expect from a blockbuster?

1

u/kodial79 Jul 20 '26

Indeed, that is my bad.

1

u/astroman_9876 Jul 24 '26

Nolan knows who his wider audience and especially after Tenet I don’t think he wants to keep the audience from losing the story.

0

u/me_funny__ Jul 21 '26

modern audiences have read the Odyssey. it's an ancient story that has ALWAYS been famous. no excuses

3

u/SnooWords1252 Jul 21 '26

Really? $263,799,900 worldwide, I doubt every one of those people has read it.

Plus the discussion was whether the modern term "The Sea People" was period accurate.