By George & Josh Bate
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, which we described in our review as a breathtaking, sweeping, technically exquisite film that will make you feel grateful you’re alive at a point in history in which movies are made, is in theaters now and wowing audiences around the world. Despite helming 12 films over the span of 28 years before eventually adapting Homer’s epic poem for the big screen, Nolan has repeatedly referenced The Odyssey in his films, highlighting a longstanding fascination with the tale of Odysseus following the Trojan War.
The Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus (Matt Damon), the king of Ithaca, as he embarks on an arduous journey home after the 10-year-long Trojan War. While Odysseus navigates all manner of conflicts on his way home, his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) contends with a group of ill-intentioned suitors, led by the conniving Antinous (Robert Pattinson), who wish to marry her. Determined to confirm whether his father is truly dead, Odysseus’ son Telemachus (Tom Holland) begins on a journey of his own in a desperate attempt to save his family.
Keep reading for a breakdown of the different ways in which Nolan has woven The Odyssey into his filmography over the past 28 years.
Oppenheimer – Oppenheimer and Odysseus Violate the Rule of Man
Starting in reverse chronological order, Nolan’s Academy Award-winning biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer has strikingly parallels to his newest film.
Punctuated in the film’s moving third act, Nolan’s film explores the inner-workings and moral ramifications of a man lauded by many, yet internally tormented by the horror his intellect inflicted upon the world. While Oppenheimer reckoned with the impact of his creation of the nuclear bomb will have on humanity, Odysseus grapples with the concept that he is not the hero legends suggest he is, but, instead, a man who broke the most fundamental of moral codes through deception and by causing the deaths of so many.
Whereas Oppenheimer recontextualizes the creation of the nuclear bomb from a marvel of humanity’s intellectual capacity to that which may very well spell the end of life as we know it one day, The Odyssey recontextualizes the use of the Trojan Horse by arguing that it represents the breakdown of common decency and morality, rather than a plaudits-worthy result of superior tactical knowledge and intellect.
Interstellar – Nolan Made a 21st Century Version of The Odyssey Over 10 Years Ago
In many ways, Interstellar is a 21st century retelling of Homer’s epic poem. Both stories focus on a desperate man who is pulled away from his family by a higher calling. Both Matt Damon’s Odysseus and Matthew McConaughey’s Cooper must navigate unfamiliar, treacherous, and even alien territories as they embark on a journey defined by isolation and the longing desire to return home.
Beyond the hero’s quest, both The Odyssey and Interstellar feature higher powers or Gods that manipulate the characters’ fates. In The Odyssey, this comes in the form of Athena, who guides Odysseus along on his journey and Poseidon, who curses Odysseus for blinding his son, amongst others. In Interstellar, the Bulk Beings act as God-like figures as they are the ones who construct the wormhole and the tesseract to guide Cooper’s destiny.
Cooper and his team reckon with massive, unforgiving waves on Miller’s Planet that eliminates a key member of the crew. This mirrors what Odysseus and his men endure upon incuring Poseidon’s wrath, resulting in the deaths of many of the crew members at sea.
The time dilation that occurs on Miller’s Planet, costing Cooper and his team decades, mirrors the seven years which Odysseus loses while trapped by Calypso (Charlize Theron) on her island.
Whereas the Sirens in the Odyssey symbolize a deadly false hope for Odysseus, Dr. Mann (who just so happens to be played by Odysseus himself Matt Damon) in Interstellar is a false hope that similarly lures visitors into his trap.
Needless to say, The Odyssey and Interstellar parallel one another in a number of key ways.
The Dark Knight Rises – Bruce Wayne’s Gotham City Homecoming is Exactly the Same as Odysseus’ Return to Ithaca
The third acts of The Dark Knight Rises and The Odyssey share striking similarities, both in storytelling and filmmaking. Odysseus’ epic and, at first, secret return to Ithaca mirrors Bruce Wayne’s return to Gotham City after being trapped by Bane. Both heroes re-enter the fold and promise to end the tyranny of an antagonist – in Odysseus’ case, this is Antinous and, in Batman’s case, this is Bane.
Nolan uses similar editing and use of epic music cues to set the stage for his protagonists’ triumphant return. Injured and aged by the journeys they just completed, Odysseus and Batman stand formidible as they try to restore their respective homes to their former glories.
As Odysseus brutally fights off Penelope’s suitors, Nolan cuts back and forth between Telemachus’ conflict with Melanthius, the disloyal cowhered played by Logan Marshall-Green. Nolan uses this same editing technique in The Dark Knight Rises, frequently cutting between Batman’s fight with Bane and Gordon’s attempts to stop the bomb.
Inception – Cobb and Odysseus Navigate Similar Struggles
Both Cobb in Inception and Odysseus in The Odyssey long to return home to their families. While Odysseus is stranded on foreign shores far away from Ithaca, Cobb is a fugitive who cannot see his children due to legal reasons.
Both Cobb and Odysseus are haunted by guilt and the unintended tragedies that their choices wrought. Odysseus reckons with his hubris and how his creation of the Trojan Horse violated Zeus’ life, thus corrupting humanity’s moral compass. Cobb, meanwhile, reckons with the subconscious creation of Mal and the danger this poses for everyone around him.
Odysseus navigates a variety of magical lands and Hades’ underworld in a similar way to how Cobb navigates various dreamscapes, including Limbo, which serves as the story’s version of the underworld.
Memento – The Relationships Between Memory, Avoidance, and Trauma Are Key
The film that put Nolan on the map back in 2002 also shares a number of thematic and structural parallels to The Odyssey.
Similar to how Leonard Shelby (Guy Pierce) suffers from anterograde amnesia in Memento, Odysseus’ memory of his famliy and the Trojan War is splintered during his time on Calypso’s island.
Leonard and Odysseus share similar primary motivations as well. Leonard is driven by the traumatic death of his wife, while Odysseus is fueled by his desperate need to reunite with Penelope in Ithaca.
Both Memento and The Odyssey also explore the intimate connections that tie memory and trauma together. At the end of Memento, Leonard willfully chooses to forget the truth as a means to not feel the pain associated with already killing his wife’s actual attacker. In The Odyssey, Calypso feeds Odysseus lotus flower so that he forgets the psychic pain associated with being away from his family and engaging in such a bloodthirsty war.