The Odyssey - Review

Odysseus: The Man

* Spoiler warning*⚠️ 

I watched The Odyssey yesterday, and one thing that stayed with me after the movie was Odysseus himself. It seemed like every dialogue in the movie was connected with him. The politics, the war, even the training sessions of Telemachus. Mentor told him to strike when the enemy attacks and I think that is all that Odysseus has been doing. To me, he doesn't feel like the perfect hero that many people make him out to be. He feels... human. Very human.

At the beginning, he is shown as someone with compassion. There is this quality in him where he even warns his prey before hunting. That tells us something about the kind of person he is. But then comes the Trojan War. After spending ten long years fighting, he comes up with the Trojan Horse plan. The same man who once had morals chooses a plan that completely goes against them. He doesn't just win the war—he destroys an entire city through deception. His will to win defeated his moral purpose.

What I liked about Nolan's version is that Odysseus seems to regret that decision. He regrets the horse, the destruction, and the lives that were lost. It doesn't feel like he is celebrating his greatest victory. Instead, it feels like he is carrying it with him for the rest of his journey, like a PTSD.

Then comes Polyphemus.

Personally, I don't think Polyphemus was trying to specifically hunt them from the beginning. They managed to escape. But after Polyphemus killed some of his men, Odysseus couldn't let it go. Somewhere inside him, there was this pride, this feeling that he had to prove himself as the protector of his crew. So instead of quietly leaving, he tells Polyphemus his real name, attacks him.

To me, that is the biggest mistake he makes.

That one decision brings Poseidon's curse upon him. He survives the monster but loses to his own ego.

The same thing happens again and again throughout the journey. Whenever they reach a crossroads, Odysseus is the one who wants to explore the unknown. He is adventurous by nature. That is probably his greatest strength but also his greatest flaw. His crew follows him because he is their leader and they believe he is worth following, but very often they are the ones who pay the price for his curiosity.

The Circe episode was also interesting. In the original myths, Odysseus spends almost a year with Circe, and they even have a son together. The movie doesn't really focus on that. Instead, it presents him as someone who remains emotionally faithful to Penelope. I actually liked that choice because it strengthened the love story, even though it can also be seen as whitewashing his original character. The Odysseus from Greek mythology wasn't exactly loyal and faithful to Penelope.

Still, there is a reason Circe is drawn to him. Unlike the other men she turns into pigs, Odysseus is different. Somewhere deep inside, he is a genuinely good man. He has kindness, intelligence, and empathy. His problem isn't that he is inherently evil. His problem is that his pride and his constant need to prove himself often overpower those good qualities.

Another thing I really appreciated was how the gods were portrayed.

Instead of showing Zeus or Poseidon as physical beings, the movie lets nature speak for them. Zeus is thunder. Poseidon is the roaring sea. Even the journey to Hades feels more like entering the depths of the earth than meeting mythical creatures. ( But I wish I could see these gods manifested in human forms)

I even had another interpretation while watching it.

What if Athena wasn't physically there at all? What if she was simply Odysseus' conscience? Maybe after witnessing the violence towards the girl in Athena's temple, his guilt stayed with him, and Athena became the voice inside his head, guiding him whenever he lost his way. Maybe that is why Athena looked rather simple opposing to the adornments of a goddess.

I really liked that interpretation because it makes the story feel less about gods controlling humans and more about humans dealing with their own choices. And that is the greatest lesson from this movie.

Even the lotus flowers, the islands he reaches, and the years he spends away from home don't feel like things that simply happen to him. In a way, he brings many of them upon himself. An adventurous man will always keep searching. He cannot stop. That is who Odysseus is.

And even after finally returning to Ithaca, he isn't done. He goes back to the sea again because that desire to explore never leaves him.

So, in the end, I don't think Odysseus is this morally perfect hero who is simply repenting for one bad decision. I think he is a man full of contradictions. He has compassion, but he also has ego. He is wise, but he is also arrogant. He loves his family, but he can never stop chasing the unknown.

His intelligence makes him legendary.

His pride makes him tragic.

And maybe that is exactly what makes Odysseus feel so real, so competent.