/b/ - Random

What is wrong with Nolan? Seriously. Why did he do this? Book opens with muses, film opens with a bard Calypso's island Ogygia is lush and gorgeous, with art and fibers to decorate the highly curated environment as she is imprisoned there Calypso also implied to have sexually assaulted Odysseus for years and was a main reason he couldn't leave as she was selfish to finally have "a husband" The gods have a meeting on what to do with Odysseus as he's stuck on the island with no way home Poseidon explicitly put him there, mad about him blinding his son (the cyclops, Polyphemus) Athena appears to Telemachus as a beggar (Laertes, Odysseus' dad) and advises him to stand up to the suitors and also is the one to tell him to go to Pylos/Sparta and tell Menelaus AND Nestor that Odysseus is alive and stranded on Calypso's island Before setting off, Antinous reveals to the suitors Penelope has been unraveling the loom early so his time is limited from the jump. Zeus also sends two eagles to cause chaos in the room to back Telemachus up. Athena accompanies Telemachus and aids him on this trip, disguised as Mentor Telemachus often has two hunting dogs and a scepter with him on Ithaca, looking a bit more prince-like Shocking lack of bronze in the film for the bronze age? Telemachus goes to Sparta with Nestor's son Pisistratus after Pylos, and Athena reveals herself to stay and protect their ship. This was flipped in the movie Helen's face had no scar and Menelaus was depicted as noble and rich. (Not sure why this was changed, he's like the most upstanding guy here, they’re Elysium-bound) Pisistratus was cut entirely (as well as his close relationship with Telemachus), and Menelaus tells of his own return stories (also no Proteus, who told Menelaus Odysseus is alive but imprisoned on Ogygia). Honestly, Telemachus spent most of the story next to Pisistratus, even sleeping in the same bed. Naked, some might say! None of what they did in Troy contributed to the misfortune of the journey Sinon is not in Homer’s Odyssey, but in Virgil’s Aeniad…and they say fanfiction has no merit Xenia (Zeus' Law) explained not as "treat others how you want to be treated," I would boil it down to hosts being expected to provide food and shelter before even being questioned, and guests being expected to be respectful, but there's still more nuance Another Olympian meeting (sans Poseidon), and Athena convinces Zeus to send Hermes to chat with Calypso so she can let him go home. She's annoyed at the god's "double standard", but has no choice Island of the Phaeacians (Scheria) entirely cut, because the sequence is a little comical. Post-Ogygia Odysseus is at the mercy of Poseidon, Ino, Athena, (and an anonymous river Nymph?) as they do a godly arm wrestle at sea over him No Phaeacia = No Princess Nausicaa or Queen Arete. Would a little color be so bad, Nolan? Also, no Odysseus development (in disguise being humble in front of another king) Phaeacia makes up a decent chunk of the Odyssey, so no festival, Odysseus emotional breakdown from hearing Demodocus his war songs, and no games tournament. Also! Odysseus is telling his story to the Phaeacians! Here's where we get into the islands he visited and the journey focused on in Nolan's film. Land of the lotus eaters cut, lotus had nothing to do with Calypso Polyphemus the cyclops is a fully talking, sentient being (jury's still out on intelligent) and he breaks xenia. Odysseus gets him drunk and we get the incredible "Nobody" sequence when Polyphemus asks Odysseus his name. They burn his eye, and when other cyclopes ask what happened, we get gems like "I'll eat Nobody!" "Nobody's killing me!" etc. so they write him off. Only until they're sailing away does Odysseus taunt him with his real name Bag of winds cut from film (tragic). Aeolus helps them, and when they literally have Ithaca in their sights after 10 days, Odysseus' bummy crew mates fully rip open the bag for secret treasure and they're blasted back to Aeolus. It's very awkward. Those giants were Laestrygonians and they have a bit of narrative in the original, but I think it's funny they were there for 5 minutes in the film as an unnamed plot device Circe time, though Hermes helps out to protect him from her magic. Once the crew is changed back though, they stick around for a full year with Odysseus having extensive relations with Circe. His men legit had to tear him away, though they did bounce back to her place again later Circe resided in an extravagant palace with a golden, divine loom, not a cottage, nor did she look like a typical, mortal woman Hades is not “hell” and sin is not a Homeric concept. One of his crew fell and died before they departed, which is who he first talks to from the Land of the Dead. He talks to a lot less people in the film, namely Achilles, Heracles, Orion, Sisyphus, like a LOT... The cattle belong to Helios, not Apollo. Circe is giving the warning as Helios' daughter which is another layer. Why change to Apollo, who knows? He leaves Scheria and gets home. Poseidon gets mad, talks to Zeus, and they punish the Phaeacian sailors (which ironically, causes them to give up xenia) Athena and Odysseus have this battle-of-the-wits interlude and then instructs him on what to do Telemachus and Pisistratus say goodbye when Athena tells them Odysseus is back The suitor stuff is pretty aligned, though Odysseus did win a boxing match first, with a little aid from Athena. You've hopefully noticed by now he is her champion and a major driving force Penelope asks for gifts first before the challenge (I would too) Many godly omens in this last part, and after a long, epic journey the bowstring pays off massively (did I mention the walls are covered in blood before they even start, creeping the suitors out?) Traitorous maid/staff were hanged after cleaning up the aftermath, instead of being included in the slaying of the suitors Odysseus looks insane, and Penelope asked for proof in the form of requesting to move their bed rather than the pin, and Odysseus freaks because their bed is connected to the olive tree holding the house up Odysseus and Telemachus head to Laertes', and when Telemachus leaves they have a father-son heart-to-heart Comedic scene where Agamemnon and Achilles are in Hades arguing about who died the best of the suitors (who're being shuffled in by Hermes), and Agamemnon hasn't learned anything Many of the suitors were noble, so parents lead a mob to kill Odysseus hearing about the massacre. Disguised Athena stops them and wipes their memories, stopping the cycle of violence. the most obvious and biggest change, the whole thematic change from nostos to regret (over the societal breakdown from violating Nolan's version of xenia) as the fundamental driving force in the story. That explains some of the narrative changes, including who he talks to in Hades.