Who Is Telemachus, Again? Circe? A Guide to the Characters of Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey'
This image released by Universal Pictures shows Matt Damon as Odysseus, left, and Zendaya as Athena, in a scene from "The Odyssey."Photo Credit: Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures via AP
by Lindsey Bahr Jul 10
5 MIN READ
Haven’t cracked “The Odyssey” since high school? Don’t worry, you don’t need a classics degree to understand Christopher Nolan’s adaptation. One of his primary goals was to make it accessible and relatable to a modern audience.
“It’s something that we all know a little bit about, some of us know a lot about it, some of us know nothing about it,” Nolan told The Associated Press. “We’re making the film for that whole range of people’s relationship with this foundational text of this incredible story.”
But, just in case, here’s a little primer on who is playing who in “The Odyssey.” The film hits theaters on July 17.
The King of Ithaca and the mastermind behind the Trojan Horse trick that ended the war, Odysseus’s long journey home to reclaim his kingdom and reunite with his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, whom he left as a baby, is central to the poem.
“He’s a very complicated protagonist, which I love, and Chris reveals how and why in his way, and a lot becomes clear by the end of the movie, which explains a lot of how he’s behaving at the beginning,” Damon said. “I think for a story that’s this big, it’s wonderful to have a character that’s very human at the center. He’s certainly not perfect. And he’s living with the consequences of his actions. And that’s dictating his behavior.”
The Queen of Ithaca, Penelope has been waiting for the return of her husband Odysseus for 20 years while over 100 men (the suitors) take up residency in the palace, eating their food and drinking their wine, hoping that she’ll marry one of them. She’s also been the subject of debate for thousands of years, an enigmatic character who every generation projects their own views on.
“She’s probably the most well- known character that I’ve ever played. But we only know her as far as we can see,” Hathaway said. “I didn’t want to negate anything that anyone had ever felt about Penelope, that she was, you know, the picture of modesty, she’s a paragon of patience, all of those things. But a paragon isn’t a person. And so I thought, OK, so let’s allow that that’s the way the world sees her. Who is she when no one’s looking?”
Odysseus’s only child, Telemachus, hasn’t seen his father since he was a baby. Now grown and with the threat of the suitors intensifying, he goes on his own journey to find more information about his missing father. The two quests provide parallel narratives in the film, which Nolan said is part “homecoming” and part “coming-of-age” story.
“There are times where it feels like you’re on this kind of action-adventure roller coaster, but he doesn’t sacrifice any of the heart and the intimacy between our characters,” Holland said.
Although Telemachus has yet to meet his father as a grown man, Holland added: “Throughout the film, there’s this real sense of connection between the two of us.”
In the poem, there are 108 suitors vying for Penelope’s hand (and the Ithacan throne), including Antinous who in the film is the main antagonist on the homefront. Nolan said Pattinson unleashed “his inner Alan Rickman” to play the part.
“The thing he really focused on was this idea of his relationship to Telemachus. He’s continually saying to Telemachus, ‘I’m going to be your stepdad, I’ll be your daddy.’ It was such a fascinatingly creepy and amusing basis for villainy,” Nolan said. “I just love how Rob based it on real world things, real truths about his character and who he is, and the cowardly nature of that. I think cowardice is one of the hardest things for actors, particularly movie stars, to play.”
The goddess of “craft, warfare and wisdom” and the daughter of Zeus, Athena appears to Odysseus from time to time throughout the story.
“I was like how do I bring to life what is a, you know, a goddess,” Zendaya laughed. “But I think so much of it was in the story and the way he’s telling it. I think the humanity of it and bringing that more human element to this idea of a goddess but what they kind of represent to Odysseus in this story. The lessons that they’re teaching him and why she presents the way she does and in the moments that she does, I think, ultimately, are teaching him a lesson and guiding him through something that’s very difficult.”
The Oscar-winner plays both Helen, the queen of Sparta and occupant of the “face that launched a thousand ships,” who is married to Menelaus, and her sister Clytemnestra, who is married to Agamemnon.
“He (Nolan) mentioned his interest in telling this story and really not shying away from the cost of war, actually investigating and exploring it, and so as such with Helen’s character, it’s like she’s known to be the reason for this war. Is that even really true?” Nyong’o said. “What is her life after the war? I love that we get a glimpse of that, and we really get to see the cost of everything. The rage, resentment, guilt, shame, disappointment, endurance of it all.
A nymph in Greek mythology, Odysseus spends a long period of his journey home with her on the island of Ogygia. Her motivations have been the source of much debate over the years.
An Ithacan swineherd who is loyal to Odysseus even after many have given up on his return.
“He (Nolan) told me it was the most loyal character in Western literature,” Leguizamo said. “I was like, oh, OK, that’s a lot of responsibility.”
In the film, Eumaeus is nearly blind, which, Leguizamo said, is a nod to Homer, who some historians believe was blind.
The King of Sparta and husband of Helen, who tells Telemachus what he remembers about Odysseus while they fought together in the Trojan War.
The King of Mycenae, husband of Clytemnestra, and commander of the Greek army during the Trojan War
A powerful sorceress who encounters Odysseus and his men on their journey home.
Odysseus’s second-in-command who is there for many of the obstacles on their journey to Ithaca, from the cave of the Cyclops to Hades.
“On ‘Tenet, ’ I popped in and, you now, flew, or drove, a plane to a building and then left … Whereas on this, I was there by Matt’s side, you know almost the entire shoot,” Patel said. “It’s kind of the most physically challenging role I’ve ever played.”
Sinon, a character in Greek mythology who appears in the “Aeneid,” is a veteran of the Trojan War.
Poseidon’s son also encounters Odysseus and his men on their journey home. Nolan and production designer Ruth De Jong used Francisco Goya’s painting “Saturn Devouring His Son” as inspiration for the design, but it was the actor (also behind the “Interstellar ” robots) who helped give the character its soul.
“We didn’t know how we were gonna achieve it. We knew we were going to need every trick in the book, from animatronics to puppetry to computer graphics. But I knew I needed a performer to really look at it and help us find the design of it and find how this character would live and move and so forth,” Nolan said. “He doesn’t treat the Cyclops as just a monster. And that’s something I’ve very much picked up from the work of my friend Guillermo del Toro over the years. You know, Guillermo is someone who’s chief lesson, I think, in his work is a monster is never just a monster.”
A servant of Queen Penelope.
One of Penelope’s suitors.
A bard in the court of Ithaca.
But, just in case, here’s a little primer on who is playing who in “The Odyssey.” The film hits theaters on July 17.
Matt Damon (Odysseus)
The King of Ithaca and the mastermind behind the Trojan Horse trick that ended the war, Odysseus’s long journey home to reclaim his kingdom and reunite with his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, whom he left as a baby, is central to the poem.
“He’s a very complicated protagonist, which I love, and Chris reveals how and why in his way, and a lot becomes clear by the end of the movie, which explains a lot of how he’s behaving at the beginning,” Damon said. “I think for a story that’s this big, it’s wonderful to have a character that’s very human at the center. He’s certainly not perfect. And he’s living with the consequences of his actions. And that’s dictating his behavior.”
Anne Hathaway (Penelope)
The Queen of Ithaca, Penelope has been waiting for the return of her husband Odysseus for 20 years while over 100 men (the suitors) take up residency in the palace, eating their food and drinking their wine, hoping that she’ll marry one of them. She’s also been the subject of debate for thousands of years, an enigmatic character who every generation projects their own views on.
“She’s probably the most well- known character that I’ve ever played. But we only know her as far as we can see,” Hathaway said. “I didn’t want to negate anything that anyone had ever felt about Penelope, that she was, you know, the picture of modesty, she’s a paragon of patience, all of those things. But a paragon isn’t a person. And so I thought, OK, so let’s allow that that’s the way the world sees her. Who is she when no one’s looking?”
Tom Holland (Telemachus)
Odysseus’s only child, Telemachus, hasn’t seen his father since he was a baby. Now grown and with the threat of the suitors intensifying, he goes on his own journey to find more information about his missing father. The two quests provide parallel narratives in the film, which Nolan said is part “homecoming” and part “coming-of-age” story.
“There are times where it feels like you’re on this kind of action-adventure roller coaster, but he doesn’t sacrifice any of the heart and the intimacy between our characters,” Holland said.
Although Telemachus has yet to meet his father as a grown man, Holland added: “Throughout the film, there’s this real sense of connection between the two of us.”
Robert Pattinson (Antinous)
In the poem, there are 108 suitors vying for Penelope’s hand (and the Ithacan throne), including Antinous who in the film is the main antagonist on the homefront. Nolan said Pattinson unleashed “his inner Alan Rickman” to play the part.
“The thing he really focused on was this idea of his relationship to Telemachus. He’s continually saying to Telemachus, ‘I’m going to be your stepdad, I’ll be your daddy.’ It was such a fascinatingly creepy and amusing basis for villainy,” Nolan said. “I just love how Rob based it on real world things, real truths about his character and who he is, and the cowardly nature of that. I think cowardice is one of the hardest things for actors, particularly movie stars, to play.”
Zendaya (Athena)
The goddess of “craft, warfare and wisdom” and the daughter of Zeus, Athena appears to Odysseus from time to time throughout the story.
“I was like how do I bring to life what is a, you know, a goddess,” Zendaya laughed. “But I think so much of it was in the story and the way he’s telling it. I think the humanity of it and bringing that more human element to this idea of a goddess but what they kind of represent to Odysseus in this story. The lessons that they’re teaching him and why she presents the way she does and in the moments that she does, I think, ultimately, are teaching him a lesson and guiding him through something that’s very difficult.”
Lupita Nyong’o (Helen and Clytemnestra)
The Oscar-winner plays both Helen, the queen of Sparta and occupant of the “face that launched a thousand ships,” who is married to Menelaus, and her sister Clytemnestra, who is married to Agamemnon.
“He (Nolan) mentioned his interest in telling this story and really not shying away from the cost of war, actually investigating and exploring it, and so as such with Helen’s character, it’s like she’s known to be the reason for this war. Is that even really true?” Nyong’o said. “What is her life after the war? I love that we get a glimpse of that, and we really get to see the cost of everything. The rage, resentment, guilt, shame, disappointment, endurance of it all.
Charlize Theron (Calypso)
A nymph in Greek mythology, Odysseus spends a long period of his journey home with her on the island of Ogygia. Her motivations have been the source of much debate over the years.
John Leguizamo (Eumaeus)
An Ithacan swineherd who is loyal to Odysseus even after many have given up on his return.
“He (Nolan) told me it was the most loyal character in Western literature,” Leguizamo said. “I was like, oh, OK, that’s a lot of responsibility.”
In the film, Eumaeus is nearly blind, which, Leguizamo said, is a nod to Homer, who some historians believe was blind.
Jon Bernthal (Menelaus)
The King of Sparta and husband of Helen, who tells Telemachus what he remembers about Odysseus while they fought together in the Trojan War.
Benny Safdie (Agamemnon)
The King of Mycenae, husband of Clytemnestra, and commander of the Greek army during the Trojan War
Samantha Morton (Circe)
A powerful sorceress who encounters Odysseus and his men on their journey home.
Himesh Patel (Eurylochus)
Odysseus’s second-in-command who is there for many of the obstacles on their journey to Ithaca, from the cave of the Cyclops to Hades.
“On ‘Tenet, ’ I popped in and, you now, flew, or drove, a plane to a building and then left … Whereas on this, I was there by Matt’s side, you know almost the entire shoot,” Patel said. “It’s kind of the most physically challenging role I’ve ever played.”
Elliot Page (Sinon)
Sinon, a character in Greek mythology who appears in the “Aeneid,” is a veteran of the Trojan War.
Bill Irwin (Cyclops)
Poseidon’s son also encounters Odysseus and his men on their journey home. Nolan and production designer Ruth De Jong used Francisco Goya’s painting “Saturn Devouring His Son” as inspiration for the design, but it was the actor (also behind the “Interstellar ” robots) who helped give the character its soul.
“We didn’t know how we were gonna achieve it. We knew we were going to need every trick in the book, from animatronics to puppetry to computer graphics. But I knew I needed a performer to really look at it and help us find the design of it and find how this character would live and move and so forth,” Nolan said. “He doesn’t treat the Cyclops as just a monster. And that’s something I’ve very much picked up from the work of my friend Guillermo del Toro over the years. You know, Guillermo is someone who’s chief lesson, I think, in his work is a monster is never just a monster.”
Mia Goth (Melantho)
A servant of Queen Penelope.
Corey Hawkins (Polybus)
One of Penelope’s suitors.
Travis Scott
A bard in the court of Ithaca.
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