Acclaimed writer skewers ‘Odyssey’ critique, sparking expert feud over Nolan’s epic

It was only a matter of time before Christopher Nolan stirred up a full-on academic fracas with The Odyssey. Adaptations of the classics are always a lightning rod, but Nolan’s big-budget take on Homer has managed to rile everyone from the literati to Elon Musk—who, in classic Musk fashion, promised his own AI version before the thing was even in cinemas. But now, months after all those box office records and five-star reviews, the arguments are somehow getting wilder.

The Wilson Broadside

The latest grenade comes courtesy of Emily Wilson, who’s not just any critic—she’s the bestselling classicist and translator whose modern version of The Odyssey is, at this point, unavoidable in English lit circles. Writing for the London Review of Books, Wilson absolutely unloads on Nolan’s script, slamming the characterisation, the structure, and especially the dialogue. Her most brutal line:

In Wilson’s own words from her review: "I would be ashamed to have written any part of this script."

Wilson didn’t stop there. She knocks Nolan for snipping out the famous Cyclops "Nobody" trick, which most fans of the original poem probably expected as standard. She also calls out the way actors like Himesh Patel, Lupita Nyong'o, and Zendaya have their roles shrunk to token sidekicks. For a film trading on the legacy of one of the world’s oldest stories, the criticism over reducing major supporting characters to "Black best friend" types cuts particularly deep.

Oates Wades In

Surprisingly, Nolan found an unlikely ally: Joyce Carol Oates. Yes, the National Book Award winner and author of Blonde and We Were The Mulvaneys took to X (still insisting on her all-lowercase vibe) to clap back at Wilson’s review. Oates wasn’t having any of what she described as Wilson’s "weirdly inappropriate" dismissal, and boy, she didn’t mince her words. Here’s Oates laying it out in public:

In Oates’ own post on X responding to Wilson: "rather [sic] than disagreeing with interpretations of Homer in a collegial manner, this person, who has benefited enormously from Nolan's film, speaks in the crude language of MAGA folks attacking someone with ideas that differ from hers. within the world of translators this seems all the more surprising since translations are, presumably, subjective and not equivalent to the original text. one would expect a translator, of all people, to be just a wee bit more thoughtful and respectful of others who are acting in good faith just as (she would claim) she is."

She does, at least, admit Nolan was in a no-win position: if he went for "poetic" and stuck to a literal translation, he'd be hit for being too highbrow. Go modern, and it’s "banal". Oates points to Daniel Mendelsohn’s lauded (and, in her words, "beautiful") translation, saying if Nolan had pinched that style, critics would have moaned the script was too lofty and inaccessible.

Not that she’s mad for Nolan’s version, either. Oates says herself she doubts the film is destined for classic status, but reckons the backlash has been unnecessarily savage:

Oates explained in another X post: "I do not think that Nolan's film will be considered a great classic but really, it seems that whatever Nolan did, it would disappoint hordes of people. most moviemakers / creators just try the best they can - it seems odd that this director has drawn such angry criticism."

Oates also puts her finger on why this whole row has legs: there is, by definition, no single way to bring Homer to life for a new audience. Just as every translation is subjective, so is a film adaptation. She summed it up with: "no reason why Nolan, or anyone else, should not re-imagine / re-envision a classical hero [sic] through the prism of his own invention."

Complicated Men, Complicated Arguments

It’s clear what’s really grinding Wilson’s gears: Nolan’s Odysseus just doesn’t line up with hers. Her translation starts: "Tell me about a complicated man," while she snarks Nolan’s version as "An Uncomplicated Man". Matt Damon’s version, all visible trauma and brooding guilt, is miles from what Wilson prefers. Oates, meanwhile, tries to play peacemaker, recommending both Nolan's film and the 1997 TV miniseries from Francis Coppola. In the end, though, it’s simple: even three thousand years on, there was never going to be a definitive Odyssey film that pleased everyone.

Nolan’s The Odyssey has faced criticism and fierce debate before and after release, despite strong reviews and major box office numbers.