Thescreescore – Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated 2026 adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey, starring Matt Damon as the titular hero, has ignited a heated debate amongst classicists and film enthusiasts alike. Harvard’s Gregory Nagy, Francis Jones Professor of Classical Greek Literature and Comparative Literature, has voiced serious concerns about the film’s potential portrayal of Odysseus, a character renowned for his cunning but also his morally questionable actions. In an exclusive interview with thescreescore.com, Nagy highlighted one particularly troubling aspect of the epic poem: Odysseus’s murder of a child.
"Even The Odyssey acknowledges some very, very questionable moments in Odysseus’ life," Nagy stated, "where he actually kills a child in war. Is Matt Damon going to kill a kid?" This chilling question underscores the inherent complexities of adapting such a morally ambiguous character for the big screen.
Nagy further elaborated on the scene’s significance within the narrative, explaining how it unfolds during Odysseus’s encounter with the Phaeacians. He described the scene as a crucial moment where Odysseus’s true nature is revealed, not as a traditional hero, but as a "trickster figure." The professor detailed the intricate storytelling within the story, highlighting how Odysseus’s delayed self-revelation and his eventual confession, prompted by a blind singer’s ballad about the Trojan War, exposes his dark secret.
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"When the blind singer gets to the part where the boy is captured…when you get to point Z where Odysseus is going to go up and commit a crime, the narrative stops and says, ‘While Odysseus was listening to this, he started crying. He was weeping, and weeping, and weeping, just like a captive woman when her child was killed and her husband was killed’," Nagy explained, emphasizing the emotional weight of the scene and the challenge it presents for a cinematic adaptation. "How the hell are you going to do that in a movie?" he questioned.
This raises the crucial question: how will Nolan navigate this morally complex aspect of Odysseus’s journey? Will he shy away from the darker elements of the epic, or will he embrace them, potentially creating a controversial yet compelling cinematic experience? The film, boasting a star-studded cast including Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, and Anne Hathaway, is already generating considerable buzz, but Nagy’s insightful critique adds a layer of intrigue and anticipation. While Nolan’s previous films have often featured morally gray protagonists, the graphic nature of this particular act raises the stakes significantly.
The inclusion of this controversial scene could dramatically shift the tone of the film, potentially making it far darker than anticipated. While the technical challenges of depicting such a scene are considerable, the true test for Nolan will lie in capturing the emotional resonance and moral ambiguity of Odysseus’s actions. Only time will tell how Nolan chooses to tackle this monumental task and whether Damon’s Odysseus will ultimately commit infanticide on screen. The anticipation is palpable.
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