Why has Christopher Nolan got rid of all the sex in The Odyssey? | Zoe Williams

Why This Matters

Key context: <p>It’s a bit of a mystery why it takes Odysseus so long to get home if he’s not shacking up with Calypso and others ... </p><p>I did not walk into <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jul/15/the-odyssey-review-christopher-nolan-matt-damon">Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey</a> intending to pick holes. If there was zero sexual chemistry between Odysseus and Circe, who was I to say that’s not how it went in the poem? I was most likely thinking of a feminist retelling (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/08/circe-madeline-miller-homer-odyssey-retelling-review">Madeline Miller’s novel Circe</a>), rather than Homer, anyway.</p><p>Nevertheless, even allowing for metaphor and whatnot, even factoring in that Circe’s passion for Odysseus is (almost?) definitely a rumination on the double standards of godliness, in which the guy gods are allowed to sleep with whichever mortals they please, but the lady ones are not supposed to (I don’t think?), I am sure something happened.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/28/christopher-nolan-sex-the-odyssey">Continue reading...</a> This development from The Guardian highlights ongoing changes in the sector.