Earlier this month, Mr. Trent and I had a date night in Boulder. We grabbed a quick dinner and then headed off to the movies, where our choices were the latest Spider-Man or Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.
I enjoyed Oppenheimer and Inception back in the day, so we picked The Odyssey. We had a great time. It’s been a long time since Mr. Trent and I had a date night at the movies just the two of us (the original Knives Out I think was the last time it happened), and it was fun to munch our way through something new. Even if Mr. Nolan’s spin on The Odyssey wasn’t my favorite.
Don’t get me wrong, it had its moments, John Leguizamo as Eumaeus being one of them. But overall it left me wanting…more. Was it because the dialogue was clunky? Or some of the other casting choices were head-scratching (Matt Damon and Tom Holland… father and son? Really?) Maybe it was because my favorite parts of the original story were omitted. Odysseus wasn’t a trickster. He wasn’t cunning. Hubris wasn’t even his problem. He was just…tired and struggling through PTSD. And I like that the myth of the Odyssey could become a place for Nolan to do that because that’s what mythology and folklore are for all of us–safe places to explore and wrestle with whatever is on our mind–but I left the theater underwhelmed and unsatisfied. There were a few interesting thoughts to nibble on, but in recent years I have become accustomed to stuffing myself with banequates where mythology is concerned. The myth of Demeter and Persephone has been a particularly deep well of inspiration for me to draw from as I work my way through drafting my latest fairy tale.
If you too are craving a deeper dive for into Greek mythology I have a few selections below.
The first is Circe by Madeline Miller. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve bought this book. I loan copies to friends. I buy copies for family members. I was gutted by how one dimensional of a character Nolan’s portrayal of Circe was in The Odyssey, because thanks to Ms. Miller, she is a hero for all of humanity in my mind. Circe contains one of the most accurate metaphors for motherhood that I’ve ever come across in fiction. This book is one of my all time favorite, hall of fame reads. I can’t recommend it enough. It’s a complex, rich, and rewarding read.
The Odyssey isn’t for family audiences but the podcast Greeking Out most definitely is. It’s been a favorite in our house for years. There are many seasons. The amount of Greek myths this podcast covers is astonishing. That me and mine get to enjoy these stories orally–the same way they were enjoyed thousands of years ago–is pretty cool. Five stars. Highly recommend.
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr is such an outstanding book. I’m going to quote my goodreads review because it captures everything I was feeling after reading it: “I know this is fiction, but the exploration of how literature can sustain us–particularly the section about classics among the POWs–was incredibly moving. I’m not sure if the basis of surviving solitary confinement by scratching out Homer is rooted in fact somewhere, but this image felt so true and so important to explore–both in the setting of the Korean war and in a futuristic space ship. Stories connect us. Stories comfort us. This book pointed out that stories are finite. Beautifully written and a rewarding read.”
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis is a must read. I read this in college. I’ve reread it as a mama. I love this book. Exploring the myth of Eros/Cupid and Psyche is fun. Doing so from the perspective of her very human/flawed “ugly stepsister” is absolutely lifechanging. I know C.S. Lewis’s entire catalogue of literature is beloved, but this novel is his masterpiece.
My brother-in-law (who is a filmmaker) pointed out to me that comparing The Odyssey to Oppenheimer isn’t exactly fair. Oppenheimer is a biopic that draws from the life of academics who left lots of written records of their eloquent thoughts in a language we understand/share. No one was expecting Oppenheimer to be as big/successful as it was. The Odyssey was a summer blockbuster of a 2700 year old myth that we have to translate into our modern day parlance AND it had enormous expectations riding on it from a much wider audience of movie goers. Nolan understood the assignment and delivered given the constraints. Fair enough. So maybe I just wish Nolan had decided to adapt Circe instead of The Odyssey.