Emily Wilson, translator of the 'Odyssey', lashes out at Christopher Nolan: "I would be ashamed to have written part of the screenplay"

Barcelona“A simple man”. This is how Emily Wilson, the first woman to publish a complete translation of the Odyssey in English, defines the protagonist of Christopher Nolan's film. The philologist has railed against the film in an essay published in the London Review of Books under the title An uncomplicated man, referring to the first words Wilson used in her 2017 version to define Odysseus as a “complicated man”. During the promotion of the Odyssey (2026), Nolan cited Emily Wilson's translation on several occasions as one of his main sources of inspiration. Even so, the expert in classical literature and professor at the University of Pennsylvania has not been satisfied with the result.

According to Wilson, Nolan's adaptation “lacks psychological, emotional, and ethical depth", and has “an effect-driven structure and characters unmotivated by their actions”. “Writing a screenplay is not one of Nolan's talents,” assures the translator. “The language is flat, without humor. I would be ashamed to have written part of this screenplay,” declares Wilson. For the philologist, Nolan's Odysseus “is neither complex, nor cunning, nor skillful”, because the director omits some of Homer's funniest and most famous tricks, such as the deception of the cyclops Polyphemus. “The Odyssey combines grandeur with superficiality, with underdeveloped characters to fulfill what it promises: big explosions and big giants,” she details.

The translator acknowledges that the film is “an entertaining way to escape the heat for a few hours” and that “Nolan's narrative is easy to follow and close to the work". Wilson also admits that the film “is like a Fourth of July fireworks display, with more or less the same level of narrative and emotional depth”. This lack of emotiveness, explains Wilson, is one of the flaws of Nolan's version: “My eyes remained dry even with the scene of Argos, Odysseus' dog,” explains the professor.

Women with less voice than in Homer

One of the most repeated criticisms of Nolan's filmography is the absence of well-developed female characters. Wilson insists on this issue and states that, despite there being more female characters than in most of Nolan's films, "there isn't one that comes close to the women in Homer's work." One example is the character of Calypso, played by Charlize Theron, whom Wilson considers "lacks the rhetorical skill of the original" and plays a kind of "unpaid therapist" for Odysseus. One of the most notable differences between Homer's work and the new adaptation is the presence of gods. "Zeus's law is a crucial element in the film, but we don't see Zeus at all," says Wilson. The philologist also argues that the adaptation shows neither the construction of the Trojan Horse nor how Odysseus builds the olive wood bed. "We are not shown war as a bad thing, but rather it is understood that good men sometimes feel bad about having to kill," the professor explains in part of her article.

Wilson also criticizes Nolan's decision to shoot part of the film in Western Sahara, due to the territory's political situation. Nevertheless, the translator of the Odyssey considers the work to be an event worth celebrating. "In the age of streaming platforms, this version makes people return to cinemas and buy the book. For this reason, I thank Nolan for making the general public return to reading Homer's work," concludes the translator.

The translator's article has already provoked some reactions within the publishing world. The writer Joyce Carol Oates, author of the novel about Marilyn Monroe Blonde, among many others, has come out in defense of Nolan. Oates points out on X that Wilson "could have been more considerate and respectful of a filmmaker who will help boost sales of her translation." "Instead of presenting interpretive differences in a good way, this philologist attacks, in language typical of Trump and MAGA followers, someone who does not share the same vision as her," states the novelist. Oates considers Nolan's Odysseus to be "tremendously human" and adds that the translator "should have more consideration for those who, like her, take Homer's work and interpret it in good faith."