A renowned translator of The Odyssey is absolutely scathing of Nolan’s ‘abysmal’ film

The academic whose acclaimed translation of The Odyssey helped inspire Sir Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster has delivered a blistering review of the film, saying she “would be ashamed” to have written its script.

Odyssey translator savages Nolan’s blockbuster as ‘gimmicky’ and ‘superficial’  lbc.co.uk

Emily Wilson said she would be ‘ashamed’ to have written any part of the script for Christopher Nolan’s epic.

Sir Christopher Nolan's latest film, The Odyssey, may have won rave reviews from critics and done storming business at the box office - but one person is definitely not happy.

The film has won rave reviews from film critics but a translator of Homer's work was less than impressed.

Christopher Nolan dealt blow as translator behind The Odyssey rips apart movie: 'I'd be ashamed!'  GB News

Photo by Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pic The world-renowned classicist and translator of Homer’s The Odyssey, whom filmmaker Christopher Nolan credited as inspiring his blockbuster film, has slammed the movie. Emily Wilson, one of the foremost authorities on Homeric poetry and the first woman to translate The Odyssey

“As they say at the awards shows, I was humbled to learn that Nolan has read at least the first line of my translation of The Odyssey into iambic pentameter. In at least one interview, he cited my version of the first line of the poem: ‘Tell me about a complicated man.’ But I would be ashamed…

The new blockbuster "lacks many of the elements that make the poem great," writes Emily Wilson, the classics professor who famously translated Homer's poem in 2017

Classics Expert Who Inspired Nolan’s ‘Odyssey’ Rips Film To Absolute Shreds  HuffPost

Acclaimed 'Odyssey' translator Emily Wilson opens fire on Nolan's hit epic — from an "abysmal" script to lack of sex scenes.

The Odyssey effect: Nolan’s film drives epic rush to learn Greek  The Times

Matt Damon dropped to 167 pounds on a gluten-free diet and grew a real beard for a year to play Odysseus in Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey."

2 min readNew DelhiJul 26, 2026 01:40 PM IST Christopher Nolan film The Odyssey earns $368 million worldwide. Christopher Nolan’s epic drama The Odyssey continues to hold steady at the Indian box office despite facing competition from new releases. On Day 9, the film earned Rs 11.05 crore net across 4,591 shows, markin