How Greek Gods Are Portrayed in The Odyssey Explained Further by Christopher Nolan

As anticipation for Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey continues to grow, the director addressed the portrayal of the gods in the film. As the 17 July release date approaches, Nolan has shared how the movie depicts the Greek gods.

Christopher Nolan on the Greek gods’ depiction in The Odyssey

Nolan confirmed to Time that he had considered casting actors as deities throwing thunderbolts from Mount Olympus. However, he ultimately rejected the idea. “I became more interested in the idea that to people in that period, evidence of gods was everywhere,” he said. During the Bronze Age, natural phenomena such as thunder, rainfall, and sunrise carried no scientific explanation. They were understood as direct expressions of divine will.

So, Nolan is instead using the physical environment to convey the Greek gods’ presence in The Odyssey. Storms, rough seas, and gale-force winds as manifestations of immortal power, rendered through large-format IMAX photography.

“The wonderful thing about cinema, and IMAX in particular, is that you can take an audience to a place of immersion, feeling close to events like storms, turbulent seas, high winds,” he explained. “You want the audience to be on the boat with them, fearing the ocean, fearing the wrath of Poseidon, the way the characters do. That to me is so much more powerful than any individual image you can have [of a god].”

The director previously also made an unexpected parallel between Greek mythology and modern pop culture, calling the ancient gods “the original superheroes.” Nolan spoke of Homer’s work as “the Marvel of its day,” driven by the same human desire to believe powerful beings walk among us. That perspective underscores why he’s treating the environment itself as a character. This lets the audience experience Poseidon not as a CGI character but as the terror of an unforgiving sea.

Nevertheless, The Odyssey has its fair share of large-scale characters. Matt Damon plays Odysseus, Tom Holland plays Telemachus, Anne Hathaway plays Penelope, Zendaya plays Athena, and Charlize Theron plays Circe. Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Benny Safdie, and Jon Bernthal round it out.