The Odyssey, Adaptations & the fate of EPIC: The Musical
One of my goals for 2026 was to finally read The Odyssey, a quest that would become a struggle from May to July 2026 as I burdened myself with the W.H.D. Rouse translation (one that many Odyssey enthusiasts would tell me was the worst translation, and refer me to Bibliothekai's Compare Translations tool to see why). Now, you may be wondering, why on Earth would I decide to read this classic epic poem in my spare time? Like many others, I wanted to read the source material for Christopher Nolan’s adaptation (only to find, he used the Emily Wilson translation which had a lengthy waitlist at my public library) before seeing one of the most anticipated films of the summer season.
The Epic Poem Itself
Keeping in mind that a majority of these translations take liberties with how they approach topics related to slavery, women, religion, war and so forth… I enjoyed having the challenge of exploring this epic and forever am thankful for the Duke University Study Guide to help me piece together some of the events. Odysseus and Telemachus are compelling protagonists who held my interest throughout their exploits, Penelopia (or Penelope) being an examination of grief and taking hold of your own fate while in despair, Athena’s involvement throughout the story of this family presented a side of her I was not familiar with before, plus I love journeys into lands of the dead in mythologies as a whole. Between Odysseus who is retelling his journey to Demodocus in the court of Alcinous of the Phaeacians (aka. Princess Nausicaa’s family court) and Telemachus searching for answers (not just in Sparta but Pylos as well) which forces him to go through a coming-of-age story that is interesting to read you are constantly wondering, who is the real hero of this tale? One could argue, The Odyssey is Telemachus’ story of growing up and coming into his princely title that converges with his father’s plight to come home into a conclusion that (no spoilers) is a touch unsatisfactory when compared to the events leading to it. Overall, I would not recommend The Odyssey as a casual read by any means to anyone who comes asking for book recommendations, getting though this epic poem is a challenge that may vary depending on the translation and format you explore the poem in. Don't be like me and check out Bibliothekai's Compare Translations tool before taking on The Odyssey yourself.
Along came EPIC: The Musical
When discussing my Odyssey journey with friends offline and online, a specific name began to come up frequently in these conversations, EPIC: The Musical. I will admit I had not been following the musical scene over the past couple of years, but I was intrigued by how in my social spheres this musical held significant influence. So, I decided to check it out and was immediately impressed (as an outsider looking in) at the fandom contributions, and enthusiasm for interpretations of how these scenes played out. In my own explorations, Jorge Rivera-Herrans’ interpretation of Odyssey’s story focuses heavily on the question presented in the very first track, "When does a man become a monster?" This question is steadily answered as the toll of Odysseus’ journey home under the consequences of his own actions takes hold both externally and internally in a rousing conclusion. EPIC also takes some artistic liberties with the rearranging of story elements along with the removal with specific events (particularly Nausicaa’s portion, Telemachus’ journey which ties in Sparta and Pylos, and the reunion of Odysseus and Telemachus outside of the palace and the actual ending of The Odyssey) and the inclusion and expansion of others (such as interpreting the Lotus Eaters as Winions connected to Aeolus and the depth of Calypso’s feelings towards Odysseus). This adaptation of The Odyssey is one that I wholeheartedly enjoyed exploring, especially with the interpretations of the darker realities of the tale (just turn to all the animatics of There Are Other Ways, The Underworld, Suffering, Thunder Bringer and Hold Them Down).
Nolan’s 2026 Film
Leading to my visit to the theatre, it was impossible to dodge the interviews and reviews coming from fans of The Odyssey and those who were encountering it for the first time. Prior to my viewing though, one headline that caught my eye was how Emily Wilson (whose translation was claimed to be the foundation of this adaptation) was surprised at the end result of the film. I myself was equally flummoxed by the end result, and would read Wilson’s review post viewing to see if she captured my own thoughts in her words. She did.
The fact that many of the female characters (prominently the goddesses) were reduced to tropes to prop up Nolan’s less charismatic and clever Odysseus, along with long-winded side plots that don’t originate from Homer’s Odyssey but in the responses to the original epic poem (like the Aeneid). The lack of godly intervention was also captured throughout the film with Poseidon being absent and the role of Athena being reduced to a mere ghost of a guilty conscious and eliminates the ties between her Odysseus, Telemachus and Penelope. Alongside this grave error is the removal of what I've come to dub the "usual removals" for Odyssey adaptations (Nausicaa’s portion, Telemachus visiting Pylos) along with odd inclusions from the source material (like Argos’ story being played up for the screen and the destruction of Ismarus to push forward the "sea-people" plot Nolan creates). Post film viewing, I found myself reflecting back on the references to "falling ages/civilizations", “sea-people” and Zeus’ Law; all things that were not mentioned in The Odyssey and yet seemed to weave their way through the entirety of Nolan’s film which when stepping back is just his way of pushing the values of the current (and unfortunate) political climate forward under the guise of “traditional” values (since we can’t get more “traditional” than a Grecian epic poem right?).
Outside of Wilson’s review, which I strongly agree with on many fronts, one thing seemed to become clearer as I continued to reflect on Nolan’s film… The ideas Nolan wanted to explore were not aligned with the ones presented in the original epic poem. He essentially took The Odyssey, gutted it and shoved in the concepts he wanted to discuss while using pre-existing characters whose depths he did not fully understand when curating his version of The Odyssey for the masses that visually “othered” any characters not deemed useful to his re-telling. Comically, the film adaptation also brings an ending that attempts to wax nostalgic over his shoe-horned ideas and is worse than what was presented in the original poem. Yes, this film will appeal to wider audiences, and like Wilson notes I too hope this leads to a stronger interest in the existing translations of the poem and possibly inspires a new generation of Greek Studies enthusiasts, however this leads into a wider discussion...
Adaptations as a Whole
While I am a fan of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy by Peter Jackson, I cannot ignore the fact that there were sections of the original that were widely ignored even in the extended editions, and continued efforts to expand the text universe into film and television presents this issue even further. The Percy Jackson and the Olympians universe, in my opinion, will never have a perfect for screen adaptation because the original films veered off course exponentially and the television series will never capture the feelings I had when reading and re-reading the books in my youth. As a Warrior Cats fan, I too am looking at the steady trickle of information related to the animated show adaptation cautiously as the discourse around the graphic novel adaptations continues and I sample all the spin-offs the fandom has created recapturing the feelings I had as a child when reading the series for the first time.
With these anecdotes in mind, I’m a firm believer that there will never be a perfect adaptation for any original source material because an adaptation can never fully cover every aspect of the original nor can it capture the feelings you held while initially exploring the original. As I look at these two very different adaptations of The Odyssey I cannot fault either for the edits made for the sake of screen time and audience engagement. What I can fault is what the creators behind each of these adaptations brought to the table when piecing together what they wanted to capture, critique and analyze in their variation of the source material. No shade, but it is clear for at least one creator that their transparency in the process and open discussion around cuts and edits warrants a lot more leeway than the other who quoted the opening line of the poem in an interview for what appears to be classist clout.
The Fate of EPIC
While in the throes of processing The Odyssey and its adaptations The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that EPIC: The Musical is getting an animated film adaptation. In a similar fashion to many of the big 2026 fandom related news announcements I found myself holding my breath for a moment in cautious optimism. The EPIC: The Musical fandom has already crafted numerous animatics and storyboards for the concept album, so it only makes sense to ensure this adaptation remains animated to capture the grandeur of the gods and the scope of this story (you can view the musical in its entirety with carefully curated animatics on Youtube right now for a wicked 2 hour and 27 minute trip). We have also seen what magic can happen when the fandom selectively influences the development of adaptations from source material (such as how the Warrior Cats television series has revealed that they looked at hours of animatic footage to help inspire the cat designs and more recently the creative lead for American Dream Mall’s Freddy Fazbear Experience is one of the most renowned costumers in the Five Nights At Freddy's fandom). The biggest challenge with this next evolutionary step in EPIC’s own odyssey is what will happen to the concept musical once it is solidified in the hands of Hollywood studio executives. Will the interpretations of certain sequences from the musical hold the same darker tones from the original epic? Will the now established visual interpretations of the characters hold true in the Hollywood remake or will they be replaced? Heck, will the cast that Jorge hand picked for his musical remain or will we see the usual Hollywood influence of getting the biggest names on the cast list regardless of their skillset?
We will not know until The Odyssey’s musical iteration finally makes its way to the big screen at a to be determined date, and like many fans, I will be seated to see the final result when it hits theatres. In the meantime though, I may succumb to my friends' suggestion of diving into The Illiad next...