Did Christopher Nolan undercut the sirens in The Odyssey?
Despite being one of the best-known parts of The Odyssey, they occupy only a small part of Christopher Nolan's film.
Despite being one of the best-known parts of The Odyssey, they occupy only a small part of Christopher Nolan's film.
The short version
- As the men row and Odysseus hears their song, he screams and writhes in pain, desperate to be unleashed.
- One of his men even removes the wax from his ears and jumps in, never to be seen again.
- As for the rest of the men, they make it past the sirens and Odysseus survives having heard the sirens’ song, something no one before him has ever done.
What happened
This whole sequence occupies just a few minutes in the movie before Nolan moves on to the next monster. So after the movie, I wondered, “Is that it?” In the original text of The Odyssey , the sirens are a small part of the story.
Why it matters
In the online translation of The Odyssey featured on Poetry in Translation , the whole sirens chapter occupies just three paragraphs.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Polygon via the links above and below.