Jul 25, 2026 — Medievalists must be jealous. · Nolan told Stephen Colbert that he used every trick in the book to achieve his stunning visual effects.Read more
In a July 2026 New York Times opinion column, Maureen Dowd critiques Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey film adaptation for stripping away the original text's raw, erotic mythological elements. The piece argues that the film transforms Odysseus into a modernized, sanitized, and traumatized figure rather than maintaining the complex trickster of Homeric tradition. Read the full column at The New York Times.
In Homer's epic poem The Odyssey, sexual encounters and the tension of fidelity shape major plot points. Odysseus has notable romantic and sexual relationships with immortal goddesses during his journey, while back in Ithaca, his wife Penelope fends off suitors who also interact illicitly with household servants. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Key Sexual and Erotic Encounters in the Epic
Calypso (Books 5 and 7): Odysseus spends seven years detained on the island of Ogygia by the nymph Calypso, where he is obliged to sleep with her in her cave by night, though he spends his days weeping on the shore longing for home. [1]
Circe (Book 10): After she turns his men into pigs, Odysseus becomes the lover of the witch-goddess Circe. They live together on her island for a full year before he resumes his voyage. [1]
The Suitors and the Slave Women (Books 18 and 22): Several of Penelope’s slave women (such as Melanthô) engage in sexual relationships with the aggressive suitors taking over Odysseus's palace. Upon his return, Odysseus orders the execution of the 12 servant women accused of this betrayal. [1, 2, 3]
Penelope and the Immovable Bed (Book 23): The ultimate romantic/marital climax centers on the test of the secret olive-tree bed that Odysseus built, symbolizing their enduring bond and mutual fidelity. [1, 2]
A video discussing the thematic intensity and content rating of modern cinematic interpretations of the epic:
