The release of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” this month has prompted fresh interest in the story of King Odysseus’ 10-year journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War.
Part of the reason for the continued fascination with the epic poem that inspired the movie is Odysseus’ proximity to humans in it, said Joel Christensen, a professor of classics at the City University of New York. “He’s not the son of gods; he’s not the son of a goddess,” he said. “He doesn’t have special powers – he’s just really smart.”
Kenneth Lapatin, the curator of antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, said he found it fascinating that the story had been reflected in so many media. “You have it on vases,” he said, “You have it in silver. You have it in wall paintings. You have it on gems. You have it in sculpture.”
The societies these artifacts originated in shine through their interpretations of the story. “The story of ‘The Odyssey’ is like a palimpsest manuscript,” Christensen said. “It keeps getting written and overwritten again, but you can see underneath the other stories.”
If Nolan’s star-studded movie has piqued your interest, images inspired by the adventures are on view at several US museums. Below is a closer look at some of them.
