Greek mythology & fancasts

(Greek royals, too, due to popular demand)

[greek-mythologies]

The insane marketing + bought glazing access-paid reviews + major entertainmemt media covering for them + attacks on social media may have worked to put asses on seats & crush criticism for nolan's Nodyssey, and of course gag Greeks & most supporters, and fans of Odyssey, but in the long term this will have a bigger impact i think than we realize. Because in November there will be a Round 2 on "double standards in representation & accuracy to source material & basic respect to cultures & fans" when both Rings of power & the Ramayana will come out, after the Round 1 in july of Moana vs Odyssey (not to mention in the discussion will be brought the future more respectful rep of Nigerian culture, and the past disrespect of Polish culture) the double standards are so blatant when set side by side they will no longer be able to escape criticism, so when added to anger about trashing Tolkien where more people are likely to defend (and even know the actual source material & the culture behind it) the Odyssey will come right back in focus. What do you think?

I always love your theories/analyses and I don't think there's anything to add :)

[greek-mythologies]

πετσόκομμα (το)

https://greekcitytimes.com/2026/08/14/a-greek-perspective-on-why-christopher-nolans-odyssey-is-a-travesty/

Meanwhile I'm sitting here discovering even MORE Greek Hollywood actors:

Like many others who surround themselves with “yes-men,” Nolan fell into a trap of his own making. Thinking he was smarter than Homer, he maliciously added nonsensical presentism, altered the story’s core, and drenched a ~3,000-year-old poem in a sour visual look. [...] Some ignorant fools say [cultural (mis)appropriation]is a myth. Others say it is fiction, yet neither of them is right. Greek culture has not been lost in time. Its people have existed for roughly 4,000 years and continue to live in the same place, speaking the same (and evolving) language and keeping the same traditions and customs. Articles from Variety failed to understand this, putting out instead headlines about Moana (2026) and the significance of showcasing its culture through accurate representation. It seems that, for a certain group of people, some cultures are treated like sacred cows that must be left untouched. But when the culture that birthed Western civilization (including but not limited to democracy, theatre, drama, poetry, tragedy, satire, philosophy, mathematics, medicine, epidemiology, sports, the Olympic Games, astronomy, mythology) takes center stage, it’s an all-time buffet for everyone to dip their toes except the people who live and breathe it daily. [...] Nolan had an opportunity to feature a Greek cast but embarrassingly chose everyone else except the Greeks. John Leguizamo has talked endlessly about the lack of Latino roles in major Hollywood productions, throwing shade at actors who played such parts without Latin heritage. Yet when he takes roles from Italians (Super Mario Bros (1993)), dwarves (Moulin Rouge (2001)), and Greeks (The Odyssey), it is okay.

Ay, ay captain

OK I said it once, I said it twice, I'll say it again and you're probably sick and tired of hearing me saying this. But Nolan could've just taken the plane, landed in Athens, gone for a walk at some random neighborhood and he'd have found far more fitting Helens of Troy and Odysseus' than that thing he ended up with.

Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway are typecast, Lupita is an ignorant self-centered hypocrite (same as John Leguizamo) and the whole thing looks like Westeros more than Bronze Age Greece. It's why people now turn to Michael Kakoyiannis' Iphigenia as the blueprint for Greek representation - and I still believe the only thing standing between Michael Kakoyiannis and the Odyssey was the non-existence of modern CGI in the 1970s.

[greek-mythologies]

Γενικά Αρχεία του Κράτους - ΓΑΚ

🎬Πολύ πριν από την «Οδύσσεια» του Κρίστοφερ Νόλαν… αντιδράσεις στην Ελλάδα για την ταινία «Τρωικός Πόλεμος» (Helen of Troy) το 1956 Το 1956

Excellent post from the Greek National Archives.

Telegrams to the Greek government complaining about the distortion of the Homeric epic for the 1956 film Helen of Troy.

70 years later, Hollywood still distorts Homer, and we still have to tell the Americans we're an existing culture.

@alatismeni-theitsa, this might interest you 😊

[greek-mythologies]

Adding to that his statements that he wanted actual modern Greek to sound like a foreign language to people who are (supposedly) Greek, do we have to make it clearer why we demand Greek representation at this point?

[greek-mythologies]

also anon "nor take anything away from you" anon no need to act like that lol, these were real people, or if for arguements sake for achilles, a part of someone's culture. You aren't taking anything in fact, they are trying to twist the narative for certain agendas. This belongs to someone's culture

Same points as the previous anon.

[greek-mythologies]

https://www.tumblr.com/greek-mythologies/824343428097785856/i-speak-as-greek-from-greece-here-and-seeing?source=share

THIS like omfg remember, these are SOMEONES culture and HISTORY and MYTHOLOGY. Not everything is about YOU.

The thing is that there's a double standard we've already pointed out here. Americans want every culture to get its own representation and recognize it as a separate culture, EXCEPT the Greek one.

Basically everyone deserves representation BUT the Greeks.

[greek-mythologies]

Recently I found out Non Disparagement Clauses are a thing https://beverlyboy.com/filmmaking/what-is-a-non-disparagement-clause/ which explains SO much about the movie industry. In theory it can sound good, but in reality with studios holding the power they have it creates too much power imbalance and the crews & actors face the biggest problems if studios fuck up. Combine this clause with Non Disclosure Agreements, and PR obligations especially while a movie plays at cinemas, and we see crew & actors are effectively gagged. Good luck trying to get much out of Kokiasmenos Vlamis & Fragorapti or even Tanweer. It doesnt seem they are prevented from neutraly stating facts though so it mostly rests on: Is Any journalist/critic going to ask any legit questions? & good luck with that too. Meanwhile all three Greeks have stated a neutral variation of "They originally made me think this was going to be something different than what it ended up being" so... yeah. Also I have a suspicion thats why Nolan ghosted Katsikis, the guy was probably more cautious & clear "I'm making historically accurate stuff so no compomises there & I want to know exactly what I'll be aksed to do & what to expect from the production" so they just. Ghosted him and went for the Bridgerton designer instead

So this Chinese interviewer that cornered Nolan deserves her own life-like statue.

[greek-mythologies]

Remember this interview and the discussion around it before the Nodyssey came out? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZY-TTN4a8Q like wow knowing what nolan did with the greek guy speaking greek, this is so much worse now. And holland had no idea there would be greek in the movie, otherwise he wouldnt have admitted that. As for nolan, well we know now why he reacted so arrogantly after that & pretended his changes were based on archeological research and for what implications regarding greeks he needed that historical credibility

Are you the anon who said that Nolan kept everything a secret or was twisting things around for before the movie came out so that he would draw enough interest in it and deal with the criticism later?

Either way Nolan now behaves like the kid who did very badly on a history exam and now tries very hard to convince his teacher he's actually on the right, she's on the wrong.

[greek-mythologies]

I speak as Greek from Greece here and seeing Americans online or American authors and it's clear they haven't touched a Greek mythology/history book in their lives.

No, Achilles and Alexander the great weren't gay or even queer ( they weren't part of the LGTB community, they were straight ) I am not trying to be homophobic here or take anything from you, not at all really but we are talking history and mythology here. And based on actual facts, I am just saying they weren't.

Achilles had a wife named Deidamia and they bore a son together named Neoptolemus ( who actually fights during the seige of the city and survives ) They got married when Achilles was disguised as a girl to avoid the Trojan war. Deidamia was a princess of Scyros.

In fact Achilles most human moment in the Odyssey was when Odysseus visited him in the Underworld. Despite being sorrowful over his own fate, Achilles is overjoyed when learns that his son survived the Trojan War. WHICH NOLAN CUT GODDAMN.

Yes Achilles and Patroclus shared a close bond, but they are described as being brothers. I dunno if you English speakers noticed, but the Greek language overall is a very expressive language, so some words might sound intimate for you. But in Greek? they really aren't. We are are very soulfull. That's why it might deep but really? it's just how we Greeks are normally. Like i said we are very expressive with our family, our brothers, sisters, friends. That doesn't mean we have romantic feelings for them. They are platonic.

Back to Achilles and Patroclus though, Homer portrays them as intensely close companions and tentmates who grew up together, but he never explicitly describes them as sexual lovers.

And lol I think the marriage between Alexander and the Persian princess Roxanne and her rivarly between Parysatis and Stateira would put Game of Thrones to shame. I need someone who actually knows history to do this story right because wtf.

Hephestion and Alexander shared a similar bond to Achilles and Patroclus. They were childhood friends and companions. And Hephestion later became his general. Their relationship for you weebs would be similar to Kirito and Eugeo i suppose. They weren't actually interested in fucking each other because they weren't interested in men anyway either. ( the same with Achilles and Patroclus ) I would assume those two were very popular with the ladies too back then.

Back to the point though because we are talking about REAL Historian and Mythological figures. Some of you Americans need to lay off porn addiction because these are someones culture. And i can't believe some comments on facebook saying Gilgamesh and Enkidu were gay. I can't help but facepalm at this!. READ a BOOK a real HISTORY and Mythology book i beg you. Because what are you guys even saying??? Do you even know HISTORY???.

A fellow Greek salutes you 😀

You're not being homophobic, anon. Similar to the "black Athena" & "the ancient Greeks were gay" theories, the "canonisation" of Alexander the Great and Achillees as "gay men" has no basis on fact yet is being treated as such by Americans/British/pop culture & modern academia on non-historical grounds other than the false assumption that this sells more. The Song of Achilees wouldn't have been this tremendous success if it had portrayed Achilees the way the ancient Greeks did.

Here's an example - the opening of the Iliad shows Achilees and Agamemnon over a dispute about Chrysseis and Brisseis (BTW the name Cressida comes from Chrysseis - the Greek accusative form is Chrysseida).

I mentioned above the "ancient Greek men were gay" theory which is a mix of the pederastry theory and the depiction of ancient Greek athletes being naked in the Olympic Games. The latter was both because they venetrated the healthy body and second, a Chiton would've been impractical for the Games.

I suppose, as you said, that this is a mix of a general anti-Greek sentiment penetrating the West and cultural differences. Yes Greek people are being very expressive and often times very physical. Two Greek men will greet each other by hugging for instance WHEN THEY ARE CLOSE FRIENDS, even in front of their wives (hugs are reserved only for the people we're very close with). Doesn't mean they sleep together.

As for the story of Alexander and Roxanne - I wholeheartedly agree. This is a Greek/Iranian cinema collaboration I beg to happen! (Provided the script is written and directed by people who don't hesitate to show the real history).

[greek-mythologies]

https://www.instagram.com/p/DboyyC6gL46/?img_index=9&igsh=MTkwc3RnZG0yZ254OQ==

Wow...the most British locations ever for a film set in ancient greece

It's to suit the cast

[greek-mythologies]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbOI4KxOnA_/?igsh=ODM0N3MwNnhwcTFw

See the odyssey yeah yeah yet didn't know of its existence before being casted

She's in it for the money and it shows.

Plus it's gotten to her head.

[greek-mythologies]

Correct me if I'm wrong as i havent watched the film but it doesnt seem theres any Greek or even Greek-passing women in this Odyssey for speaking roles (no Hathaway looking accidentaly more Greek than in her younger years due to age & botox combo is not the same) so i question the optics chosen for Greek women's representation. For Greek mens' we have Greek old man speaking Greek casted as non-Greek barbarian to be killed by Odysseus' men & theres a young Greek american guy casted as villain, in the "ambush telemachus" scene turned into a fight & placed later in the story by nolan just to have Odysseys kill him. Awful already, we've pointed this out. But wheres the Greek (passing at least) women? Because i've only seen Greek extras in Mycenae & Sparta scenes which were shot in Greece, so Greek extras were used for them https://www.filmofilia.com/first-look-tom-holland-transforms-in-christopher-nolans-greek-epic-the-odyssey-200241/ I dont like the optics chosen for Greek women casted as background extras for Mycenae/Sparta meaning women with Greek looks DO exist in Nolan's odyssey, albeit amidst diverse cast, but none were considered beautiful enough to be the "most beautiful Greek woman" . Or women. They're twins now. So not only this goes for Spartans, it goes for Mycenaeans as well theres two most beautiful women, in mortal way & the optics go for two cities AND all of the other tribes agreeing. So what are Greeks told? That we, a distinct ethnic group, have no beautiful women of our own, and we have to look elsewhere for beauty like Kenyans? (or Germans or Anglos?) Greeks must bow down to foreigners as better than us, more worthy more attractive? How many times will we see ourselves demeaned that way on the big screen? They made sure to shoot in Greece, cast Greek women as extras, only to parade a distinctly non-Greek woman playing the twin beauties as the most revered Greek beauties in Greece "who launched 1000 ships" ? Because this brunette Greek woman casted as extra on the left https://www.filmofilia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/The-Odyssey-1-7.jpg wasnt considered beautiful enough? Not worthy enough? Ancient Greeks passed her and all the others over for a foreigner, the Kenyan, with the more Subsaharan than Greek vibe in her style was the one chosen, revered, admired, instead of that woman or any other Greek? Add this to the treatment of Greek men, of Greek language/culture, WTF

If my experience counts, the more you think about this movie, the less sense it all makes.

1997's Odyssey featured ONE Greek actress (Irene Pappas), and their Penelope was a light-coloured British woman, but it worked because the female characters were also much better written.

[greek-mythologies]

What annoys me when you say "people shouldn't turn Greek figures black" they ( you know who ) always pull this card and say "WeLl JeSuS wAs A brOwn man and Black face happened yada yada" and i am like yeah??? Obviously that shouldn't happen??? What does this has to do with Greek people??? We are white. And obviously black figures should be black, white figures white and brown figures brown, asian figures asian. What are you trying to say here? What are you trying to prove???. Thats is only fair???. Like what???.

Also Jesus was from Judea which means Netflix' decision to cast Jewish actress Noa Cohen as Mary, Mother of Jesus was culturally correct (the movie could've been better tho)

[greek-mythologies]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWMB5Y9im3U/?igsh=bzF2ZWNwM3k1cWt0

Another to add on the list of Nolan copying popular anime in his works. In general Satoshi Kon (rest in peace) is very underrated despite his work being so heavily used

I learn something new every day

(Also Elliot Page is another 'repeat' casting)

[greek-mythologies]

A Trojan Horse Is Supposed to Have Humans Inside It

Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey is full of contradictions about deceit and violence.

Emily Wilson (the anti-Nolan kind) strikes again 👌

[greek-mythologies]

Nolans Nodyssey and Percy Jackson have a thing in common

Both created by Americans who erased and stripped away the Greek heritage from the myths. In pjo the gods are in the empire states building since the author wrote in the book "the greek gods belong to advanced civilizations". Nolan made a american diverse cast, but only casting one greek to be seen as a foreigner one saying to him "we (the west) own your culture" in english.

Christopher Nolan is British, actually.

[greek-mythologies]

Hot damn ma'am, are you a seer or did you manifest this?!! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ky-2PL6G3aI demonflyingfox strikes again!! Nolan's Odyssey as a Vietnam war film parody, just like you talked about haha

ΕΤΑ: The irony is that the Vietnam war version is actually respectful towards Homer 😂