NEW YORK \u2014 Haven\u2019t cracked \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d since high school? Don\u2019t worry, you don\u2019t need a classics degree to understand Christopher Nolan\u2019s adaptation. One of his primary goals was to make it accessible and relatable to a modern audience.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something that we all know a little bit about, some of us know a lot about it, some of us know nothing about it,\u201d Nolan told The Associated Press. \u201cWe\u2019re making the film for that whole range of people\u2019s relationship with this foundational text of this incredible story.\u201d<\/p>\n
But, just in case, here\u2019s a little primer on who is playing who in \u201cThe Odyssey.\u201d The film hits theaters on July 17.<\/p>\n
Matt Damon (Odysseus)<\/h2>\n
The King of Ithaca and the mastermind behind the Trojan Horse trick that ended the war, Odysseus\u2019s long journey home to reclaim his kingdom and reunite with his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, whom he left as a baby, is central to the poem.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a very complicated protagonist, which I love, and Chris reveals how and why in his way, and a lot becomes clear by the end of the movie, which explains a lot of how he\u2019s behaving at the beginning,\u201d Damon said. \u201cI think for a story that\u2019s this big, it\u2019s wonderful to have a character that\u2019s very human at the center. He\u2019s certainly not perfect. And he\u2019s living with the consequences of his actions. And that\u2019s dictating his behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anne Hathaway (Penelope)<\/h2>\n
The Queen of Ithaca, Penelope has been waiting for the return of her husband Odysseus for 20 years while over 100 men (the suitors) take up residency in the palace, eating their food and drinking their wine, hoping that she\u2019ll marry one of them. She\u2019s also been the subject of debate for thousands of years, an enigmatic character who every generation projects their own views on.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s probably the most well- known character that I\u2019ve ever played. But we only know her as far as we can see,\u201d Hathaway said. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to negate anything that anyone had ever felt about Penelope, that she was, you know, the picture of modesty, she\u2019s a paragon of patience, all of those things. But a paragon isn\u2019t a person. And so I thought, OK, so let\u2019s allow that that\u2019s the way the world sees her. Who is she when no one\u2019s looking?\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.newsday.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsday.com%2Fimage-service%2Fversion%2Fc%3AZmY3Mzk5MWUtMDg1ZC00%3AODM0MzFkOTAtODBlYi00%2Fcopy-of-film-review-the-odyssey.jpeg%3Ff%3DLandscape%2B16%253A9%26w%3D768%26q%3D1&w=1920&q=80\"\/)
<\/p>\n
This image released by Universal Pictures shows, from left, Mia Goth as Melantho, and Anne Hathaway as Penelope, in a scene from “The Odyssey.” Credit: AP\/Melinda Sue Gordon<\/p>\n
Tom Holland (Telemachus)<\/h2>\n
Odysseus\u2019s only child, Telemachus, hasn\u2019t seen his father since he was a baby. Now grown and with the threat of the suitors intensifying, he goes on his own journey to find more information about his missing father. The two quests provide parallel narratives in the film, which Nolan said is part \u201chomecoming\u201d and part \u201ccoming-of-age\u201d story.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are times where it feels like you\u2019re on this kind of action-adventure roller coaster, but he doesn\u2019t sacrifice any of the heart and the intimacy between our characters,\u201d Holland said.<\/p>\n
Although Telemachus has yet to meet his father as a grown man, Holland added: \u201cThroughout the film, there\u2019s this real sense of connection between the two of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert Pattinson (Antinous)<\/h2>\n
In the poem, there are 108 suitors vying for Penelope\u2019s hand (and the Ithacan throne), including Antinous who in the film is the main antagonist on the homefront. Nolan said Pattinson unleashed \u201chis inner Alan Rickman\u201d to play the part.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
This image released by Universal Pictures shows Robert Pattinson as Antinous, in a scene from “The Odyssey.” Credit: AP\/Melinda Sue Gordon<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing he really focused on was this idea of his relationship to Telemachus. He\u2019s continually saying to Telemachus, \u2018I\u2019m going to be your stepdad, I\u2019ll be your daddy.\u2019 It was such a fascinatingly creepy and amusing basis for villainy,\u201d Nolan said. \u201cI just love how Rob based it on real world things, real truths about his character and who he is, and the cowardly nature of that. I think cowardice is one of the hardest things for actors, particularly movie stars, to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zendaya (Athena)<\/h2>\n
The goddess of \u201ccraft, warfare and wisdom\u201d and the daughter of Zeus, Athena appears to Odysseus from time to time throughout the story.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like how do I bring to life what is a, you know, a goddess,\u201d Zendaya laughed. \u201cBut I think so much of it was in the story and the way he\u2019s telling it. I think the humanity of it and bringing that more human element to this idea of a goddess but what they kind of represent to Odysseus in this story. The lessons that they\u2019re teaching him and why she presents the way she does and in the moments that she does, I think, ultimately, are teaching him a lesson and guiding him through something that\u2019s very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lupita Nyong\u2019o (Helen and Clytemnestra)<\/h2>\n
The Oscar-winner plays both Helen, the queen of Sparta and occupant of the \u201cface that launched a thousand ships,\u201d who is married to Menelaus, and her sister Clytemnestra, who is married to Agamemnon.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe (Nolan) mentioned his interest in telling this story and really not shying away from the cost of war, actually investigating and exploring it, and so as such with Helen\u2019s character, it\u2019s like she\u2019s known to be the reason for this war. Is that even really true?\u201d Nyong\u2019o said. \u201cWhat is her life after the war? I love that we get a glimpse of that, and we really get to see the cost of everything. The rage, resentment, guilt, shame, disappointment, endurance of it all.<\/p>\n
Charlize Theron (Calypso)<\/h2>\n
A nymph in Greek mythology, Odysseus spends a long period of his journey home with her on the island of Ogygia. Her motivations have been the source of much debate over the years.<\/p>\n
John Leguizamo (Eumaeus)<\/h2>\n
An Ithacan swineherd who is loyal to Odysseus even after many have given up on his return.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe (Nolan) told me it was the most loyal character in Western literature,\u201d Leguizamo said. \u201cI was like, oh, OK, that\u2019s a lot of responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the film, Eumaeus is nearly blind, which, Leguizamo said, is a nod to Homer, who some historians believe was blind.<\/p>\n
Jon Bernthal (Menelaus)<\/h2>\n
The King of Sparta and husband of Helen, who tells Telemachus what he remembers about Odysseus while they fought together in the Trojan War.<\/p>\n
Benny Safdie (Agamemnon)<\/h2>\n
The King of Mycenae, husband of Clytemnestra, and commander of the Greek army during the Trojan War<\/p>\n
Samantha Morton (Circe)<\/h2>\n
A powerful sorceress who encounters Odysseus and his men on their journey home.<\/p>\n
Himesh Patel (Eurylochus)<\/h2>\n
Odysseus\u2019s second-in-command who is there for many of the obstacles on their journey to Ithaca, from the cave of the Cyclops to Hades.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn \u2018Tenet, \u2019 I popped in and, you now, flew, or drove, a plane to a building and then left \u2026 Whereas on this, I was there by Matt\u2019s side, you know almost the entire shoot,\u201d Patel said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of the most physically challenging role I\u2019ve ever played.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elliot Page (Sinon)<\/h2>\n
Sinon, a character in Greek mythology who appears in the \u201cAeneid,\u201d is a veteran of the Trojan War.<\/p>\n
Bill Irwin (Cyclops)<\/h2>\n
Poseidon\u2019s son also encounters Odysseus and his men on their journey home. Nolan and production designer Ruth De Jong used Francisco Goya\u2019s painting \u201cSaturn Devouring His Son\u201d as inspiration for the design, but it was the actor (also behind the \u201cInterstellar \u201d robots) who helped give the character its soul.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t know how we were gonna achieve it. We knew we were going to need every trick in the book, from animatronics to puppetry to computer graphics. But I knew I needed a performer to really look at it and help us find the design of it and find how this character would live and move and so forth,\u201d Nolan said. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t treat the Cyclops as just a monster. And that\u2019s something I\u2019ve very much picked up from the work of my friend Guillermo del Toro over the years. You know, Guillermo is someone who\u2019s chief lesson, I think, in his work is a monster is never just a monster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mia Goth (Melantho)<\/h2>\n
A servant of Queen Penelope.<\/p>\n
Corey Hawkins (Polybus)<\/h2>\n
One of Penelope\u2019s suitors.<\/p>\n
Travis Scott<\/h2>\n
A bard in the court of Ithaca.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.newsday.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NEW YORK \u2014 Haven\u2019t cracked \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d since high school? Don\u2019t worry, you don\u2019t need a classics degree to understand Christopher Nolan\u2019s adaptation. One of his primary goals was to make it accessible and relatable to a modern audience. \u201cIt\u2019s something that we all know a little bit about, some of us know a lot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2495441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[359676,21994,21751,21741,21912,307696],"class_list":["post-2495440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-ap-a-wire","tag-books","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-wires-bot"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Who-is-Telemachus-again-Circe-A-guide-to-the-characters.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2495440"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2495442,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495440\/revisions\/2495442"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2495441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2495440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2495440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2495440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}