Just got back from the cinema, I saw The Odyssey.

Don't worry: no spoilers, although I do mention a few names. If you don't know the story, that won't spoil anything. If you do know the story, you already know those names 😄

I liked it, it wasn't the usual over-the-top Hollywood action movie, it was the real story that I remembered from school, long ago: the most fantastic monsters, gods and heroes, but also a lot of personal drama and existential questions. Not unlike the bible, as I said to @Erik van Zijst earlier this week...

Exactly as I remember, the continuous internal struggles of the protagonist. A Greek tragedy, so to speak 😇

There's nothing superficial in Greek mythology and drama, it's layer upon layer upon layer: everything is connected.

Historical details

As stated, I remembered most of it, especially a few minor but emotional details. Only makes sense that Nolan used those too, they're the cherries on the cake.

All the names of important people were familiar: Clytaemnestra, Penelope, Agamenmon and his brother Menelaos, Telemachus and Helena.

Bit unexpected that Helena was played by a black actress: that would seem unlikely, given that she was from Troy, which is in the North-West of Turkey. Add to that that Homer describes her as light-skinned, which makes sense if you realize she was a princess and probably didn't get as much sun as most others.

Back in school

I remember our Greek teacher explaining us why that white colour was important: just like in later cultures it meant that someone didn't need to be out in the sun all day to work, it was a sign of wealth and power, it was a skin colour that was desired and opened doors that remained closed for most. See the parallel with present day society..? 😇

Greek teacher, as in: the man who taught us Greek. He was Dutch, just like the rest of us 😏

But having a black Helena is Nolan's choice, I'm fine with it. It's not the only historically unlikely/incorrect detail. But it is one that will undoubtedly spark racist posts online, that's how it is these days. @Noortje Van Leeuwen already mentioned something in that direction earlier. O tempora, o mores...

I'm not on what some people still call "social" media, so I'm blissfully ignorant of the bile that must be flowing there now. Glad we rarely see that on the Fediverse 🙏

Memories mixed up

I remembered most of the story lines and plot, I could even spoil a small but intense event near the end of the film for my mum, almost at the beginning 😏

But I confused Jason and Odysseus here and there, because in my memory the Cyclops appeared in The Golden Fleece... Wasn't sure about Skylla and Charibdis, but those were in the Odyssey as well 🤔

So I'll have to (partially re-)read both the Iliad and Odyssey, and the Golden Fleece, even if only to jog my memory 😄

adds three more books to the to-read list

Only this time I'll read a Dutch translation, my Greek has become a bit rusty over the past few decades 😄

It was difficult enough to translate and understand it when I was in school, when I had all my books at hand and a teacher who could help, and who loved to go into historical, mythological, cultural, archaeological and linguistic (yes, really 😏) details. I loved it.

I'm so glad that I took Greek and Latin, it has taught me so much more than "just" two languages. So-called "dead languages" even. Greek and Latin are all over our modern languages, every European language, science, medical terms...

Pretty much every "difficult" or "complex" word in pretty much any language is Latin, Greek or a combination of both. If you know and recognize those ancient words in it, you usually have a pretty good idea of what this word must mean in this language today. I think @Yoïn van Spijk can confirm this 😉

Do read what he posts about languages and the connections between them if you're into languages, you won't be disappointed.

Anyway, that's why I have always frowned when they are called "dead" languages: they're still everywhere to this day 😄

#Odyssey #Homer #GreekMythology #Iliad #GoldenFleece #MemoryLane #Latin #Greek #Dutch #language #cinema #rant