Christopher Nolan admits he altered the end of The Odyssey because it was 'misogynistic'

Director Christopher Nolan admitted that he deliberately changed the ending of his adaptation of The Odyssey because he believed Homer’s original conclusion to the story was too “misogynistic.”

In an interview with Time, Nolan discussed the film's departures from the source material and expanded on his portrayal of the witch Circe. The interviewer commented, “You also see this idea of man as beast in the scene with Circe. She says that Odysseus’ men would have raped and killed her—that they’re pigs. Then you get to the end and see the sack of Troy and the horror of what they did. She’s right.”

“Circe articulates it well in the film,” Nolan replied. “I love the way Samantha [Morton] has played the part. Talking about choices of adaptation, the end of the poem is so grim and so misogynistic, I had to exclude some of that material. But I didn’t want to completely take it off the table in terms of what it is saying about men and the way they wage war.”

Nolan was then asked about giving Odysseus and Penelope a happier ending than the one found in Homer’s epic.&

“Well, it is the fall of civilization, so there is a fairly bleak sensibility,” Nolan said. “The end is talking about cycles, and you can view cycles pessimistically: History is doomed to repeat itself. But there is also something optimistic about those cycles. As Penelope says, ‘Civilization will rise again.’ There is rebirth and regrowth. For me, it was important in looking at the ending to try and strike the right balance between pessimism and optimism—pessimism about what might have precipitated the Bronze Age catastrophe and the optimism that positive things will reassert themselves.”

Nolan’s adaptation has received both praise and criticism for the creative changes he made to the traditional story. Among the most discussed changes is the casting of a black actress as Helen of Troy and transgender-identifying actress Elliot Page as the male Greek soldier Sinon.&

Critics have also pointed to Nolan’s portrayal of Odysseus, who is depicted as having trauma and guilt rather than being the confident and triumphant hero he is in the original poem.