That, Nolan thought, was perfect for Odysseus. The Homeric hero most of us remember from high school is the crafty guy behind the Trojan Horse. But he’s also arrogant and duplicitous. A line in Emily Wilson’s translation sums him up: “Lying Odysseus replied, ‘I will tell you the truth completely.’” For Nolan, one of the hardest things about adapting The Odyssey is that in The Iliad, Odysseus has a relatively minor role. “A lot of the characteristics of Odysseus that can be really admirable in a supporting character, like being a bit clever, being a bit slick, when your hero is like that, it doesn’t always work,” he says. “There’s a reason that in Star Wars, you’ve got Han Solo, but you’ve also got Luke Skywalker, a heroic figure that’s a little more pure and transparent. So the challenge was to be true to the complexity of Odysseus but make him relatable for the audience.”
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