The Odyssey “daddy” debate is as tiresome as the accent complaints

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Even though Christopher Nolan’s new film, The Odyssey, isn’t out for another two months, it’s already causing a lot of discussion. It started with complaints about the actors’ accents, and now people are reacting to Robert Pattinson using the word “daddy” in an interview.

Previous trailers hadn’t given us much conversation, but the newest one really surprised people online with lines like “My dad will return,” “You’re pining for a daddy you didn’t even know,” and “Let’s go” – especially since it’s based on a classic Ancient Greek story! It seems a bit unexpected.

Similar to the criticism faced by actors like Matt Damon, Tom Holland, and Charlize Theron for using American accents, the current complaints aren’t really about historical correctness. People are upset because Nolan deviated from the established portrayal of the ancient world – the serious, stoic, and heroic image we’ve become accustomed to through centuries of books and films.

The Iliad and Odyssey, originally written in a form of Ancient Greek called Homeric Greek, don’t feel as stiff or formal as many English translations suggest. Translators, beginning with George Chapman in 1615 and continuing with figures like William Morris, T.E. Lawrence, Robert Fitzgerald, and Robert Fagles, have consistently added their own stylistic touches. These translators were influenced by both previous versions and their own desire to create a uniquely poetic rendering of the epic poems.

These adaptations often possess a unique charm and impact – the Coen brothers, for instance, famously began their film O Brother, Where Art Thou? with a nod to Fitzgerald’s version of the Odyssey, opening with the lines: “O Muse! Sing in me, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all the ways of contending, A wanderer, harried for years on end…”

But the idea that they’re any more faithful is simply false.

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From the beginning, Nolan stated he based his screenplay on the 2017 translation by Emily Wilson. Interestingly, some of the criticism it’s receiving now mirrors the unfair backlash Wilson herself faced when her translation was first released. Her work is considered groundbreaking because it removes traditional poetic additions, offering a simpler, more straightforward, and arguably more faithful interpretation of the original text.

The work includes several modern phrases—like the word “daddy,” “playtime is over,” “canapés,” “pep talk,” and “tote bag”—that some have criticized as out of place. However, Wilson explains she’s using the closest modern equivalents to concepts familiar to the Ancient Greeks. She argues that forcing the language to sound old-fashioned wouldn’t be accurate, as she told The New Yorker in 2023, because these terms wouldn’t have sounded archaic to the original Greek audience.

Although The Odyssey is set in a world of myths and legends, it was originally meant for everyone to enjoy. Unlike how it’s often studied today, it wasn’t created for scholars or the upper class. Instead, it was shared through performances by travelling storytellers – around campfires and at meals – and was popular with people from all walks of life. It’s even possible that The Odyssey wasn’t written by one person, Homer, but evolved over time with contributions from many different storytellers.

Okay, so I get what Nolan’s saying, even if it sounds a bit strange at first. He’s comparing Marvel movies to, like, classic storytelling. It is different – one’s made by a big company to make money, and the other feels more like a folk tale passed down through generations. But honestly, they both do the same thing: they let us escape into worlds where people are heroes and have powers we can only dream of. It’s about that feeling of possibility and being someone bigger than yourself, you know?

The perception of the ancient world as stiff and overly structured comes from how past (and even present) empires viewed Greece and Rome. They idealized these civilizations as superior – more noble, brave, and orderly – creating a Western-focused idea of society that some people look back on with fondness. As Emily Wilson explained to Vox in 2017, expecting Homer to sound ‘heroic’ and ‘ancient’ means accepting a rigid social hierarchy as a key part of what it means to be a hero.

The notion that Ancient Greeks only spoke formally is simply untrue. If you look at their poetry, pottery, or comedies, you’ll quickly find plenty of crude language, imagery, and suggestive jokes. They even had words similar to modern swear words like “bullshit” and much stronger insults, along with surprisingly graphic descriptions – including a verb meaning to perform a rather unpleasant act with a radish. Ultimately, they were just people, and spoke like people do.

Despite being set in a world of myth, The Odyssey still feels relevant today. Its stories of adventure, challenges, gods, and monsters ultimately explore timeless questions about belonging, who we are, and what ‘home’ truly means.

And, yes, as Robert Pattinson put it, what does it mean to pine for a daddy you didn’t even know?

The Odyssey is released in cinemas on 17 July.

The latest issue of Living Legends, a beautiful 100-page, full-color tribute to Sir David Attenborough, is now available! You can purchase it at newsstands or online.

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2026-05-06 18:20