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Homer’s Odyssey, a 12,000-line, nearly 3,000-year-old epic poem, is one of the foundational texts of Western literature. (It’s also one of the oldest surviving sequels!)

It has inspired a list of movies as varied as Stanley Kubrick‘s 2001: A Space Odyssey, the Coen brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.

But there haven’t been very many straight screen adaptations of its full story.

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is just the second full-length feature film adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey ever made. It is 173 minutes long. It reportedly cost $250 million to make. And it is currently the No. 1 movie in the world, having grossed $666.7 million in just 12 days in theaters.

This hour, rock star classicist and translator Emily Wilson joins us to talk Homer, Nolan, and everything in between.

Plus: We impanel a full Nose to parse and dissect the movie as only the Nose can.

GUESTS:
James Hanley: Co-founder of Cinestudio at Trinity College
Shawn Murray: A stand-up comedian, writer, and the host of the Fantasy Filmball podcast
Irene Papoulis: Taught writing for a long time at Trinity College
Emily Wilson: A classicist who has published verse translations of Homer, Seneca, Sophocles, and Euripides; her new book, Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea: Journeys Through Ancient Literature, is out in September, 2026, in the United States
Bill Yousman: Professor of media studies at Sacred Heart University

Music featured (in order):
Disco Ulysses – Vulfpeck
Tales of Brave Ulysses – Cream
Take the Long Way Home – Supertramp
Zeus’s Law – Ludwig Göransson
Ithaca – Ludwig Göransson
When I’m Home – James Blake, Travis Scott, Ludwig Göransson

Homer&rsquo;s&nbsp;Odyssey, a 12,000-line, nearly 3,000-year-old epic poem, is one of the foundational texts of Western literature. (It&rsquo;s also one of the oldest surviving&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/the-colin-mcenroe-show/2023-02-21/anger-politics-death-revisiting-the-iliad-through-a-modern-lens">sequels</a>!)
It has inspired a list of movies as varied as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/the-colin-mcenroe-show/2022-02-08/considering-kubrick">Stanley Kubrick</a>&lsquo;s&nbsp;2001: A Space Odyssey,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/arts-and-culture/2020-06-12/not-necessarily-the-nose-36-years-of-the-coen-brothers">the Coen brothers</a>&rsquo;&nbsp;O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and&nbsp;The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.
But there haven&rsquo;t been very many straight screen adaptations of its full story.
<a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/the-colin-mcenroe-show/2024-03-12/from-memento-to-oppenheimer-the-movies-mysteries-and-marvels-of-christopher-nolan">Christopher Nolan</a>&rsquo;s&nbsp;The Odyssey&nbsp;is just the second full-length feature film adaptation of Homer&rsquo;s&nbsp;Odyssey&nbsp;ever made. It is 173 minutes long. It reportedly cost $250 million to make. And it is currently the No. 1 movie in the world, having grossed $666.7 million in just 12 days in theaters.
This hour, rock star classicist and translator Emily Wilson joins us to talk Homer, Nolan, and everything in between.
Plus: We impanel a full Nose to parse and dissect the movie as only the Nose can.
GUESTS:
<ul>
<li>James Hanley:&nbsp;Co-founder of Cinestudio at Trinity College</li>
<li>Shawn Murray:&nbsp;A stand-up comedian, writer, and the host of the&nbsp;Fantasy Filmball&nbsp;podcast</li>
<li>Irene Papoulis:&nbsp;Taught writing for a long time at Trinity College</li>
<li>Emily Wilson:&nbsp;A classicist who has published verse translations of Homer, Seneca, Sophocles, and Euripides; her new book,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.emilyrcwilson.com/wine-dark-sea">Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea: Journeys Through Ancient Literature</a>, is out in September, 2026, in the United States</li>
<li>Bill Yousman:&nbsp;Professor of media studies at Sacred Heart University</li>
</ul>
Music featured (in order):
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7nCDrf90V8">Disco Ulysses</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Vulfpeck</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDoSFljWTHg">Tales of Brave Ulysses</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Cream</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pts0jqX-yY">Take the Long Way Home</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Supertramp</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKyf1ueDjl0">Zeus&rsquo;s Law</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Ludwig G&ouml;ransson</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DVfI_Muv_A">Ithaca</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Ludwig G&ouml;ransson</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTdDQ7v_Lb8">When I&rsquo;m Home</a>&nbsp;&ndash; James Blake, Travis Scott, Ludwig G&ouml;ransson</li>
</ul>

The Colin McEnroe Show is public radio’s most eclectic, eccentric weekday program. The best way to understand us is through the subjects we tackle: Neanderthals, tambourines, handshakes, the Iliad, snacks, ringtones, punk rock, Occam’s razor, Rasputin, houseflies, zippers. Are you sensing a pattern? If so, you should probably be in treatment. On Fridays, we try to stop thinking about what kind of ringtones Neanderthals would want to have and convene a panel called The Nose for an informal roundtable about the week in culture.

<a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/the-colin-mcenroe-show/about">The Colin McEnroe Show</a> is public radio’s most eclectic, eccentric weekday program. The best way to understand us is through the subjects we tackle: Neanderthals, tambourines, handshakes, the Iliad, snacks, ringtones, punk rock, Occam’s razor, Rasputin, houseflies, zippers. Are you sensing a pattern? If so, you should probably be in treatment. On Fridays, we try to stop thinking about what kind of ringtones Neanderthals would want to have and convene a panel called <a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/tags/the-nose">The Nose</a> for an informal roundtable about the week in culture.