The Secret Mykonos Connection to The Odyssey
How could Christopher Nolan miss this?
So the Sack of Troy scenes fell somewhat flat and Matt Damon basically phoned it in. So Agamemnon’s suit of slick black armor with Linda Evans ‘80s-grade shoulder pads makes him look more like a Lagerfeld-clad bouncer at a reimagined KISS concert than a Greek king of yore. But oh man, that horse.
Yes, we’re talking about what everyone else is talking about: Christopher Nolan’s new $250 million summer blockbuster, The Odyssey.
Not even Zendaya could save this. Tina Turner might have.
As for Nolan’s controversial casting choices, we have no issue there, and neither should you. But when cinematic contortions beget historical distortions, that’s really cranking up the um, what? factor. To wit: the Trojan Horse, if there really was one (most historians point to it as an allegory), was not shaped like the Black Stallion-esque creature we see in the movie and how do we know this?
Mykonos, folks.
The little-known Archaeological Museum of Mykonos contains the earliest known depiction of the Trojan Horse. We’re talking 675 BC! It’s on a pithos jar with other scenes of the sacking of Troy that was found with human bones inside in 1961 on the party island — which wasn’t always known for partying.
No filming for The Odyssey in Greece took place outside of the Peloponnese. But the Cycladic islands had a very, very prominent role in Homeric legend.
Are mythological themes and figures open to interpretation? Sure. However, we humbly suggest that Christopher Nolan should have done his archaeological homework, or more of it, before somewhat blithely (we know, his fans will say audaciously) rebooting that legendary wooden horse.
Confession: We here at the Column are not huge Chris Nolan fans and why? Some movies are too long, others are too loud, and Nolan’s tend to be both. The Odyssey is, we can report, no exception.
For some the bleak swashbuckler will be a great entrée to a variety of spectacular scenery and historical sites in Greece that are relatively easy to visit. More on that later. Our ears are still ringing…
Now, if you want to stay in a place that looks a bit like Odysseus’s castle does in the movie, the fancy resorts of Costa Navarino won’t do. You’ll have to haul it the other side of the southern Peloponnese: the Mani. Here’s a little preview.
