Book Report: The Odyssey

In preparation for Christopher Nolan’s new film that comes out July 17th 2026 I just finished reading The Odyssey!
Read on for my impressions of the book, and once I see the movie (hopefully in IMAX on July 17th) impressions of it!

Last year I tried to read the Iliad, but the version I got from Gutenberg was in poem format and just was not feasible for me to understand or read. A couple months ago when I saw that Christoper was coming out with The Odyssey I decided I wanted to read it first and was surprised to find that the version I had downloaded was “prose” format that was not in infernal poem format, but rather normal book format and it was readable (donning flame retardant suit in protection of all greek nerds who are lining up their burning javelins to hurl at me). The story was all so vaguely familiar as I probably read this in 7th grade and our culture is seeped in this hero story, but I really enjoyed it and I am looking forward to Christopher’s epic film (note: Christopher is truly a film maker and not some green screen computer generated affects movie maker so I really think it will be worth seeing in IMAX format). So I will update here after seeing the movie, and in the meantime will go and find a “prose” version of the Iliad to read as well!

Title: The Odyssey
Author: Homer
Publication date: Good question. The oral version is estimated at around the 8th century BCE. The “prose” version I read was by Samuel Butler and first published in 1897.
Pages: 420
Format: ebook
Price: free (Project Gutenberg)
Started:  09/05/2026
Finished: 29/06/2026

My rough notes (careful could contain spoilers):

  • Ulysses is detained on a forested island in the middle of the sea by Calypso (daughter of Atlas) who wants to marry him
  • Minerva wants to get him home so she goes to Ithaca (his home) to talk with his son Telemachus to give him courage to kick out the suitors who are feasting and leaching off the family
  • Penelope his wife daughter of Icarius
  • Eumaeus the swinehearder
  • Philioetius the stockman
  • Argos his dog
  • Euryclea his nurse who recognizes his scar from boar on his leg
  • King Echetus who kills everyone that comes near him
  • quotes:
    • Servants never do their work when their master’s hand is no longer over them, for Jove takes half the goodness out of a man when he makes a slave of him.

Thanks for reading and feel free to give feedback or comments via email (andrew@jupiterstation.net).