BONUS Mary & Charlotte on the latest trailer for Christopher Nolan's Odyssey

Summary

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Instant Classics: BONUS Mary & Charlotte on the Latest Trailer for Christopher Nolan's Odyssey

Date: May 17, 2026
Host: Vespucci
Guests: Mary Beard (Classicist), Charlotte Higgins (Guardian Chief Culture Writer)

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Episode Overview

In this engaging bonus episode, Mary Beard and Charlotte Higgins dive into their first reactions to the just-released trailer for Christopher Nolan’s much-anticipated film adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey. The conversation explores how the trailer both echoes and diverges from ancient sources, with the duo decoding details, swapping first impressions, and speculating about Nolan's creative choices. Expect a mix of classicist nitpicking, genuine excitement, and thoughtful reflection on why these ancient tales keep captivating us today.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Classicist’s Approach to Trailers

• Anticipation vs. Decoding
  • Mary describes the unique experience of watching such trailers as a classicist:
    • “You go into decoding mode, right?...you sit there and you think, what bit is he showing us there? And do I like it?...you're kind of a one person spoiler vehicle.” (Mary, 00:32–01:10)
  • Watching through a scholarly lens means less pure excitement, more comparative analysis.

2. Initial Reservations: Cyclops & Laestrygonians

• Depiction Discrepancies
  • Mary admits being “kind of disappointed” by the Cyclops, finding it didn't match her own imagination—particularly regarding his lack of clothing and overall look.
    • “He isn’t sort of naked in that kind of way. In my head, I thought that.” (Mary, ~01:34)
  • The Laestrygonians, presented in “shiny steel armor,” struck both as odd and “sci-fi.”
    • Charlotte: “Oh, the sci-fi Laestrygonians. I agree. I was like, who are they?...I'd never imagined them quite so metallic.” (Charlotte, 01:56)

3. Trailer Mysteries: Statues, Figurines, and Athena

• Unfamiliar Moments
  • Both are thrown by a trailer shot of Odysseus decapitating a female statue and fingering a small metal figurine.
    • Mary: “The puzzling thing...we see Odysseus decapitating a statue, female statue. And we see also...this small metal female figurine...Now, what. How did you read that, Charlotte?” (Mary, 02:14–02:55)
  • Charlotte speculates this could reference Athena’s temple at the end of the Trojan War—though this is not strictly canonical Odyssey material:
    • “Is it Athena's temple being trashed, being besmirched at the end of the Trojan War?...which is the reason why Athena scatters all the Greeks ships.” (Charlotte, 02:55–03:36)
  • They both discuss the possibility that Nolan is starting his film at the end of the war, perhaps with creative liberties.

4. Favourite Elements: Ithaca & Penelope

• Positive Responses
  • Charlotte enjoys the depiction of Ithaca (filmed in Scotland) and especially the chaotic energy of the suitors in Penelope’s house:
    • “The scenes with all the suitors...there were a lot of them. They did seem like quite a scary mob. And I quite like that. And there's a moment where we see Penelope appearing holding the bow.” (Charlotte, 03:57–04:37)
  • She looks forward to scenes centered around the contest of the bow—a highlight of the epic.

5. The Odyssey Book Club & Audience Engagement

• Community and Reading Along
  • Charlotte plugs their ongoing Odyssey Book Club, urging listeners to join for a slower, more enjoyable read-through:
    • “We are reading the Odyssey slowly and carefully and with a lot of fun and jokes, I hope, as well as insight.” (Charlotte, 04:37–04:53)

6. The Age of Odysseus: A Realistic Hero

• Casting and Realism
  • Charlotte is particularly taken with Matt Damon’s portrayal of a “middle-aged and just how raddled and grey” Odysseus:
    • “I really like the fact that he looks like he’s been through a lot.” (Charlotte, 05:27–06:28)
  • Mary agrees that Charlotte brings a generous, balanced eye to adaptation, contrasting her own detail-focused approach.

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Mary Beard:

  • “It's not exactly a spoiler alert, but you're kind of a one person spoiler vehicle.” (01:02)
  • “I found the Cyclops kind of disappointing...Because it's not how I imagine the Cyclops.” (01:20)
  • “I'm still really puzzled by the stress on this tiny little metal figurine.” (05:16)

• Charlotte Higgins:

  • “Oh, the sci fi Laestrygonians. I agree. I was like, who are they?...I'd never imagined them quite so metallic.” (01:56–02:07)
  • “I thought the little moments we got on Ithaca, which is northern Scotland, looking to me exactly like northern Scotland and nothing like the Mediterranean, but never mind.” (03:57)
  • “I really like the fact that he looks like he's been through a lot.” (06:08)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:26 — Charlotte asks Mary’s overall take on the trailer
• 00:32–01:10 — Mary on decoding the trailer as a classicist
• 01:20–01:56 — Mary & Charlotte discuss the Cyclops and Laestrygonians
• 02:14–02:55 — Puzzle over the statue decapitation and the metal figurine
• 02:55–03:55 — Theorizing about Athena, the Trojan War, and where Nolan’s story might start
• 03:57–04:53 — Praise for Ithaca scenes, the suitors, and Penelope with the bow
• 04:53–05:27 — Reflections on how classicists watch trailers vs. general audience
• 05:27–06:28 — Matt Damon as an authentically weary Odysseus
• 06:28–06:37 — Self-aware reflection on reviewing and being a “generous film critic”
• 06:37–07:10 — Invitation to join the Odyssey Book Club and what’s next

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Final Thoughts & Tone

The episode is a charming blend of enthusiastic book-club vibes, classicist nitpicks, and cinematic curiosity. Mary and Charlotte’s exchange is at once witty, warm, and occasionally geeky—inviting listeners not just to react to Hollywood’s latest epic, but to join in a centuries-old conversation about how we keep interpreting Homer anew. Unmissable for lovers of myth, movies, or good-spirited debate.

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

So, Mary, I'm dying to know, what did you think of the new Odyssey movie trailer?

[C]

What's funny about this is the way that if you know the Odyssey, you. You kind of anticipate these trailers, but you anticipate them because you go into decoding mode, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So instead of thinking, oh, this is going to be a great movie, or I wonder if I could go and see this, et cetera, et cetera, you sit there and you think, what bit is he showing us there? And do I like it? You know, so, you know, it's kind of, you know, you're kind of. It's not exactly a spoiler alert, but you're kind of a one person spoiler vehicle. And I thought there was two things that I felt. I have to confess this may well be completely different. In the finished movie, I. I found the Cyclops kind of disappointing. Now why do I find it disappointing? Because it's not how I imagine the Cyclops, but kind of when this great one eyed giant picked up one of Odysseus's men and is going to eat them, I thought, that isn't how I saw it. He isn't sort of naked in that kind of way. In my head, I thought that. I also thought, I never imagined these giants, the Laestrygonians that we see in this, you know, clad in kind of shiny steel armor, right?

[B]

Oh, the sci fi Laestrygonians. I agree. I was like, who are they? Oh, okay. They must be the Lystrygonians. I'd never imagined them quite so metallic.

[C]

No, as I say, I don't think that this is, for me an indication of whether I'm going to really enjoy the movie or not. It's an indication of the state of mind I'm in when I look at these trailers and it's kind of thinking, who's that? Have they done it? How I'd like to do it, et cetera, et cetera. The puzzling thing. And I thought, have I just not remembered some bits in Homer we see there's two things which seem to relate to one another. We See Odysseus decapitating a statue, female statue. And we see also, and it looks very similar, but on a tiny scale, we see this small metal female figurine that they start fingering. Now, what. How did you read that, Charlotte?

[B]

Because I thought, oh, I don't know. I mean, obviously Christopher Nolan is going to. Is not going to have stuck slavishly to the original Greek text. Mary, we have to accept. I think we have to. I think we have to. We have to accept that. I thought, was it definitely Odysseus who does the beheading of the statue? Because I wondered if this is the back end, this is the back end of the Trojan War. And is it Athena's temple being trashed, being besmirched at the end of the Trojan War? Yes, at the end of the Trojan War, which is the reason why Athena scatters all the Greeks ships. And it's not really, you know, it's not really part of the Odyssey, but it's part of the wider. Because we don't know where he's going to begin. And it looks like he's going to begin it. He's going to do some. When I say he, Christopher Nolan is going to start us off at the end of the Trojan War. That's what it looks like. Of course, in the Odyssey we get some of that, but it's in flashback.

[C]

It might be in Nolan. In fact.

[B]

It might be in Nolan. Yeah. You know, we have no idea. I mean, I'll tell you what I liked. I'm going to say what I like. I thought the little moments we got on Ithaca, which is northern Scotland, looking to me exactly like northern Scotland and nothing like the Mediterranean, but never mind. I liked the scenes with all the suitors inside the house of Penelope. And there were a lot of them. They did seem like quite a scary mob. And I quite like that. And there's a moment where we see Penelope appearing holding the bow. That's going to lead to one of the best bits in the Odyssey that we haven't got to yet in Odyssey Book Club, which you must all join if you have not yet joined, by the way, because we are reading the Odyssey slowly and carefully and with a lot of fun and jokes, I hope, as well as insight.

[C]

I feel a bit corrected now because, you know, I'm well aware that I'm not the ordinary viewer of this trailer. And the bits that I enjoy I kind of pass over and I go to the puzzles and I go to sort of, oh, I wouldn't have done it that way. Whereas actually I totally agree with you. The scenes in Ithaca, the suitors, Telemachus, Odysseus, son, you know, they're actually great. But I'm still really puzzled by the stress on this tiny little metal figurine.

[B]

Well, we don't know what it is. We don't know whether it's a goddess. It might be Athena. It might be, it might relate to Penelope. It might be a kind of reminder of home. We just don't know what visual imagery he's going to be planting through yet. So I guess I was more focused on bits where I definitely recognized what was going on, which was, you know, there was a wonderful big whirlpool which was obviously Charybdis. And I'll tell you, the overall big thing that I liked, and it may be a reflection on the fact that I myself am a middle aged person, is just how middle aged and just how raddled and grey Matt Damon looks as Odysseus. And I think this is really important. Like this war has been going on for 20. Well, not the war. The war was going on for 10 years. His journey has been going on for 10 years. You know, he's been through a lot and I really like the fact that he looks like he's been through a lot.

[C]

Charlotte, I think we just proved that you are a much better and more generous film critic than I am, particularly when it comes to the Odyssey.

[B]

We're going to see what we. I mean, I obviously can't wait to see it. And we will, we will, we will have more to say when we've seen the whole film. But please do join us in our Odyssey book club, which secretly may be my favourite thing about instant classics because I adore the Odyssey and I really love sitting down with Mary and talking about it. And we have a whole gang of listeners who are joining in that with us and we hope that you do too.

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[D]

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