A historian comes to the rescue of Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ with a letter that represents an entire country
Lazaros Tsolkas, a Greek author and historian, has penned an open letter to the British director.
‘The Odyssey’, Christopher Nolan’s new film, will be released on July 17, 2026. Filming of the movie has already begun and images of Matt Damon and Tom Holland, two of the stars of the feature film, have been leaked. However, these have generated the first controversies among historians for their historical inaccuracies, as happened to Ridley Scott with ‘Gladiator 2′. One of the most relevant Greek authors who best knows the mythology of the Hellenic country is Lazaros Tsolkas, who has written an open letter to Christopher Nolan about the filming of ‘The Odyssey’.
Contrary to what we may think, this text does not lash out against either the director or the production, but is rather a letter of admiration for the work of the English filmmaker and a series of recommendations about the history of the character and the filming locations.
Tsolkas' letter
“Dear Mr. Nolan, all of us Greeks are especially happy that you have started the shooting of your new film in Greece, about Homer’s Odyssey, and we wish you good luck in the shooting and a safe journey to the hearts of the whole world, in the East and the West.” So begins the letter that Lazaros Tsolkas sent to the director. Further on, the Greek researcher and historian names a series of essential data to know the history of the character, such as the historical dates.
In addition, Tsolkas stresses the importance of ‘The Odyssey’ in the Hellenic culture. “For us Greeks, but also for the whole modern world, the man Odysseus is no longer a fictional creation of Homer, but a historical figure who lived and acted in a specific space-time in history, as clearly described in my research [...] Another thing you should keep in mind is that ‘The Odyssey’ is the biggest best seller of all time worldwide, after the Bible,” he wrote.
He also praised Christopher Nolan for starting filming in Messenia and encouraged filming locations to later move to Ithaca, where the character is originally from. “I encourage you to visit his island, Ithaca, and see up close the places where Odysseus lived and worked [...] A visit to Ithaca will draw worldwide attention to the production and therefore have a large potential audience of potential viewers of your film [...] In addition, filming on the island will add a lot of glamour and prestige to your film,” Tsolkas stated.
So ends the letter from a Greek historian who, knowing what a blockbuster ‘The Odyssey’ is going to be, wanted the Greek epic to be in good hands.
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