From Homer to Hollywood – The Odyssey’s Journey Through Art History

A story spanning millennia

Initially, the Odyssey was passed down orally. From the 8th or 7th century BC onwards, the aoidoi – the epic singers of ancient Greece – recited the poem in song at festivals and public celebrations. Its great popularity led, in the 6th century BC, to the commissioning of an authoritative written version in Athens, in order to limit variations and improvisations. From the 4th century BCE at the latest, the Odyssey served educational and scholastic purposes; even today, it remains part of the curriculum in many countries.

How every century depicted its own Odysseus

From the 6th century BC onwards, the story of the Odyssey also appears as a visual theme. Initially on vases in the black-figure and red-figure styles of Greek vase painting, and later also in sculptures and reliefs, individual episodes from the epic appear as clearly recognisable visual motifs, such as Odysseus’s passage past the Sirens. In ancient Rome, frescoes depicting scenes from the Odyssey adorned the walls and interiors of private homes and public buildings.

Christianisation brought about a radical shift in the interpretation of the Odyssey. Whilst in late antiquity it was increasingly read allegorically and understood as a symbol of the dangers and missteps of human life, in the Middle Ages it developed into a moral narrative in which Odysseus’s cunning, his temptations and his long journey are frequently interpreted as trials on the path between sin and redemption. This interpretation is found primarily in literature; the portrayal in Dante’s 14th-century Divine Comedy is particularly well known. The Renaissance marked another turning point: the rediscovery of ancient ideals positioned the figure of Odysseus as a symbol of humanist values, human reason and resilience. During this period, the Odyssey experienced a rebirth; it was read, translated, sung and painted on numerous occasions.

Since the Romantic period of the early 19th century, a further transformation has taken place. Moving away from the image of the idealised hero, the focus has increasingly shifted to the psychological and emotional experience: longing and homesickness, memory and loss, alienation and the search for identity. In late 19th-century Symbolism, the characters and episodes of the Odyssey were increasingly interpreted as symbols of inner conflicts and existential experiences. In particular, the paintings of the English artist John William Waterhouse continue to shape our perception of this mythical narrative to this day.

With the advent of modernity in the 20th century, and against a backdrop of world wars, social upheaval and experiences of uprooting, Odysseus gradually loses his role as an idealised hero and becomes a figure representing the searching, wandering and alienated individual. The themes of journey and homecoming are now linked to questions of identity, exile, war, migration and origin. The Odyssey is increasingly interpreted as a state of limbo, an in-between: as the oppressive banality of everyday life in James Joyce’s novel, or as a journey of the human species from its origins to its possible extinction in Stanley Kubrick’s cosmic cinematic adventure.

Finally, the social and humanities-related advances at the turn of the millennium brought forth further insights into the myth. In the context of cultural transformation and counter-hegemonic narratives, the Odyssey was ultimately liberated from its traditionally Eurocentric and patriarchal perspective. Well known in this context are the collage illustrations by the American artist and activist Romare Bearden from the 1970s, as well as the first translation of the work by a woman, Emily Wilson, in 2017. The eagerly awaited new film adaptation of the Odyssey by the legendary director Christopher Nolan, due in 2026, also appears to address contemporary aspects of cultural diversity.

Why the myth remains relevant today

One thing in particular becomes clear from this overview of art history: the enduring influence of the Odyssey on Western culture is not solely attributable to the historical uniqueness of the character or even the story of Odysseus, but to its timeless ubiquity. It is a narrative that has endured for millennia because it deals with fundamental constants of human experience: the journey into the unknown, the search for home, and the will to survive. The cultural and social relevance of the Odyssey lies in its potential to continually address new questions and open up different avenues of interpretation. This is precisely where the special power of great art lies.

The Odyssey and Myth in the SKM Collection