If We’re Going to Adapt The Odyssey, Why Not a Video Game Adaptation?

If We’re Going to Adapt The Odyssey, Why Not a Video Game Adaptation?

How has this never been a thing?

Christopher Nolan’s take on the epic Homeric poem The Odyssey arrives in theaters today. In some ways, Nolan’s journey to this point has taken every bit as long as that of The Odyssey: he was originally slated to direct 2004’s Troy before departing the project and being replaced by Wolfgang Petersen. There you go, classical literature buffs, we’re here for you.

Troy chronicled the Trojan war, as originally detailed in the other great Homeric poem, The Iliad. Between The Iliad and The Odyssey, protagonist Odysseus spent 20 years away from home while his devoted wife (Queen Penelope) did her best to avoid a host of would-be suitors who sought to claim her hand and, by association, the throne of Ithica. So, here’s Nolan returning at last to the harrowing tale of Odysseus’s extended work trip—a bit of historical filmmaking, in a sense.

While Nolan made his name as a director with his high-concept, mind-bending science fiction projects like Memento, The Prestige, and Inception, this is hardly the first time he’s dabbled in history. His most recent theatrical project, Oppenheimer, took place during World War II, presenting an alternate perspective on that global conflict from his earlier award-winning film Dunkirk. Nor is this his first adaptation of a work of literature... though certainly The Odyssey has a bit more cultural gravity than DC Comics’ Batman books.

The unanimously positive advance reviews for the film have been a breath of fresh air after a year or so of angry online discourse about casting choices. Some of those older complaints have been valid—people of Greek descent puzzling over the lack of Greek representation in a film centered around ancient Greece—while others have held less substance. Consider that The Odyssey (the poem version) is one of the oldest works to have been adapted to other cultures. King Odysseus may be the hero of the film, but the name “Odysseus” isn’t nearly as well known as “Ulysses,” that same character’s name in the Roman adaptation of the poem. Like a lot of cultural elements in Ancient Rome, the Romans borrowed the Greek creation and reworked it slightly. Think of Ulysses as the Steve Carell/Michael Scott version of the character compared to Odysseus Ricky Gervais/David Brent version. For that matter, we don’t even know if the poet Homer was a real person, and in any case, Homer (or “Homer”) simply formalized an ever-changing oral tradition when he (or “he”) penned The Odyssey. Adaptation and playing it fast and loose are kind of baked into The Odyssey at the DNA level.

And that makes it all the more curious that The Odyssey has never really had a proper video game adaptation. Sure, there have been some esoteric indie and mobile games through the years, but nothing that adapts The Odyssey at a larger scale. That’s pretty strange! The essence of The Odyssey—a courageous hero braving the odds and overcoming fantastic perils, such as sorceresses and cyclopes—has become more or less cliché in games. And the name “Odyssey” appears through video game history; heck, the very first game console was Magnavox’s Odyssey, the console so good that it was the first to receive a direct sequel. We’ve had plenty of games named “Odyssey” (or, in a few cases, “Oddysee”). But while some of these have flirted with the Homeric work, most notably the Ancient Greek-based Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, no major video game release has ever centered around Odysseus’s quest to get back to hearth and home while avoiding being transformed into a cute l’il pig. Hercules has had a bunch of games! Perseus, too! We’ll even allow Kid Icarus, even if the hero’s name is actually Pit.

With estimates for The Odyssey’s box office take tracking as high as a billion dollars, now seems like the perfect time to translate that foundational literary work into a juicy video game adventure. Can you even imagine what a great RPG that would be? And the best news is that, like Christopher Nolan, the developers could feel free to play fast and loose with the source material. It’s part of the story’s entire tradition, really.