Christopher Nolan‘s The Odyssey conquered the box office this weekend, whisking movie goers away to a “time of apparent magic” where Odysseus (Matt Damon) and his men went through everything, including literal hell, to try to get home after the Trojan War. While many of the major set pieces from the film — be they the creation of Trojan horse or the haunting song of the Sirens — probably felt familiar to most people, Nolan also added some fresh twists to the ancient epic. Case in point: including the Laestrygonians in an exceptionally creepy and creatively nightmarish way.
About halfway through The Odyssey, Odysseus and his three remaining ships wash up on the shore of a lush, verdant island. The crew is hungry, exhausted, and feeling utterly spent after their attacks on the Cyclops (Bill Irwin) brought the sea and wind god Poseidon’s wrath upon them. As they hike through the forest, they see what appears to be a soldier in gleaming silver armor in the distance. They politely hail this stranger, explaining they are travelers looking for food, invoking “Zeus’s Law” for the island’s hospitality. (Zeus’s Law is Nolan’s interpretation of the concept of xenia, which meant “guest-friendship” or “sacred hospitality” to the Ancient Greeks.) When the “solider” turns around, they discover it’s actually a young child. A huge young child.
The child then screams and soon a group of hulking giant soldiers in the same armor arrive and begin to just destroy Odysseus and his troops. The trees magically move around, creating cages for the massive men to easily pick off the smaller Greeks like easy prey. Odysseus and his main crew eventually make it back to their ship, but the other two boats are lost.
So who are these mysterious giant soldiers in The Odyssey? Are they in Homer’s epic? Here’s what you need to know about the Laestrygonians…
Photo: Universal Pictures
Who Were the Giant Soldiers in The Odyssey?
The giant soldiers in The Odyssey are known as the Laestrygonians and, yes, they appear in Homer’s original epic poem.
The Laestrygonians were a race of giants whom Odysseus and his men ran afoul of in Book X of The Odyssey. Odysseus recounts arriving at their island and first meeting a “stately” (depending on your translation) daughter of the local king. When she took the men to her home, her parents were giants. Immediately, her father called the rest of the Laestrygonians to attack Odysseus and his crew. These monstrous beings devoured some of Odysseus’s men.
The Laestrygonians also happen to be descendants of Poseidon, who, as you know after the Cyclops incident, is really pissed at Odysseus.
While Homer’s Odyssey refers to the Laestrygonians hurling massive rocks and destroying all but Odysseus’s ships, the trick with the trees is pure Nolan. But that said, it’s really cool and helps ramp up the anxiety of the scene. Moreover, it plays into the overall themes of Nolan’s movie.
Photo: Universal Pictures
Why Did Christopher Nolan Keep the Laestrygonians, aka the Giant Soldiers, in The Odyssey?
The Odyssey is an incredibly vast work of art full of strange events and side characters that are often cut from film and TV adaptations. The Laestrygonians, for instance, were probably so shocking to audiences because they’re not in most film versions of the story. So why did Nolan put them in?
At the end of The Odyssey, a disguised Zeus explains to Penelope (Anne Hathaway) that his invention of the Trojan Horse won Greece the war at the expense of their civilization. The idea of Zeus’s Law ensured that people treated each other with dignity, kindness, trust, and respect. Now that Odysseus has broken Zeus’s Law of guest rights with his invention of the Trojan Horse, he’s shattered that sacred bond across the world.
The Laestrygonians don’t meet Odysseus’s men with generosity, but the same bitter cruelty that the Greeks treated the Trojans with. In the film, Odysseus also often muses about the different between a fight and a hunt. The encounter with the Laestrygonians is a total hunt, but Odysseus is on the other side.
The Laestrygonians is an episode of The Odyssey that doubles down on the greater themes of Nolan’s film. (They also are hella creepy and make for a great set piece.)
The Odyssey is playing exclusively in theaters right now.
