As expected, Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” has taken over the box office this summer with generally favorable reviews, including a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. (You can also read our glowing review of the film here).

For many of us, it was a return to high school when we were forced to read some if not all of the epic poem by Homer. 

Maybe you loved ancient Greek tales of myth and adventure, or maybe this year’s bigger-than-life adaptation starring Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway and Tom Holland ignited a newfound interest in such tales. In either case, if “The Odyssey” got you craving some more ancient badassery from the Greeks, we have some suggestions for you. 

If you want to know more about the Trojan War …

Read “The Iliad” and watch “Troy.”

“The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” are an ancient duology of sorts. While “The Odyssey” focuses on Odysseus’ journey back home to Ithaca and the machinations at play among those waiting for him, “The Iliad” tells of the actual battle of Troy. 

Some of this earlier story is alluded to in Nolan’s adaptation of “The Odyssey.” 

The story, an epic poem told in 24 books, is set during the final months of the Trojan War. Just like its sequel, “The Iliad” is long. It tells some of the backstory about the origins of the war—Paris, the son of Troy’s King Priam, abducted Helen, the wife of Menelaus, the king of Sparta. He takes her back to Troy, where the Greeks and their allies lay siege to the city for a decade. 

The story culminates with Achilles seeking to get revenge for the death of his close friend Patroclus at the hands of Hector, Priam’s son and Paris’ brother. 

The story was adapted into the 2004 film “Troy,” starring Brad Pitt as Achilles, Orlando Bloom as Paris, Eric Bana as Hector and Diane Kruger as Helen. Sean Bean plays Odysseus, though he’s not nearly as central to this story as he is in “The Odyssey,” and Julie Christie plays the sea nymph Thetis, mother of Achilles. Wolfgang Petersen directed the film and David Benioff—of “Game of Thrones” fame—adapted the script. 

The film took a pretty straightforward approach to the story and earned a nomination at the Academy Awards for Best Costume Design. 

If you love the family drama …

Read “Oedipus Rex” and watch “Oldboy.”

Moving on from Homer, another ancient Greek writer, Sophocles, also wrote a few tragedies that have been adapted over the years. “Oedipus Rex,” or “Oedipus the King,” is perhaps one of his most famous, and like “The Odyssey,” has big time family drama. 

Oedipus grows up as the adopted son of the king and queen of Corinth, never knowing his true parentage. He’s the true son of Laius and Jocasta, the king and queen of Thebes. After Oedipus’ birth, Laius hears a prophecy that his son is cursed to grow up and kill his own father. The king orders his son to be killed, but Jocasta refuses to do so and orders a shepherd to leave him on a mountaintop. Instead, the shepherd gives him to the king and queen of Corinth. 

As a grown man, Oedipus is given his own prophecy, that not only will he kill his own father, but he’ll also marry his mother. Fearing the prophecy, he decides to leave Corinth and travel to Thebes, setting him on the literal and figurative path to fulfilling his destiny. 

There have been many adaptations of this play, but perhaps one of the best and most unique takes on the story in 2003’s “Oldboy” starring Choi Min-sik as Oh Dae-su, a version of Oedipus. The details of the plot are quite different from the original play, but filmmaker Park Chan-wook has said in interviews that he wanted his lead character, Oh Dae-su to invoke Oedipus and his captor, Lee Woo-jin (played by Yoo Ji-tae) to be a take on the god Apollo, who is behind Laius’ curse. 

The film, which is an adaptation of a manga by the same name, was part of Park’s “The Vengeance Trilogy,” which also includes “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance” and “Lady Vengeance.” It was remade by Spike Lee in 2013, starring Josh Brolin as the Oh Dae-su character—renamed Joe Doucett—and Sharlto Copley as Adrian Doyle Pryce, his captor. 

If you want a woman-centered story …

Read “Antigone” and watch the 2019 adaptation. 

Like much of Western literature, Greek epic poetry and plays are usually male-centered, but Sophocles also wrote a play with a female protagonist, “Antigone.” It’s the third in his trilogy of Theban plays, which included “Oedipus Rex” and “Oedipus at Colonus.” 

Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, and sister to Eteocles and Polynices. The brothers are on opposite sides of Thebes’ civil war, during which they both die. Eteocles fought for the winning side and the new king, Creon, Jocasta’s brother. In the wake of the war, Creon honors Eteocles, but leaves Polynices’ body unburied on the battlefield as punishment for his rebellion. 

Antigone, though, seeks an honorable burial for both of her slain brothers as mandated by the gods. She stands against her uncle, whose orders to punish Antigone and leave Polynices unburied prove to be his undoing. 

A modern-day Canadian adaptation of “Antigone” in 2019 was a critical darling, winning best film at both the Canadian Screen Awards and the Toronto International Film Festival, as well as a slew of other prizes. It stars Nahéma Ricci as Antigone, Rawad El-Zein as Polynice, Hakim Brahimi as Étéocle and Paul Doucet as Christian, a version of Creon. 

In this version, the family are refugees from Algeria living in Quebec. The brothers are members of a street gang and a violent incident lands Polynice in jail and Étéocle in the morgue. Antigone seeks to break her living brother out of jail, knowing he’ll never survive being deported to their homeland. 

About the writer

Danielle Haynes is the co-founder and co-editor of Booked & Screened, covering book-to-screen adaptations, film and TV development. This Classics minor has read all of the plays and epic poems mentioned above, but not in the original Greek. She barely passed those language classes.