What Homer's Odyssey Can Teach Us about Writing Fiction

How Is a Great Mythopoeic Work Written?

In late December, it was announced that Christopher Nolan’s next movie will be an adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey. Naturally, folks were excited: Nolan is one of the most esteemed filmmakers working today (his talky three-hour film about the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer made close to a billion dollars and won seven Oscars), and the Odyssey… well, if you’re reading this, you’ve probably heard of it. It’s the single most famous story in the canon of Western literature after the Bible. (Globally, it’s rivaled only by Journey to the West.) And most of us remember it fondly as being one of the few truly enjoyable books we were made to read in school, an irresistible confection of sirens, sea witches, cave giants, post-traumatic stress and domestic slaughter. The classics: they’re fun!