Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words
Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words

The Real Odyssey, Andrew Jackson's America, and Reagan's Conservative Revival | Victor Davis Hanson

August 1, 2026

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5 min read

In Christopher Nolan’s new film The Odyssey, the Cyclops is nearly mute, a hulking, naked statue with a sideways eye. In Homer’s poem, the Cyclops is a terrifying conversationalist who tells Odysseus he will eat him last. That difference, for Victor Davis Hanson, is not a minor creative choice. It is a sign that Nolan has made something that is “50 percent Homer and 50 percent Christopher Nolan”—a dazzling spectacle that systematically strips the epic of its historical texture, its moral logic, and its central character.

The Real Odyssey: A Poem Built Across Three Eras

Hanson’s critique of the film rests on a detailed account of what the Odyssey actually is. Homer composed the poem orally around 750 BC, roughly four centuries after the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization that the epics describe. During those four centuries, oral bards passed down exaggerated tales of a lost world of monumental ruins and superhuman heroes. The Odyssey that survives is a palimpsest of three periods: a tiny fraction (about two percent) of genuine Mycenaean artifacts, such as boar’s-tooth helmets and silver-studded swords that appear in the text; a larger layer of Dark Age elaboration, including the figure of the bard who sings within the story itself; and a thick overlay of Homer’s own contemporary world—the early Greek city-state with its olive groves, vineyards, councils, and phal

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (00:00) **Introduction: The Historicity of Homer** - Victor Davis Hanson sets up the historical and literary context of the Odyssey before critiquing Christopher Nolan's film.
  • 2 (23:20) **Critique of Nolan's Odyssey: What's Missing** - Hanson argues Nolan's film is more a Christopher Nolan spectacle than a faithful adaptation of Homer.
  • 3 (27:46) **Critique of Nolan's Odyssey: Casting and Character Choices** - Hanson examines Nolan's casting decisions and their impact on the story.
  • 4 (33:31) **Critique of Nolan's Odyssey: Visual and Thematic Failures** - Hanson argues the film's visual style and thematic choices betray the source material.
  • 5 (45:14) **The Lestrygonians and Athena** - Hanson elaborates on two specific failures in Nolan's adaptation.
  • 6 (53:56) **Nolan's Structure vs. Homer's Flashbacks** - Hanson considers whether Nolan's non-linear storytelling is a valid recreation of Homer's own technique.
  • 7 (57:13) **Andrew Jackson: The First Populist President** - Hanson provides a biographical sketch of Andrew Jackson, highlighting his populist, combative nature.

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Guests on this episode

Victor Davis Hanson

Show Notes

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey impresses with spectacular visuals; but it misses the heart of Homer's epic, argues Victor Davis Hanson. On today's edition of Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words, Hanson explores the historical origins of The Odyssey, explaining how the poem blends Mycenaean history, Greek mythology, and oral tradition into one of Western civilization's foundational works. He then critiques Nolan's adaptation, praising its technical achievements while arguing that changes to key characters, themes, and mythology fundamentally alter Homer's original story. The conversation then turns to two transformative American presidents, Andrew Jackson and Ronald Reagan. Hanson examines Jackson's populism, expansion of executive power, and enduring legacy, before reflecting on Reagan's rise from California governor to president, his economic agenda, and why he became one of the defining conservative leaders of the twentieth century.

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Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words

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