A catalogue of onscreen versions of the Odyssey. This list includes metatheatrical versions, parodies, and adaptations of parodies (including James Joyce’s novel Ulysses).
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| Dan Renalds as Telemachus, Kelly B. Jones as Penelope, and Dylan Vox as Odysseus (Troy: the Odyssey, 2017) |
| Year | Title | Director / medium | Country | Actors: ‘Odysseus’, ‘Penelope’, ‘Telemachos’ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1905 | L’île de Calypso – Ulysse et le géant Polyphème | Georges Méliès | France | Georges Méliès, —, — |
| 1909 | Le retour d’Ulysse | André Calmettes | France | Paul Mounet, Régina Badet, — |
| 1911 | L'Odissea | Francesco Bertolini, Adolfo Padovan | Italy | Giuseppe De Liguoro, ?, ? |
| 1918 | Die Heimkehr des Odysseus (parody) | Rudolf Biebrach | Germany | Bruno Decarli, Henny Porten, — |
| 1922 | Die Heimkehr des Odysseus | Max Obal | Germany | (?)Luciano Albertini, (?)Claire Lotto, — |
| 1954 | Ulisse | Mario Camerini | Italy | Kirk Douglas, Silvana Mangano, Franco Interlenghi |
| 1962 | Ulisse contro Ercole (parody) | Mario Caiano | Italy, France | Georges Machal, —, — |
| 1963 | Le mépris (meta) | Jean-Luc Godard | France | Michel Piccoli, Brigitte Bardot, — |
| 1965 | Il ritorno di Ringo (alternate setting) | Duccio Tessari | Italy | Giuliano Gemma, Hally Hammond, — |
| 1967 | Ulysses (Joyce adaptation) | Joseph Strick | Ireland, UK, USA | Milo O’Shea, Barbara Jefford, Maurice Roëves |
| 1968 | L’Odissea | TV series | Italy | Bekim Fehmiu, Irene Papas, Renaud Verley |
| 1982 | Ulysses 31 / 宇宙伝説ユリシーズ31 (alternate setting) | TV series, anime | France, Japan, Luxembourg | Osamu Kobayashi, —, Yū Mizushima |
| 1988 | James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ (Joyce adaptation) | TV episode (The modern world: ten great writers) | UK, Ireland | David Suchet, Sorcha Cusack, John Lynch |
| 1989 | Nostos: il ritorno | Franco Piavoli | Italy | Luigi Mezzanotte, ?, ? |
| 1993 | Naked (meta) | Mike Leigh | UK | David Thewlis, Lesley Sharp, — |
| 1995 | Το βλέμμα του Οδυσσέα (meta) | Th. Angelopoulos | Greece | Harvey Keitel, Maia Morgenstern, — |
| 1995 | Homer sweet Homer | TV episode (Wishbone) | USA | Larry Brantley, —, — |
| 1997 | The Odyssey | TV miniseries | USA | Armand Assante, Greta Scacchi, Alan Stenson |
| 2000 | O brother, where art thou? (alternate setting) | Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | USA | George Clooney, Holly Hunter, — |
| 2000 | Sans plomb (parody) | Muriel Téodori | France | Alexis Loret, Emma de Caunes, — |
| 2003 | Bloom (Joyce adaptation) | Sean Walsh | Ireland | Stephen Rea, Angeline Ball, Hugh O’Connor |
| 2003 | Mission Odyssey | TV series, animated | France, Germany | Cyrille Artaux, Sophie Arthuys, — |
| 2008 | Odysseus and the isle of mists | TV movie | USA | Arnold Vosloo, Leah Gibson, — |
| 2011 | Keyhole (alternate setting) | Guy Maddin | Canada | Jason Patric, Isabella Rosselini, — |
| 2017 | Troy: the Odyssey | TV movie | USA | Dylan Vox, Kelly B. Jones, Dan Renalds |
| 2017 | Prison break, season 5 (alternate setting) | TV series | USA | Wentworth Miller, Sarah Wayne Callies, Christian Michael Cooper |
| 2018 | Odysseus | TV episode (Superhelden) | Germany | not credited, —, — |
| 2021 | Les grands mythes, season 3 | TV series, animated | France | —, —, — |
| 2024 | The return | Uberto Pasolini | Italy, Greece, UK | Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Charlie Plummer |
| 2026 | The Odyssey | Christopher Nolan | USA | Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland |
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| Matt Damon as Odysseus (The Odyssey, 2026) |
The highest-profile productions listed here are the Kirk Douglas Ulisse (1954); the fondly remembered Italian series L’Odissea (1968); the US miniseries The Odyssey (1997); and the most recent renditions, Pasolini’s The return (2024) and Nolan’s The Odyssey (2026).
Since ethnicity in the Odyssey is a hot topic at the moment, I’ll note that there is only one Greek actor in this list, Irene Papas as Penelope in L’Odissea (1968); she also played Odysseus’ mother Anticlea in The Odyssey (1997). Almost all the other actors represented here have northern and/or western European backgrounds. The exceptions are Osamu Kobayashi and Yū Mizushima, the original voice actors for Yurishizu and Teremaku in Ulysses 31 (1981–1982); Maia Morgenstern as the various women in A’s life in Ulysses’ Gaze (1995); and Kelly B. Jones as Penelope in Troy: the Odyssey (2017).
