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 | 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 (meta) | 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). 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).
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