As Times Change, So Does the Odyssey

The Odyssey, the tale of the brave and powerful hero Odysseus, is a beloved story that was told long ago, and one day was made into a book, then into a movie. The book and the movie have many similarities, along with many differences. I think this is because the movie and the book are from completely different times. Although the movie comes from the book, the director may have found some things that he felt needed to be changed. The book was written as one of the first tales of magical lands, heroes, and unstoppable enemies, where now days these are the basis of every movie. This might have affected the original scenes in the book because if the movie was directly made from the book, people may have found it to drag on and on, with the same old same old story lines. Throughout the making of the movie, the original scenes in the book have been changed, some for the better, and some for the worse.
The characters’ personality traits in the movie were somewhat portrayed differently than I took them to be in the book. For example, when I pictured Odysseus in the book, I pictured a strong, handsome, cunning man always full of tricky ideas, but in the movie, the director showed men helping Odysseus carry the large wooden pole to stab the Cyclops. They also portrayed the conflict between Odysseus and the Cyclops differently. The director left out the part in the book when Odysseus had the idea for his men to hide under the sheep, so they could finally escape the wrath of Polyphemus. This scene was important to the story because it showed his smarts and loyalty to his men. I think they did a good job portraying Penelope and her conflict between the suitors. They also showed her in the way that I pictured her, a strong, loyal, independent woman. I think changing the personality traits and conflicts of the character also changes their importance to the story.