Introduction

The Odyssey is a 1997 American mythology–adventure television miniseries based on the ancient Greek epic poem by Homer, the Odyssey.

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Directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, the miniseries aired in two parts beginning on 18 May 1997 on NBC.

The cast includes Armand Assante, Greta Scacchi, Irene Papas, Isabella Rossellini, Bernadette Peters, Eric Roberts, Geraldine Chaplin, Christopher Lee and Vanessa Williams.

Outline

Odysseus (Armand Assante), the king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Ithaca, is called to service in the Trojan War after the birth of his son Telemachus, much to the dismay of his wife Queen Penelope (Greta Scacchi). Odysseus is worried that he may not return, and tells Penelope that she should remarry by the time Telemachus is a man if he does not return. The war lasts ten years, during which Greece’s best soldier, Achilles (Richard Trewett), is killed and the Greeks avenge him by using a giant horse to sneak inside and destroy the city of Troy. Laocoön (Heathcote Williams) tries to warn the Trojans of a vision of this, but is suddenly devoured by a sea monster. Odysseus’ ego gets the best of him and he tells the gods that he did it himself, which angers Poseidon (voiced by Miles Anderson) so much that he promises to make Odysseus’ journey home to Penelope nearly impossible, mentioning that it was he who sent the sea monster to devour Laocoön.

Odysseus and his men initially stop on an island dominated by one-eyed giants, the Cyclopes. A Cyclops named Polyphemus (Reid Asato) traps them in his cave intending to eat them, but Odysseus gets him drunk on wine, causing him to pass out. Then, he sharpens a tree branch into a stake and blinds the Cyclops, allowing them to escape by hiding under sheep skins when he removes the heavy stone door. Polyphemus screams for help, but Odysseus had tricked him into stating that his name was “Nobody”, so the Cyclops is shouting that nobody has tricked him, arousing no suspicion. Odysseus and his men escape, but Odysseus taunts the Cyclops who asks his father Poseidon to avenge him. This makes Odysseus’ journey home harder.

Odysseus travels to an island where Aeolus (Michael J. Pollard) provides him with a bag of wind to help him home, instructing him to open it when he gets close to Ithaca. One of his men opens it prematurely blowing them off course. Next, they stop at the island of Circe (Bernadette Peters), a beautiful witch, who turns his men into animals and blackmails him into sleeping with her. Odysseus is told of Circe’s magic by Hermes (Freddy Douglas), who helps him avoid being transformed as well. Circe tells him to go to the Underworld next, and only then does Odysseus realise that he has actually been tricked by Circe, who put a spell on him so he stayed on the island for five years instead of five days. Odysseus digs his ship out of the sand and tide and sails to the Underworld.

The Odyssey Miniseries

• Episode 01.
• Episode 02.

Trivia

• It was filmed in Malta, Turkey, parts of England, and many other places around the Mediterranean, where the story takes place.
• At the 49th Primetime Emmy Awards the series won the award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries or Special.
• The creature effects for this miniseries were provided by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop where they used a talking animatronic pig roasting on a spit, a CGI for Scylla, a rod puppet sea slug-like sea monster that devours Laocoön, and the full-bodied version of Polyphemus.
• The boat used in the series was reused a few years later for the Jason and the Argonauts miniseries.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s): Andrei Konchalovsky.
• Producer(s): Nicholas Meyer, Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Fuchs, Robert Halmi Sr., Chris Thompson, and Dyson Lovell.
• Writer(s): Andrei Konchalovsky and Chris Solimine.
• Music: Eduard Artemyev.
• Cinematography: Sergei Kozlov.
• Editor(s): Michael Ellis.
• Production: Hallmark Entertainment, American Zoetrope, Beta Film, KirchMedia, Panfilm, ProSieben Media AG, and Remote Camera Systems.
• Distributor(s): NBC (original airing).
• Release Date: 18 and 19 May 1997.
• Running Time: 176 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.