Nolan Odyssey 2026 opened on July 17 with Matt Damon as Odysseus—and became a genuine cultural event. Its most durable hook, however, is older than cinema: a family trying to recognize one another after war. The released cast guide confirms the core pairings below. The genealogical column comes from Homer and later ancient traditions, not publicity shorthand. That distinction matters because not everyone who shapes Odysseus's life belongs on his family tree.
The Odyssey is often remembered as a voyage through Cyclopes, Sirens, shipwreck, and enchantment. Structurally it is equally a poem about a house. Penelope must keep that house from being absorbed by the suitors. Telemachus must learn whether being Odysseus's son can become a public identity rather than an inherited rumor. Odysseus must return not only to an island but to relationships that continued changing while he was gone. Nolan's casting makes those three positions unusually visible.
Cast guide
The Nolan Odyssey cast vs. their mythological originals
The Nolan Odyssey cast guide spans more than one mythic network. The released cast does not map to one family. It maps to three different networks: the Ithacan household, divine or voyage encounters, and the Trojan War world. The table labels which is which, so a famous co-star does not become a false parent, sibling, or descendant.
| Actor | Character | Mythological role | Connection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Damon | Odysseus | King of Ithaca; husband of Penelope and father of Telemachus | Direct family |
| Anne Hathaway | Penelope | Queen of Ithaca who holds the household together during a twenty-year absence | Direct family |
| Tom Holland | Telemachus | The adult son who searches for news of a father he cannot remember | Direct family |
| Zendaya | Athena | Divine strategist who guides both father and son through disguise and recognition | Divine ally |
| Robert Pattinson | Antinous | The most aggressive of Penelope's suitors and a threat inside the Ithacan house | Household rival |
| Charlize Theron | Calypso | The nymph who detains Odysseus on Ogygia before the gods order his release | Voyage encounter |
| Samantha Morton | Circe | The goddess who transforms the crew, aids the voyage, and bears Odysseus children in later traditions | Later variant |
Film roles are confirmed in the Associated Press character guide ↗ and Universal's official trailer credits ↗. This guide discusses mythological relationships rather than reviewing or reconstructing the film's plot.
Genealogy
Odysseus's family tree, from Laertes to Telemachus
The solid line is the central Homeric household: Laertes and Anticleia are the parents of Odysseus; Odysseus and Penelope are the parents of Telemachus. Arcesius and Autolycus extend the paternal and maternal lines by one generation. The dashed branch marks a later tradition in which Odysseus and Circe have Telegonus. It should not be read back into Homer as though every ancient author agreed.
See every source and variant on the Odysseus page.
Four branches
How the Ithacan family fits together
Laertes and Anticleia: the parents
Homer repeatedly calls Odysseus “son of Laertes.” Anticleia, daughter of the famous trickster Autolycus, speaks with Odysseus among the dead in Odyssey 11 and explains that grief for him caused her death. Laertes survives on Ithaca in rural withdrawal until the final book. Their two lines give Odysseus both a royal Ithacan inheritance and a maternal association with cunning.
Penelope: wife, strategist, and keeper of the house
Penelope is not a passive endpoint on a husband's chart. Her weaving ruse delays the suitors; her controlled speech tests competing stories; and the secret of the rooted marriage bed provides the final recognition between spouses. The family survives because she preserves its material and interpretive center while refusing to let strangers decide what Odysseus's absence means.
Telemachus: the son who becomes a parallel protagonist
The first four books give Telemachus his own voyage to Pylos and Sparta. He learns about Odysseus through Nestor, Menelaus, and Helen before he can recognize him in person. When father and son meet in Book 16, genealogy becomes alliance—but not instant intimacy. The bow contest later stages succession without fully transferring authority from the returned king.
Read the Telemachus family tree →Circe, Telegonus, and the lost sequel
Homer makes Circe a dangerous host and later adviser, but does not name a child by her in the Odyssey. The lost Telegony adds Telegonus, who unknowingly kills Odysseus, then brings Penelope and Telemachus to Circe. Proclus' summary ends with Telegonus marrying Penelope and Telemachus marrying Circe. Cassiphone belongs to a different, later strand and should not replace that ending on a chart labeled “Telegony.”
Context, not kin
Achilles, Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Athena are not direct family
A screen epic naturally places famous figures close together. A genealogy must resist that visual pressure. Achilles is Odysseus's fellow Achaean and sometimes his rival in arguments about war, glory, and return; he is not a brother or cousin in the standard line. Agamemnon and Menelaus belong to the House of Atreus, a separate dynasty whose catastrophic homecomings act as warnings and comparisons throughout the Odyssey. Atreus therefore belongs in the war-and-return context, not above Odysseus on a parent line.
Athena is more intimate than many relatives in narrative terms, yet her link is divine patronage rather than blood. She guides Telemachus in disguise, protects Odysseus, organizes recognition, and finally stops retaliatory violence from expanding beyond the household. Calypso, Circe, Polyphemus, the Sirens, and the suitors likewise define the hero's story through captivity, aid, danger, or rivalry. MythBranch draws those relationships as encounters or labeled variants so that narrative importance never masquerades as genealogy.
The Odyssey is a family story not because every major character is related, but because every major encounter changes whether—and how—the family can come home to itself.
Further reading
Read the poem, then compare the later branches
Homeric Odyssey
Open English translation from Harvard's Center for Hellenic Studies.
Read the poem ↗Modern editionThe Odyssey
Emily Wilson's English translation, with an introduction and maps.
View the edition ↗Later traditionTelegony
Proclus' summary and fragments of the lost cyclic sequel.
Compare the sequel ↗Ready to leave Ithaca?
Trace gods, Titans, heroes, and monsters in the complete interactive Greek mythology family tree.
Open the MythBranch atlas ↗Quick answers
Nolan's Odyssey and the real family tree
Who plays Odysseus in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey?
Matt Damon plays Odysseus, the king of Ithaca whose return from the Trojan War drives the epic. The film opened in theaters on July 17, 2026.
When is the Nolan Odyssey release date?
The Nolan Odyssey opened in theaters on July 17, 2026.
Who plays Telemachus in Nolan's Odyssey?
Tom Holland plays Telemachus, the son of Odysseus and Penelope who searches for news of his absent father before joining him in Ithaca.
Who plays Circe in The Odyssey movie?
Samantha Morton plays Circe, the goddess who transforms Odysseus's crew and later helps him continue his voyage. Later traditions connect Circe and Odysseus through their son Telegonus.
Does Odysseus really have a son?
Yes. Telemachus is the son of Odysseus and Penelope in Homer's Odyssey. Books 1–4 follow his search for news, and Book 16 stages the adult recognition between father and son.
Who are Odysseus's parents?
The Odyssey identifies Laertes and Anticleia as Odysseus's parents. Later traditions sometimes propose Sisyphus as a biological father, but that is not the main Homeric family line.
Are Odysseus and Achilles related?
They are fellow Achaean heroes at Troy, not blood relatives in the standard genealogies. Achilles belongs to the house of Peleus and Thetis; Odysseus belongs to the Ithacan line of Laertes and Anticleia.
Film credits reflect the released 2026 film. Mythological claims are sourced to Homeric epic or labeled later traditions. Last reviewed August 22, 2026.