The most important character in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey isn’t even in the original poem

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is a movie adaptation of a massive text that dates back thousands of years. Homer’s epic poem is over 500 pages long in most English translations, featuring Gods, monsters, and disasters that delay Odysseus’ journey home. On the road to adaptation, some changes were bound to be made, and while a lot of these were natural cuts, one of the major departures is the addition of a character who was never featured in Homer’s Odyssey.

Who is Sinon in The Odyssey?

Featured in the film’s opening sequence, Sinon is played by Elliot Page. He’s one of the first faces we see as the bard Phemius (Travis Scott) recalls the tale of the Trojan Horse, and he comes to represent the cost of Odysseus’ famous trick and a reminder of its consequences.

Sinon’s first moments show him spotting the masked Trojan warriors approaching the wooden horse on the beach. He runs toward it and is immediately shot with arrows and a spear. Before dying, he tells the Trojans that the horse is a gift from Athena, allowing Odysseus and his men to breach Troy’s walls from within.

Although Sinon is not featured in Homer’s Odyssey, Nolan didn’t invent him either. Sinon is a character from the Aeneid, a poem written by Virgil about 800 years later, exploring the aftermath of the Trojan War from the perspective of a surviving Trojan who escapes and ultimately founds Rome. In that story, Sinon has a more active role. He’s tasked with selling the trick of the horse to the Trojans and persuades them by claiming the gift is a sacred offering and that he’d been betrayed by the Greeks.

Once they accept his story and the horse is taken to Troy, Sinon opens its wooden belly, releasing the Greek warriors from within. He’s depicted as a master of deceit and someone who played a key role in the fall of Troy.

Nolan’s interpretation of the character

Nolan’s version of Sinon is more tragic and sympathetic. He’s the son of a servant who worked for the family of Antinous (Robert Pattinson), the film’s primary villain. In flashbacks showing Antinous and Sinon as kids, the two are seen accompanying Odysseus on his hunts. During the draft for the war, Sinon is spared while Antinous is chosen. Afraid, Antinous asks Sinon to take his place, offering to pay and care for his family while he’s away.

In the film’s most surreal stretch, Antinous’ lie is revealed. As Odysseus and his men sail to the underworld, they encounter the spirits of the dead, speaking to Sinon first. Sinon reveals that Odysseus hadn’t told him that warriors were inside the Trojan Horse, and that Odysseus used his innocence to sell the lie. He also reveals that his father died poor in Ithaca, with Antinous not upholding their agreement.

Image: Universal Pictures

Narratively, Sinon comes to represent a loss for Odysseus, as one of the few warriors he has a connection with. He’s also one of the few innocent characters, caught in a war he was never meant to be in. “In a way, you’re looking to put a face on certain elements of what Odysseus has done, what that means for the world as a whole. You’re looking to put a face on the tragedy of war,” Nolan said of the character to Rolling Stone UK.

Sinon also helps Nolan sell the rivalry between Antinous and Odysseus, making their final showdown work emotionally. As viewers, we’ve seen Pattinson scheming, seducing Queen Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and mistreating Telemachus (Tom Holland), but Odysseus has no way of knowing any of this. He only knows that Antinous is a liar and the reason why an innocent man died in war.

Image: Universal Pictures

Upon Odysseus’ return to Ithaca, he takes Sinon’s name, taunting and rattling Antinous. When Odysseus kills him, he brings up Sinon one last time. Antinous dies a coward, with his lies catching up to him.

Sinon takes up only a couple of minutes of screen time in a film that lasts almost three hours, but thanks to Nolan’s writing and Page’s performance, the character reframes the story. He provides a clear look at Odysseus’ flaws and how he can easily sacrifice someone for the greater cause, but also of his strengths in his desire to honor a boy’s memory. Even in a tale as expansive as The Odyssey, it all comes down to people.

The Odyssey is in theaters now.