A Trojan Horse Is Supposed to Have Humans Inside It
This article critiques Christopher Nolan's film 'The Odyssey,' focusing on its use of the Trojan horse as a symbol of moral decline. The author argues that while the film is technically impressive, it lacks narrative coherence and fails to center the victims of the violence it depicts.
Why it matters
It provides a cultural critique of how modern blockbusters handle historical symbols and themes of war and trauma.
Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey is full of contradictions about deceit and violence.
Illustration by Anna Ruch / The Atlantic. Sources: Heritage Images / Getty; Melinda Sue Gordon / Universal Pictures / Everett Collection. August 4, 2026, 12 PM ET Share Save If you go to Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey , you may be able to purchase, for a mere $69.99, a plastic receptacle shaped as a Trojan horse. The horse is used in the film as an image of moral decline. But the repurposing of a sinister instrument of war into a popcorn container hints at the malleability of the conceit: A Trojan horse contains unexpected multitudes.
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