Μake us preferred on Google Christopher Nolan’s film “The Odyssey” continues to ruffle some feathers in Greece.
The film, which opened in theaters in July, has generated excitement and even more controversy. The latest dispute concerns a suggestion to promote the Ionian islands collectively as the “Islands of Odysseus”, capitalizing on the worldwide attention Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s epic has already attracted.
The proposal was made this week by Ionian Islands Deputy Governor Savvas Koulouris during a regional conference. Koulouris suggested that the Ionian group of islands be presented as “Islands of Odysseus” at the World Travel Market in London this fall, arguing that the film’s momentum could help boost tourism across the region.
A worker installs a hand-painted billboard outside an Athens cinema for Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’. July 11, 2026. Photo: AP/Petros Giannakouris
But the idea has met resistance on Ithaca, the island identified as the home of Odysseus in Homer’s “Odyssey”.
“Ithaca will not give up its history or its name,” Ithaca Mayor Dionysis Stanitsas said, making clear that the municipality does not endorse the proposal.
“When a decision concerns the history, identity and international brand of Ithaca, no one can decide without Ithaca,” Stanitsas said.
He went on to stress that Ithaca supports greater international promotion of the Ionian islands and efforts to attract visitors, but argued that the island’s historical relationship with Odysseus should not be used as a general tourism label for the entire region.
“Ithaca is Ithaca. Odysseus has his homeland,” Stanitsas said.
The mayor called on the Ionian Islands Regional Council to respect Ithaca’s history and its unique connection to Odysseus, while emphasizing that the region can promote itself through its many other attractions and competitive advantages.
The disagreement is one of many triggered by Nolan’s version of “The Odyssey”, which nonetheless has brought renewed international attention to Homer’s epic, to Greece, and to Ithaca.
