Homer in Panels: Gareth Hinds’s The Odyssey

Popular retellings often lead young readers toward classical mythology. The original stories can then produce shock because their violence and sexual hierarchy resist modern ideas of heroism. Teachers face a genuine difficulty: softening the material distorts the culture, while presenting it without preparation can alienate students.

Gareth Hinds’s graphic Odyssey usually accepts that difficulty. Odysseus remains resourceful and charismatic, yet his failures of leadership and sexual conduct survive the adaptation. The slaughter in Ithaca retains its brutality. Hinds therefore gives young readers a recognizable version of Homer’s hero without converting him into a modern moral exemplar.

The handling of gender is less successful. In the scene where Telemachus asserts authority over Penelope, Hinds softens the ancient hierarchy and makes the son appear considerate. The adaptation thereby reduces the discomfort that the episode should create. Fidelity to Homer requires preserving the social violence of the household as well as the adventure.

A similar improvement occurs in the Polyphemus episode, where Odysseus’s conduct becomes more defensible than it is in the poem. The visual treatment of women moves in the opposite direction. Calypso and Circe receive sexualized clothing and poses that serve no narrative purpose. These choices reproduce modern stereotypes while claiming fidelity to an ancient source.

The artwork nevertheless has considerable strength. Hinds understands Homeric atmosphere and combines archaeological detail with imaginative fantasy. The underworld sequence is especially effective because its restricted palette and spectral figures create a stark separation from the living world. Smaller visual allusions also reward readers who know the poem.

As an introduction, the book is useful and often impressive. It can help a student grasp the epic’s structure before approaching a full translation. Its compromises should become part of the lesson, since adaptation always reveals what a modern artist chooses to preserve and what he chooses to change.