Christopher Nolan’s mythological epic film The Odyssey had a record breaking opening in Nolan’s career. Many fans, film critics, and history enthusiasts had their opinions on the authenticity of the costume design, debating whether it truly incorporated traditional Ancient Greek elements.

Ancient Greek clothing generally consisted of garments such as Chiton, Himation, Epiblema. Chiton being the most notable garment, worn by both men and women was essentially a sleeveless shirt. Though the chiton could be draped around the body, making it a very convenient option for clothing. Colours of outfits were imagined to be plain or white. However, wealth was displayed using more vivid colours with natural dyes such as saffron yellow, deep red or purple, due to the high cost of dyes (which came from rare sources such as Murex sea snails). The film costumes are shown to be less saturated (though some outfits are on the colourful side, such as Queen Penelope’s deep blue dress), seen with Zendaya’s character “Athena”, who wears a simple draped and white robe of linen, meant to emphasize a grounded and humble presence throughout Odysseus’s journey. Athena’s costume reflects the material of Ancient Greek clothing, leading to a decision made by Zendaya to wear Iranian earring artifacts. To fit the ancient mythological theme of the movie, her fashion choice led to backlash over the ethics of using antique jewelry as a fashion accessory.

In the film, Odysseus’s armor is made of lightweight materials of molded plastics, leather, and synthetic composites, made to ensure actor mobility and a close resemblance to metal. However, armor in the Bronze era was made primarily of bronze, linen, and leather. That signifies that even with the film’s attempt to design the armor to resemble metal, it still does not accurately display Ancient Greek armor the way they attempted. Odysseus’s helmet’s stylized design does not help portray accuracy. Which led it to get mocked and compared to superhero costumes such as Batman, due to them resembling more theatrical.

While the WMagazine article: “How The Odyssey Costumes Weave a Timeless Vision of Greek Mythology” mentions how 5,300 costumes had to be designed. Viewers have gone into their own research and are not convinced that the fashion is accurate to the Bronze age, despite how much success and anticipation surrounding the film. The film may not have fully incorporated traditional ancient greek costumes, however the costumes focus more on the characters journeys and development, emotional weight, character hierarchy, and mythic symbolism where they also weren't focused on displaying archaeological realism.