The success of Christopher Nolan’s film The Odyssey far exceeds the box office: sales of Homer’s epic poem increased by 1400% during the first four weeks of July in the United Kingdom, according to data from the NielsenIQ institute.
A rush on all available translations
At Waterstones, the main British bookstore chain, the 2017 translation by specialist Emily Wilson saw its sales jump by more than 1000% compared to 2025, a growth also observed by the chain across all other available translations. NielsenIQ also notes significant increases for other works related to the mythological universe, including The Iliad, Circe by Madeline Miller, and The Penelope Odyssey by Margaret Atwood. On Spotify, searches for translations of Homer’s work increased by 310%.
In France, the enthusiasm is also evident in bookstores. According to NielsenIQ BookData data relayed by Livres Hebdo, The Odyssey of the Odyssey, an essay by Christophe Ono-dit-Biot published in April by Grasset, topped the essay sales chart for the week with more than 11,000 copies sold. Le Livre de Poche indicates that sales of its own edition of The Odyssey quadrupled in July compared to previous months.
An adaptation dividing Antiquity specialists
This commercial success is accompanied by a more intense debate among translators and specialists of Greek mythology. Some regret that the film imperfectly adapts the richness of the original text, while others praise the enthusiasm it has generated for the work. This effect is not unprecedented: in 2024, the release of the film The Count of Monte Cristo, starring Pierre Niney, had led to a comparable increase in sales of Alexandre Dumas’ novel.
Publishers are multiplying publications to accompany this renewed interest, including reissues, rewritings, and analyses of the original text. The Leduc publishing house is set to release on September 24 an illustrated and annotated edition of The Odyssey in a deluxe format.
