New ‘Odyssey’ Adaptation Criticized For Dropping Original’s Group Dance Scene Ending

LOS ANGELES—Drawing widespread condemnation from classics scholars around the world, the new Odyssey adaptation The Return was criticized this week for dropping the original work’s group dance scene ending. “Homer’s decision to close his epic poem with a blowout ensemble dance number is essential to the story of Odysseus’ journey, and any adaptation that omits the whole cast coming together to bust a groove can hardly be considered a faithful retelling,” said noted classicist Phyllis Ballantine, adding that Penelope’s executed suitors returning from the dead to launch into a raucous kickline had been the very passage that first drew her to ancient Greek poetry. “When you excise Polyphemus the cyclops doing the electric slide with his sheep while the sirens sing an uptempo doo-wop number about love, you lose a vital part of The Odyssey’s soul. We need to see Telemachus do the running man. We need to see Circe lead the lotus-eaters in a soul train between Scylla and Charybdis. But sadly, The Return has little interest in staying true to the original text.” Critics nevertheless praised The Return for its post-credits scene in which Odysseus asks what the audience is still doing there before telling them to go home.

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