‘The Odyssey’ Explained Why Robert Pattinson’s Antinous Skipped the Trojan War in Nolan’s Epic

Christopher Nolan’s take on Homer’s epic poem is bringing ancient Greece back to the big screen with a cast stacked with A-listers, and one villain in particular has fans digging into the source material. Robert Pattinson steps into the sandals of Antinous, the most vicious of Penelope’s suitors, and his absence from the Trojan War itself has become a talking point among viewers trying to connect the mythology to the movie.

The film is a large-scale adaptation of Homer’s epic, filmed across multiple countries entirely with IMAX film cameras and set for theatrical release on July 17. With Matt Damon’s Odysseus finally making his way home after years of war and wandering, the question of who was actually fighting at Troy, and who was not, matters more than casual viewers might expect.

Who Is Antinous in ‘The Odyssey’

Antinous is introduced as one of the most prominent and aggressive of Penelope’s suitors after Odysseus goes missing following the Trojan War, with the throne of Ithaca up for grabs and Antinous making clear his ambition for the title of king. He is not a soldier returning from battle. He is a nobleman who moved in on Odysseus’ household while the king was presumed dead.

In Nolan’s film, Pattinson plays Antinous, the main antagonist among Penelope’s suitors, and the character is described as the main antagonist and arrogant ringleader of Penelope’s many suitors. That framing lines up with the poem itself, where Antinous never sets foot on a battlefield outside of Ithaca.

The mythology identifies him specifically as Antinous son of Eupeithes, one of the chief suitors of Penelope in Homer’s Odyssey. His entire arc plays out at home while the war rages elsewhere, which is exactly why he was never part of the fighting at Troy in the first place.

Why Antinous Never Went to Troy

The simplest answer is that Antinous belongs to the generation that came of age after the Trojan War had already begun, or in some readings, after it had already ended. He is a suitor who arrives on the scene to court Penelope once word spreads that Odysseus may never return, not a warrior who sailed with the Greek fleet.

Homer’s text backs this up directly, since Antinous is presented as a violent, mean-spirited, and over-confident character who wilfully defiles Odysseus’ home while the hero is lost at sea. He spends the poem’s events entirely on Ithaca, drinking, feasting, and scheming, which places him firmly outside the timeline of the war itself.

His actions also reveal a man more interested in politics than combat. In an attempt to kill Telemachus, the son of Odysseus and Penelope, Antinous sends out a small band of suitors to intercept the young prince on his journey back to Ithaca, though the plan fails as Telemachus avoids the trap with help from the goddess Athena. That is the closest Antinous ever comes to a battlefield maneuver, and it is aimed at a teenager, not a Trojan soldier.

Antinous also embodies a betrayal of Greek social codes rather than martial glory. He is remembered as a prime example of disregard for the custom of xenia, or guest-friend hospitality, since rather than reciprocating food and drink with stories and respect, he and his fellow suitors simply devour Odysseus’ livestock. That behavior, not warfare, defines his entire presence in the story.

How Nolan and Pattinson Frame the Character

The film leans into Antinous as a symbol of everything wrong with Ithaca in Odysseus’ absence. He is described as Antinous, son of Eupeithes, with his voice heard narrating the film’s teaser, where he reflects on a kingdom left leaderless. In that same teaser, he says, “Darkness. Zeus’ laws smashed to pieces. A kingdom without a king since my master died. He knew it was an unwinnable war, and then somehow, somehow he won it”.

That line captures the whole dynamic. Antinous talks about the war from a distance, as someone who heard about Odysseus’ victory rather than someone who lived it. The trailer material reportedly leans into this villainy hard, since the trailer gives Pattinson significant focus, depicting Antinous as a scheming villain attempting to seize Ithaca’s throne.

Pattinson’s casting also fits a pattern for Nolan, who has now worked with the actor twice. Pattinson previously worked with Nolan on Tenet, and he plays the most vile of Penelope’s suitors this time around. That history of collaboration seems to have given Nolan confidence in handing Pattinson one of the story’s most hateable roles.

What Happens to Antinous by the End

Without spoiling too much for anyone unfamiliar with the source material, Antinous does not get a redemption arc. In Homer’s original text, the arrow struck Antinous in the throat, and the point went clean through his neck, so that he fell over and the cup dropped from his hand, while a thick stream of blood gushed from his nostrils. It is a brutal, immediate end for the suitor who never had to face the horrors of Troy himself.

His death also carries symbolic weight, since Odysseus’s leadership is often praised because he kills the most aggressive suitor, Antinous, first to create surprise and chaos among the rest of the men who had taken over his home. It is a moment of reckoning for a character who spent years enjoying the comforts of a war he never fought.

‘The Odyssey’ hits theaters July 17, and with Pattinson’s teaser lines already stirring debate online, audiences will finally see how Nolan stages the fall of the suitor who talked about Troy without ever having to survive it. What do you think Antinous deserved more, a battlefield death at Troy or the humiliating end Homer actually gave him?