So you’ve seen The Odyssey, or you’re planning on seeing it, but can’t tell your Zeus from your Zelus*? Or think Scylla is some kind of hip-hop fusion band? Don’t worry, you don’t need a detailed knowledge of Greek mythology to get through Christopher Nolan’s three-hour epic, but a little bit goes a long way. Consider this your starter guide to this Troy story filled with the gods, monsters and mortals of Homer’s epic 3000-year-old tale.

Odysseus (Matt Damon)

The king of Ithaca and a cunning and wise warrior. His journey home from the Trojan War (more on that later) should have taken about two weeks, but it turned into a 10-year epic that is the basis of Homer’s The Odyssey. Married to Penelope, with a son, Telemachus, and faithful dog Argos. Susceptible to witches, sea nymphs and long detours. Odysseus is a faithful yet forgetful husband in the film, which pretty much lines up with the original story, but skips over the bit where he also fathered a son with the witch Circe during his “lost weekend”, aka year on the island of Aeaea.

Penelope (Anne Hathaway)

Odysseus’ wife, who spent 20 years fending off suitors while her husband was fighting in the Trojan War and then taking a “shortcut” to get home. To deter the suitors, who have essentially moved into the palace, she announces she will only marry once she has finished weaving the burial shroud for her father-in-law, which she unravels every night. Smart! Penelope is also the cousin of Helen, whose affair with Paris kicked off the Trojan War (he was kinda tricked by Zeus and Aphrodite into falling for Helen, but that story is in The Iliad).

Telemachus (Tom Holland)

The son of Odysseus and Penelope. In his 20s, he is a young man keen to do the right thing by his mum, but also has no real idea of who his dad is. He is the ultimate nepo baby but generally a good guy, who – post-Odyssey – goes with his mum to hang out with Circe and his half-brother Telegonus.

Antinous (Robert Pattinson)

A real jerk who takes advantage of Penelope’s hospitality while trying to woo her. A walking red flag.

Argos

Odysseus’ faithful hunting dog who waits 20 years for his master’s return. The original good boy.

The Trojan War

Essentially, two countries, Greece and Troy, went to war because Helen (played by Lupita Nyong’o), widely considered the most beautiful woman to have ever lived, left her husband, King Menelaus of Sparta (Jon Bernthal), for pretty boy Paris of Troy. Menelaus’ brother Agamemnon (Benny Safdie) then decided war was the next best step. Odysseus became involved because, as one of Helen’s former suitors, he made a pact to always defend her chosen husband. The war lasted roughly 10 years, coming to a bloody conclusion when the Greeks hid in a giant statue of a horse that the Trojans then unwittingly dragged inside the city gates, giving rise to the saying, “Never look a gift horse in the mouth”. Helen, who by this point was married to Paris’ brother Deiphobus after Paris was killed in battle, was dragged back home to Menelaus where they lived unhappily ever after.

Athena (Zendaya)

Daughter of Zeus (ruler of Mount Olympus, aka No.1 God) and the goddess of wisdom and warfare. She sprung fully grown directly from Zeus’ head, after he – totally normally – swallowed her mother Metis, while she was pregnant. In The Odyssey, Athena acts as Odysseus’ protector and mentor. She is a bit of a downer in the film, whereas in the Greek myths, Athena is a total badass who also guided the demigods Perseus and Heracles, defeated a fire-breathing giant and wore armour emblazoned with the head of Medusa.

Circe (Samantha Morton)

An independent woman living her best life on the island of Aeaea who just so happens to be a powerful witch. Daughter of the sun god Helios, she bewitches Odysseus’ men, but he manages to talk his way out of it. In the film, Odysseus and his men leave after lunch, but in Homer’s epic, Circe and Odysseus spend one year together after Hermes, the messenger god, convinces Odysseus that sleeping with Circe is the best way to solve his problems. It is not! In another post-Odyssey twist – and real Housewives of Aeaea situation – Circe and Penelope end up living together on Circe’s island, and Circe and Telemachus eventually marry. Write that sequel, Christopher Nolan!

Calypso (Charlize Theron)

A sea nymph and minor goddess and possibly the daughter of the Titan Atlas (the Titans ruled before they were overthrown by Zeus etc). She enchants Odysseus and keeps him as her (sex) slave for seven years on the island of Ogygia, while he cries on the beach and sleeps in a cave. Again, this is not in the movie! In the film, she eventually helps Odysseus on his way, but in Homer’s telling, Zeus and Hermes have a stern word before she lets him go.

Polyphemus

A giant man-eating cyclops who lives in a cave in Sicily tending to his sheep and making artisanal cheese (this is not in the original text). The son of the sea god Poseidon (who is the brother of Zeus and Hades, the god of the underworld), Polyphemus is blinded by Odysseus, who was trying to steal his sheep (again, Odysseus is the, ahem, hero in all of this). As revenge, Polyphemus prays to his father, who then curses Odysseus’ trip home. It works.

The Laestrygonians

More giants who also enjoy eating humans. They, apparently, came from one of Poseidon’s sons, making them the nephews of Polyphemus (kind of). They destroy 11 of 12 of Odysseus’ boats. Not happy.

The Underworld and Tiresias

On the advice of Circe, Odysseus and his men head to the Underworld, which is ruled by Hades, to honour the dead (including the Greek soldier Sinon, played by Eliot Page, a character Nolan borrowed from Virgil’s Aeneid) and seek guidance from the blind prophet Tiresias. In Greek mythology, he’s considered a bit of a gender bender, having also spent seven years as a woman before switching back. In the film, Tiresias is the one giving Odysseus good but dangerous advice about getting home, whereas in the original text, it’s Circe who points Odysseus correctly in the right direction. #justiceforcirce.

Charybdis, the Sirens and Scylla

The ultimate triple-threat. Charybdis is the sea monster/whirlpool, another child of Poseidon, who was sent to the bottom of the sea after she angered Uncle Zeus. Spends her days guarding the Strait of Messina with Scylla, a once beautiful sea nymph who angered Circe, so was, of course, turned into a man-eating monster. The Sirens, meanwhile, are the ones who alluringly sing songs that send men to their fate. Think of them as the original Sabrina Carpenters of the sea.

*Zelus is a cranky minor god, son of the Goddess Styx, an enforcer for Zeus and brother Nike, the God of Victory, not the shoe.

The Odyssey is now showing in cinemas.

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• Why is Christopher Nolan such a good director? We asked him (and Matt Damon, and Anne Hathaway, and Michael Caine ...)
• The art of IMAX cinema projection and how Christopher Nolan saved it.
• Why should we care about Odysseus? Because at heart, he’s just like us.
• 17 kilometres of film, $47 a ticket: How The Odyssey is resurrecting film.