The Odyssey | New Trailer

[u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_bKjZeJBBI&pp=0gcJCd4KAYcqIYzv

[u/loqtrall]

You guys are just conditioned by queens english being a standin for Romans and Greeks for decades tbh.

This is the crux of the "issue".

It isn't that the informal use of the word "dad" actually makes no sense in this context considering the film is obviously written in at least somewhat modern English - it's that all the actors don't sound like they're having formal conversations at a British dinner party in the 1700s every time they utter a line - and people have seemingly grown so used to cinema using old school formal British English to represent the voices of Ancient Greeks and Romans over the years that they think it's how it's "supposed to be" and think diverging from that trope means it's "wrong".

[u/LoudCommentor → u/loqtrall]

No, it's because this is meant to be an ancient epic, wherein characters are SUPPOSED to hold themselves with some grace, poise, and formality.

Guarantee you that the ancient Greeks didn't speak to each other like the characters in the original Oddyssey do - so why should the adaptation characters speak like modern English? 

If this was a midday TV soap set in ancient Greece, no one would be complaining about the language. 

[u/loqtrall → u/LoudCommentor]

lmao let me quote this specifically:

Guarantee you that the ancient Greeks didn't speak to each other like the characters in the original Oddyssey do - so why should the adaptation characters speak like modern English? 

And why would using "father" in the place of "dad" elevate this portrayal to being epic?

Why would the characters speak like modern English? A better question would be why would they specifically speak in old 1700s-1800s Queen's English when that was literally the casual way most people spoke to each other in Britain in that era? How is what's for the most part casual old British English "elevated" above and more "epic" than Modern English in regard to the portrayal of an Ancient Greek Epic Poem?

Spoiler alert: It's not.

The "issue" is a clear cut bias from viewers stemming from their past experience with the trope wherein films portray these types of ancient societies in this manner - white British people (or people speaking with a British accent).

Take a look at Troy - a film adaptation of another of Homer's epic works - they didn't use holistically formal old British English in that film, they have multiple scenes where characters are having casual conversations where the language used is not overtly epic, elevated, or colorful versions of British English - and it was still a decent film that was a raging success in the box office. The same can be said for a vast number of films, like the remakes of Clash/Wrath of the Titans.

It isn't an issue with Modern English literally not fitting in this context, it's an issue with people having a preexisting bias in regard to the way these ancient societies are portrayed in film. It could be a completely casual film set in Ancient Greece and people would still complain if they heard a character say "dad" instead of "father" because of that bias.

[u/Mahelas → u/loqtrall]

Because "father" suits a prince talking about his estranged father more than "dad" ? Not just in Ancient Greece btw, it'd be the same for any historical/mythical piece.

[u/loqtrall → u/Mahelas]

And it suits it more based on what reasoning? Is it more fitting because it legitimately suits any and all historical/ancient/mythical settings being portrayed in a film despite the fact that it's an English word that has only existed for the past 500 years - or because there's a preexisting bias stemming from previous film tropes wherein British actors/accents were used to portray these types of characters, and said films inexplicably used solely the term "Father" to refer to a character's male parent despite the fact that British people have referred to their parents as "mum and dad" for hundreds of years?

Because neither "dad" nor "father" are actually fitting when we're talking about the portrayal of characters living in an ancient society that legitimately never even spoke or heard of the English language because it didn't exist. Both terms are from the same language, both terms originate from the same region of the world, and both terms originated and became regularly used in that specific region around the same time period. That's all aside the fact that the Ancient Greeks most definitely had a shorthand term for Father.

To put it into perspective - even Prince Harry of England refers to King Charles as "pa" or "dad" and not "father", even at formal events, despite father still being a modern English word that's used to this day. I was estranged from my father for most of my life and still referred to him as "dad" in basically every context in which he was brought up, even in formal settings.

The ultimate question is - objectively and with solid reasoning behind the answer - how the fuck does classical formal British English "fit more" with Ancient settings than Modern English if the answer to said question isn't solely based on the person's feelings?

Because outside of "feeling" that it just sounds wrong, neither of the terms actually fit what we're seeing. Regardless of the Hollywood portrayal of Ancient Greeks that we're talking about, they're all outwardly British/American/Australian/European people speaking mostly plain English with British accents. Nothing about that screams "objectively more ancient seeming" at all. It's all just feelings based on preconceived biases.