Christopher Nolan's upcoming Odyssey film, hitting theaters on July 17, has one of the biggest casts in years, Matt Damo...

Christopher Nolan's upcoming Odyssey film, hitting theaters on July 17, has one of the biggest casts in years, Matt Damon as Odysseus, Zendaya, Tom Holland, Charlize Theron, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, and dozens more from countries around the world. But not a single actor of Greek descent made the cut, and Greeks both in Greece and abroad have noticed. The question exploded across Greek social media and news outlets over the past several weeks. Users began circulating informal lists titled "Alternative Odyssey," naming Greek-heritage actors who could have filled any number of roles. Billy Zane, who has spoken publicly and proudly about his Greek roots, was mentioned most often. Others on the lists included Theo James, fresh off his success in The White Lotus, Jennifer Aniston, Hank Azaria, and Dave Bautista. Nobody was demanding all of them get starring roles. The question was simpler: in a production with dozens of named characters, how was there no room for even one? Greek film critic Thodoris Koutsogiannopoulos put it plainly to the Guardian, saying it was disappointing to see the same lazy stereotype reproduced instead of more complex portrayals of Greek identity. "The world sees Greeks more as Zorba than as Achilles," he said, adding that it would not surprise him if things stayed that way. The irony the Guardian points out is that the casting controversy started from a different angle entirely. When early production photos were released, Lupita Nyong'o's casting drew racist comments online, with Elon Musk among those who raised objections about historical authenticity. For many Greeks, though, the real authenticity problem is elsewhere. Homer's epics are treated as universal cultural heritage, but modern Greeks keep getting written out of the telling of them. One Guardian writer compared the logic directly to the decades-old argument used to keep the Parthenon Sculptures in London: that ancient Greek heritage belongs to all of humanity, with no special connection acknowledged to modern Greece. Nolan's production described its casting philosophy as representing "the whole world." Greeks, apparently, are not part of that world when their own my...