This Bold '80s Sci-Fi Anime Tackled The Odyssey Decades Before Christopher Nolan

• Television
• Anime Shows

Homer's original epic "The Odyssey," it is generally accepted, was first composed sometime in the eighth century BCE, in pre-literate Greece. It was passed down through centuries of oral tradition, eventually getting translated into English in the 16th century CE. It's one of the most enduring works of literature in human history, and it's still providing fodder for storytellers to this day. Filmmaker Christopher Nolan's version of "The Odyssey" is due in theaters on July 17, 2026. High school students the world over still study it.

Just to get us all on the same page, "The Odyssey" is named for its hero, Odysseus (aka Ulysses), who found himself stranded on a Mediterranean island with a nymph named Calypso for the decade following the Trojan War. His wife, Penelope, is back home in Ithaca, fending off suitors and waiting patiently for her husband to get home. When Odysseus finally manages to get off the island, the jealous jerkward Poseidon wrecks his ship and forces him to stay in a distant country for a spell, where he tells the queen of his adventures. We learn about his stop in the Land of the Lotus Eaters, his battle with a cyclops, a trip to the edge of the world where the dead people live, his dalliance with some sirens, that time he tried to sail his ship between a six-headed monster and a sucking whirlpool, and the embarrassing moment when his men ate some cows belonging to the sun god. The entire back end of "The Odyssey" involves Odysseus sneaking back into his Ithacan home and slaying all of the infiltrating suitors. 

That story has been translated into silent movies, miniseries, a Coen Bros. jazz-era crime comedy, and, most surprisingly, a 1981 French/Japanese/Luxembourgian anime series called "Ulysses 31." 

Yes, it's real.

There's a French/Japanese/Luxumbourgian sci-fi anime version of The Odyssey?

"Ulysses 31" lasted for 26 episodes from October of 1981 through April of 1982. Set in the 31st century, "Ulysses 31" kind of remixes the events of "The Odyssey" a bit, but retains the spirit of the work, and even keeps some of Homer's names intact. The main character is Ulysses, and he has to face off against the Cyclops in the very first episode. In the world of "Ulysses 31," the Cyclops is a massive, spindly monster that wants to suck the eyeball energy out of Ulysses' son, Telemachus (!). When Ulysses kills the Cyclops, Poseidon banishes his starship — called the Odyssey — to the edge of space where Hades lives. 

Also on the voyage are a pair of blue-skinned aliens, a brother and sister, named Yumi and Numinor. Yumi has psychic powers. Telemachus is there as well, and — because this is a 1980s cartoon — has a small chittering sidekick in the form of a tiny red robot named Nono. Ulysses can also talk to the computer on board the Odyssey. 

"Ulysses 31" strays from Homer's epic pretty quickly, and begins involving ancillary gods and mythological figures that aren't in the original poem. For instance, Ulysses and his crew encounter Sisyphus in one episode, and witness his endless afterlife punishment. In another, the god of winds, Aeolus, kidnaps Ulysses in the hopes that he'll entertain his daughter at her birthday party. In still another episode, Ulysses has to answer the Riddle of the Sphinx, which is better known for its appearance in Sophocles' play "Oedipus the King." Odysseus also meets up with Theseus, Ariadne, and that pesky minotaur. "Ulysses 31" is a "Percy Jackson"-like remix of many ancient Greek myths. 

Ulysses 31 retained some elements from The Odyssey

By the time "Ulysses 31" is speed-running the Orpheus/Eurydice romance, the series might feel a little adrift. Greek scholars will be driven a little nuts by all the mythological rejiggering. Although they might take some comfort in the fact that any little kids watching may learn some Greek mythology by accident.

And a lot of "The Odyssey" was retained in "Ulysses 31." The Old Man of the Sea from Homer's epic, the deity Nereus, appears in one episode. There is an episode about the Laestrygonians and an episode about the Land of the Lotus-Eaters. The six-head monster Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis make an appearance, although in "Ulysses 31" they are both entire planets. Late in the series, it will be established that the original "The Odyssey" was a true story, and our sci-fi Ulysses will have a chance to meet the original Odysseus face-to-face via time travel. 

Ulysses aims to find the Kingdom of Hades. Penelope doesn't seem to play a very large role in the series. Sadly, the series ended before Ulysses could break into his own house and kill everyone. The show was just as much "Lost in Space" as it was "The Odyssey." 

Resourceful internet sleuths can find every episode of "Ulysses 31" online, and it's definitely worth a look. The music is impressive, and you will be humming the theme for weeks after hearing it. The animation is detailed and wicked and fun. It's one of the earlier and more impressive efforts from DIC Entertainment, which made "Inspector Gadget," "The Littles," the popular "The Real Ghostbusters," (which rejected original Ghostbuster Ernie Hudson), and which stood astride '80s animation like a mighty colossus.