The plane: fidelity against interior orientation A scatter plot on a deep plate. The horizontal axis is fidelity to Homer’s plot and genre, from about zero per cent at the left to one hundred per cent at the right. The vertical axis is interior orientation, running from externalized at the foot through medium-high and high to maximal at the head. Three marks sit on it. Homer, at one hundred per cent fidelity and externalized interiority, low at the right. Wilson, 2017, at one hundred per cent fidelity and high interiority, directly above Homer. Joyce, 1922, at about zero per cent fidelity and maximal interiority, high at the left. Nolan’s 2026 film holds no mark on the plane: every claim about it is second-hand, and its cards are report cards, each stamped so. One mark is lit at a time; the last card lights all three. FIDELITY TO HOMER’S PLOT AND GENRE → The three, assembled INTERIOR ORIENTATION ↑ maximal high medium-high externalized 0% 50% 100% Homer the source · oral epic · 100% Wilson, 2017 register, not plot · 100% Joyce, 1922 genre transformed · ~0% 16 · FOUR ODYSSEYS
Four Odysseys The deck’s title card. On a deep plate, the words Four Odysseys are set large at the left over a heavy gold rule. Beneath the rule the three plotted works are named in a line — Homer, Wilson, Joyce — and after them, reports of Nolan. Below that, in italic: two axes usually collapsed into one. AN AUDIENCE DECK · DIMENSION 16 Four Odysseys HOMER · WILSON · JOYCE · REPORTS OF NOLAN Two axes usually collapsed into one. 16 · FOUR ODYSSEYS
kleos and xenia Two drawings side by side on a deep plate, divided by a faint vertical rule. On the left, a laurel wreath in outline, labelled fame. On the right, a round-headed doorway in outline standing on a heavy gold threshold, labelled guest-law. HOMER · THE POEM’S VALUE SYSTEM kleos · xenia fame guest-law The measures a hero is judged by. 16 · FOUR ODYSSEYS
A complete man Six identical standing figures in silhouette, evenly spaced in a row across a deep plate, all resting on one heavy gold rule. Each is labelled beneath: son, father, husband, lover, soldier, king. JOYCE, TO BUDGEN, ON ODYSSEUS “A complete man” son father husband lover soldier king The figure Joyce chose. 16 · FOUR ODYSSEYS
polytropos Two framed panels side by side on a deep plate, divided by a faint vertical rule. The left panel, drawn in a faint outline, holds the words “of many wiles” in muted type, labelled older translations. The right panel, drawn in a firm outline, holds the word “complicated” in gold, labelled Wilson, 2017. ODYSSEUS’S OPENING EPITHET polytropos of many wiles Older translations complicated Wilson, 2017 One epithet, two renderings. 16 · FOUR ODYSSEYS
The line Five identical metrical feet in a row across a deep plate. Each foot is a small muted circle followed by a tall pale bar — one light syllable, one stressed — and each is bracketed beneath. All five rest on one heavy gold rule, labelled: regular, her word. WILSON, 2017 · UNRHYMED IAMBIC PENTAMETER The line regular — her word “Regular” is her own word. 16 · FOUR ODYSSEYS
The same number of lines Two identical stacks of eight ruled lines face each other across a deep plate, each trailing off into three dots. The left stack is labelled the Greek, the right Wilson, 2017. A large gold equals sign stands between them. WILSON, 2017 · AGAINST THE GREEK The same number of lines = The Greek Wilson, 2017 Her Translator’s Note. 16 · FOUR ODYSSEYS
One Greek word The Greek word dmoe is set large in italic at the left of a deep plate. Four faint lines fan out from it to four English renderings stacked at the right: slave, in gold, labelled Wilson, often; then maid, handmaid and serving-woman in muted type, bracketed together and labelled older translators. AS THE TRANSLATORS RENDER IT One Greek word dmoe slave Wilson, often maid handmaid serving-woman Older translators Often — her practice is not uniform. 16 · FOUR ODYSSEYS
We are the Sea People Two pairs of sailing ships in silhouette face each other across a deep plate, one pair sailing right and one sailing left, each pair the exact mirror of the other. A heavy gold rule stands between them. Three faint wave lines run beneath the whole width. NOLAN, 2026 · THE CENTRAL INVENTION “We are the Sea People” From reports, not the film. 16 · FOUR ODYSSEYS
Hades Two names stand side by side on a deep plate, divided by a faint vertical rule, each on its own faint plinth. On the left, under the heading The Odyssey, Homer: Achilles. On the right, under the heading The Aeneid, Virgil: Sinon, in gold, with the name Elliot Page beneath it. NOLAN, 2026 · WHO MEETS ODYSSEUS IN HADES Hades THE ODYSSEY · HOMER Achilles THE AENEID · VIRGIL Sinon Elliot Page From reports, not the film. 16 · FOUR ODYSSEYS
The ending The same drawn island, with two houses on it and waves beneath, appears twice on a deep plate, divided by a faint vertical rule. On the left an arrow travels in towards the island from outside, and the word beneath reads reclamation, attributed to Homer. On the right the arrow travels out past the island and away, and the word beneath reads expulsion, in gold, attributed to Nolan, 2026. NOLAN, 2026 · THE ENDING The ending reclamation HOMER expulsion NOLAN, 2026 From reports, not the film. 16 · FOUR ODYSSEYS
16 June 1904 A low city skyline in muted silhouette runs the width of a deep plate. Beneath it a faint ground line, then eighteen evenly spaced pale ticks, one for each episode, and beneath those one heavy gold rule spanning them all. The row is labelled: eighteen episodes. JOYCE, 1922 · ONE ORDINARY DUBLIN DAY 16 June 1904 Eighteen episodes No Cyclops · no Circe · no sea voyage. 16 · FOUR ODYSSEYS
Two roles A heavy gold rule stands upright in the centre of a deep plate. To its left, one above the other, the names Stephen and Molly. To its right, level with them, the parts they play: Telemachus and Penelope. JOYCE, 1922 · THE ROLES Two roles Stephen Telemachus Molly Penelope The son seeking a father. 16 · FOUR ODYSSEYS
Forty unpunctuated pages One tall page stands alone in the centre of a deep plate, drawn as a faint rectangle carrying twelve pale ruled lines and capped along its top edge by a heavy gold rule. Nothing else is on the plate. JOYCE, 1922 · MOLLY Forty unpunctuated pages The pages that close the book. 16 · FOUR ODYSSEYS
What the claims rest on Four filled marks in a row across a deep plate, labelled Homer, Wilson 2017, Joyce 1922 and Nolan 2026. The first three are bracketed together beneath and named the works themselves. The fourth stands inside a broken gold ring, bracketed alone and named reports — an evidence class, not a placement. DIMENSION 16 · THE EVIDENCE What the claims rest on Homer Wilson, 2017 Joyce, 1922 Nolan, 2026 the works themselves reports Nolan: from reports, not the film. 16 · FOUR ODYSSEYS

An audience deck. Nolan, 2026 holds no mark on the plane: its cards are report cards, stamped 'From reports, not the film.' Corrected 4 August 2026: this line said "Nolan's placement rests on reports, not the film" — the film has no placement; the reports about it are held to a register on the chart page. Ulysses: a first reading · Dimension 16, Four Odysseys · the chart.