So you've seen The Odyssey, or you're planning on seeing it, but can't tell your Zeus from your Zelus? Don't worry, you don't need 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.

Matt Damon plays Odysseus, the king of Ithaca and cunning warrior whose journey home from the Trojan War should have taken two weeks but became a 10-year odyssey. Anne Hathaway portrays Penelope, his wife who spent 20 years fending off suitors by weaving and unraveling a burial shroud. Tom Holland is Telemachus, their son keen to do right by his mother. Robert Pattinson plays Antinous, a jerk suitor taking advantage of Penelope's hospitality.

Zendaya appears as Athena, daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom, who acts as Odysseus' protector. Other key figures include Circe (Samantha Morton), a witch on Aeaea; Calypso (Charlize Theron), a sea nymph who keeps Odysseus for seven years; and monsters like Polyphemus the cyclops, the Laestrygonians, and the triple threat of Charybdis, Scylla, and the Sirens. The film is now showing in cinemas.