The Odyssey Movie Just Hit Theaters. Some of Its Instruments Were Made Twenty Minutes From My House.

Are The Odyssey movie instruments real?Some of them are, and some actually came from Santorini! Symposion Cultural Center in Megalochori shipped instruments from its collection to Universal Pictures for use on the film’s set. They were hand-made by Yannis Pantazis, Symposion’s musician and instrument maker. Which ones made the final cut, nobody knows yet—not even Yannis. And so he’s asking audiences to watch the actors’ hands and report back to him.

The workshop where Homeric instruments are still being made sits in a former winery in Megalochori. It’s one of Santorini’s quietest inland villages, and you can be there this week.

The hunt Yannis Pantazis started on release day

The film opened in theaters today, July 17. This morning, Symposion posted the invitation to its community: “Can you spot our instruments on the silver screen?”

Here’s what they’ve confirmed for sure: Symposion worked with Universal Pictures on the production. They packed lyres, flutes, and percussion instruments from their own collection and shipped them to the set—some built by Yannis’s hands, others from the collection he performs and teaches with. What Nolan kept, what the actors held, which pieces survived the edit remains unknown. So, Symposion’s finding out the same way you are, one screening at a time.

Most film tie-ins arrive fully packaged, and yet this one’s an open question you can help answer from a cinema seat.

Who’s Yannis, and why did Hollywood call him?

Yannis Pantazis has spent over twenty years performing and building the instruments of ancient Greece—the ones you’ve read about in Homer but never heard. His work’s been featured by National Geographic and the BBC, and his film credits include a composition for Gladiator II before the Odyssey collaboration. When a production needs a lyre that’s real—not a prop shop’s guess at one—the list of people who can make it is very short indeed.

In his hands, the lyre signs with the voices of the past; and, perhaps more importantly, he does deliver on his promise: he’ll make you a musician in 4 minutes.

The village behind the Odyssey movie instruments workshop

Symposion lives inside a winery built at the turn of the last century by the winemaker Zorzis Saliveros, in Megalochori, a village many visitors drive past on the way to somewhere with a caldera view or the beach. That’s their loss, because the village kept its green courtyards, its artisans and its quiet.

When you start walking down the main street, at one of those quiet hours, you begin to understand Santorini like never before.

If you saw the film and would love to hold one of the instruments you heard playing, this is where you can do it: Yannis runs presentations on Greek music and mythology. He also has a workshop where you build your own pan pipe with him. Also, there’s wine in the courtyard café afterwards, under the shade of the mulberry trees trained around reed canes.

How to get there and see the Odyssey movie instruments without a rush

You can visit Symposion on your own—it’s open to the public, and it deserves the trip.

If you want the village and the stories around it too, that’s my Megalochori Walk: two to three hours past the courtyards and village lanes, with a pause at Symposion built into the route.

We begin with the setting and the artisans, then work our way to the musical workshop, and finish with a bite to eat.

You can read more about why I bring guests to Symposion here. It’s been part of how I show people this island for years, even before Universal knocked on Yannis’ door.

The Odyssey Movie Instruments: Frequently Asked Questions