Homer's Odyssey vs. Kubrick's Odyssey

Rating: 10/10 (8 February 2011)

Words can't do this film justice so I will skip the hyperbole about its brilliance. Reading the reviews on IMDb I've been drawn to a number of illuminating details, and would like to share something that I've noticed but not yet read in a peer review: the nomenclature of the film itself and one of its characters.
If '2001: A Space Odyssey' is in part a nod to Homer's Odyssey then the name of Dave Bowman becomes interesting. At the end of Homer's epic poem Odysseus returns to Ithaca in disguise, and proves his worth to his unwitting wife Penelope by besting her suitors in an archery contest. Literally, he is the "bow-man".
That's not all. Earlier on in the tale Odysseus blinds the cyclops Polyphemus, causing the monster to shout, "No man is killing me" - "No man" being the false name that Odysseus initially gave him. Odysseus's most celebrated quality among his people was his "metis", or "cunning intelligence" - a quality that Dr. Bowman (or "No man") proves in his victorious battle with the cyclops HAL.
An interesting link.
I'd also like to respond to a couple of commentators here who see this section of the movie as a mere tangent to the storyline. I disagree; I think this section ties neatly with the Dawn Of Man episode, in that the central character progresses to the next stage of its evolution through the act of killing - not for pleasure or gain, but for survival. Like the groups of apes, like Polyphemus and Odysseus, HAL and Dave are locked in a battle for life itself, surrounded by a vast arid wasteland, and only two outcomes are possible: evolution or oblivion.
This ambivalent attitude to violence, which borders on tacit approval, is an interesting quality of the film.
I'd like to say one final thing. The appearance of the "Star Child" is the single most phenomenal thing I have ever seen on film, and it's a testament to Kubrick's brilliance that he produced an ending that so defied the expectations of everyone (even his co-writer!) that each viewer has been forced to think about what this ending, this movie, and this subjective existence means to them.