Exteriors of this movie were filmed on the Mediterranean coasts and islands, described in Homer's Odyssey.Filming also was to take place on the Greek island of Ithaca, but was canceled because of an earthquake.
The film was released in both Italian and English language versions.Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn dubbed their own voices for the English language version.
Actress Silvana Mangano was married to producer Dino De Laurentiis at the time.
The original director, Georg Wilhelm Pabst, quit at the last minute. Cinematographer Mario Bava co-directed the film without receiving credit.
The making of this film became the subject of a novel which itself became the basis for a film. Alberto Moravia based his novel Contempt on the production of the film. The novel was made into a film of the same title by Jean-Luc Godard, starring Jack Palance, Brigitte Bardot, and Fritz Lang, who played another German film-maker of the Twenties, G. W. Pabst, who was meant to have directed Ulysses.