O Brother, Where Art Thou vs The Odyssey
Most people have fixed concept that modern day films and Medieval Greek Epic poems differ a lot as if they are black and white, but the film O Brother, Where Art Thou and the story of The Odyssey are both parallel and perpendicular. O Brother, Where Art Thou and The Odyssey portray their story on the same path, yet on the branched path.
The first part of my analysis will examine about Odysseus and Ulysses Everett’s quest. Though their purpose for their quest is different, this highlights the fact that their quest is the same, which is to go back to their home. Further evidence for Odysseus to go back to Ithaca is that he has his wife waiting for him back in Ithaca while Everett has to preclude his wife from getting remarried. Considered from another perspective, Odysseus and Everett are both confident. This conclusion is developed in response to the way they acted. Odysseus is overly confident that he meddles with all the events he faces. But at the same time, Everett is also excessively that
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Specifically, they both encounter with obstacles. Further, they both gets to encounter with Baptist. In the story of The Odyssey, Odysseus’ crews get their soul cleaned. It may seem odd that scene of encountering with Baptist appears in O Brother, Where Art Thou, but Delmar and Pete actually get their soul cleaned, too. Bearing this in mind, the characters of both stories encounter with Sirens as well. With respect to encountering with the Sirens, both characters heard the sound of Sirens singing and got attracted by them. To view this in different way, it also means that Sirens acted as temptress in both stories. Similar to this incident, they also encountered with Big Dan, who came out as Cyclops in the film. It is worth noting that Sirens and Big Dan appeared as human in the film while they appeared as unrealistic characters in The
The Cyclops, in The Odyssey and O Brother, Where Art Thou has noticeable relations that connect them both. The Cyclops in each story is a large man, who only has one eye. One website describes the Cyclopes race as, “a rough and uncivilized race of one-eyed giants.”(Hainsworth) Odysseus describes the giant as, “A prodigious man who slept in his cave alone, and took his flocks to graze afield, remote from all companions, knowing none but savage ways, a brute so huge.”(The Odyssey, Book 9, Lines 195-201)The Cyclops in each story characterizes similiarity between the two stories. Odysseus, the main character of The Odyssey and Ulysses, the main character of O Brother, Where Art Thou have unpleasant interactions with the Cyclops in each of the stories. Big Dan Teague, the con man, characterizes the “Cyclops” in O Brother, Where Art Thou by raising havoc in Ulysses and his partners’ lives. In each story an attempt to blind the creature offers a distraction for each character to escape from the Cyclops. The Coen
In both Homer’s The Odyssey and the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? the audience is given an opportunity to experience a spectacular adventure, filled with not only the sense of journey, but also the senses of peril and excitement. A tale about a Greek hero being compared to a film set in Middle America starring three jail-escapees seems rather far-fetched. However, upon closer inspection, both actually share a lot in common. The Odyssey stars Odysseus, a man famous for his heroics in the Trojan War. O Brother, Where Art Thou? shows a bit of a contrast by starring Ulysses, a former convict who escaped and began looking for “A Treasure”. So by default, one would assume that that these two stories would be completely different. However, it
The amazing epic poem by Homer entitled “The Odyssey” shares many similarities and many differences as well with the Hallmark movie of the same name. The epic poem is about the hero Odysseus who has spent twenty long years filled with toil and loss, through war and sea desperate to return to his home of Ithaca. Odysseus has angered some of the gods and goddesses of a Greek Mythology with his destruction of the mighty city of Troy. Odysseus is represented in the poem and the movie, but there are several differences between the two in the events he encountered. There are also numerous similarities
The movie, O’ Brother, Where Art Thou, is an old-timey film based on Homer’s The Odyssey. The plot and characters are all loosely drawn from the ancient Greek myth, but is set in Mississippi during the Great Depression. The result is an original film filled with adventure, interesting characters, and side-splitting comedy. The George Clooney stars as the main character, Ulysses Everett McGill, with his two man crew, Pete and Delmar, as they trek across Mississippi in search of “treasure” and encounter many of the same trials and troubles that are told about in the myth of Odysseus.
The film O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a reinterpretation of the epic poem The Odyssey. The Coen brothers, writers and directors of the film, did not over analyze their representation. “It just sort of occurred to us after we’d gotten into it somewhat that it was a story about someone going home, and sort of episodic in nature, and it kind of evolved into that,” says Joel Coen in Blood Siblings, “It’s very loosely and very sort of unseriously based on The Odyssey” (Woods 32). O Brother, Where Art Thou? contains ideas from The Odyssey for the sake of modernization and entertainment of an audience that comprehends the allusions to the epic. The Coen brothers utilize elements of Homer’s The Odyssey to improve and to give direction to O
This woman of surpassing beauty provides an emotional test for the hero along his journey. This role is filled by Calypso in the epic, a gorgeous nymph whose love for Odysseus makes him her captive for seven years. Ulysses’s trek to his homeland is significantly altered by the appearance of the Sirens down at the river, three women who try to capture the men for the bounty through physical attraction. The Sirens of Homer’s work are a challenge along the hero’s travels, but they do not play such a profound role like Calypso. The nymph’s love for Odysseus was true, her heart fixated on the hero that landed upon her isle. The Sirens of Ulysses’s tale used sexual temptation to drag the men in, their intentions driven by greed. Both Odysseus and Ulysses face these women as their sensuous powers delay them from reaching their treasured goal: home. The presence of these characters helps establish the protagonists’ humanity, demonstrating how love and temptation also linger within the hearts of heroes. The contrast between the motivation of Calypso and the film’s Sirens shows two distinct characters: the temptress moved by love and the temptress moved by
In contrast to Odysseus, Everett's view on faith is remarkably different from Odysseus' view. In "O, Brother, Where Art Thou?", Tommy tells the " Chain Gang" that for him to learn how to play the guitar, he sold his soul to the devil. Furthermore, Everett lets Tommy know that Delmar and Pete had just been baptized but he is the only one who is apart from any religious group or figure. This shows that no God, religion, or miracles are believed by Everett. Now in contrast to Everett, Odysseus believes in many Gods and relies on them to help him stay alive throughout his journey and reach home in one piece.
Odysseus is the genius tactician whom Everett is modeled after. In the movie O’ Brother Where Art Thou, Everett is extremely similar to Odysseus. Everett is comparably much smarter than those around him, like Odysseus, and believes in his own power. He is also surrounded by people who want to betray him or hurt him, and uses similar methods of not being caught. Also, they both fully believe they are better than and don't need others. Everett and Odysseus also both only want to get back to their wives while they still hold slight concern for their companions. Everett in the movie O’ Brother Where Art Thou is made to be like Odysseus because they are both intelligent, narcissistic and have the same goal.
The poem the Odyssey and the movie O Brother, where Art Thou are epic movies with epic heroes such as Odysseus and Everett. To be an epic hero you must be smart, travel a vast setting, be famous, and have a little help from a god.
The Odyssey and O’Brother Where Art Thou? both tell the same story through different time frames and different areas of the world. Both main characters are portrayed as heroes, and they both have many of the traits form a “Heroes Journey” notes. Although both are heroes Ulysses is a better hero than Odysseus. Some example of why are he is a better leader, he goes back to get his campaigns, he doesn’t look back on his decisions or show if he is unsure about a decision.
Even though the Odyssey was created in the 8th century, there are many other movies and books with similar template and similar events to the Odyssey. For example, “O Brother, Where Art Thou,” is a movie that has almost the exact same characters, events, and template as the Odyssey.
These characters have certain characteristics about them that give clues on what monster from the story they are suppose to be. The first evil character they meet is big Dan, who represents the Cyclopes.In the Odyssey, Odysseus and his crew anger a man eating Cyclops, Polyphemus. In O Brother where Art Thou, big Dan, a bible salesman with one blind eye, brings Everett and Delmer to a secluded field to knock them out with a big stick, and to steal their money. Another monster that is represented is the sirens, which are represented by the water maids. In O Brother where Art thou, there are three women that distract and seduce the three boys. In the Odyssey, Odysseus and crew pass through the lair of the sirens that attempt to lure them into crashing their ship. Except the water maids succeed in what they are trying to do. Because O Brother where Art Thou is not a mythical movie, there aren’t actual monsters like in the Odyssey, but because the movie is based on the myth. They add characters that represent the monsters. There are also other characters that represent one of the greatest part of Greek mythology, the Greek
In any murder the main question asked is,“what was the motive”. The enticement to kill is a key to truly understanding a murder. Similarly, in fine arts understanding a character motivation or reason to do something is an essential part of comprehending a character's fowl actions in full. In the book the Odyssey and the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? the characters motivations reveal the reasoning behind their actions.
When books are made into movies, many times it converts a long text, boring to some, into an exciting story that attracts many different types of audiences. In Homer’s The Odyssey and the film Oh Brother, Where Art Thou, the main characters, Everett and Odysseus, are alike in many ways. These two men are both very similar because they both go through similar challenges throughout the book and film, share an ability to think quickly and get out of stressful situations, and both characters are very concerned with how other people perceive them.
They are arrogant, yet sometimes uncertain, they are cunning, but still find themselves weak at times. This is very evident throughout the whole story, where both characters are very independent of others, especially when it comes to the help of the god(s). Odysseus’ audacity towards the gods causes quite a delay in his journey home, in particular because of his hostility towards Poseidon. On the other hand, Ulysses himself is not a very religious man. He cannot be lured into foolish tricks along with his friends. However, when push comes to shove, both characters realise where they stand and what needs to be done. They need to swallow their pride and put their egos behind them, and finally acknowledge the fact that they will need to seek help from the higher powers in order to reach their goal of arriving home sooner rather than later.