The Odyssey Compared to O Brother Where Art Thou
O' Blood brother, Where Art Thou? A Coen Brothers Odyssey
I am a man of abiding sorrow,
I've seen trouble all my twenty-four hour period
I bid farewell to old Kentucky,
The place where I was born and raised-O' Brother Where Art Grand
"Be strong, saith my eye; I am a soldier;
I take seen worse sights than this."
― Homer, The Odyssey
In this piece, I set out to discuss the similarities and differences between the Coens' O' Brother, Where Art Thousand and Homer'southward The Odyssey. "Sing to me O Muse . . . ", the line at the showtime of the film, is the first line of the Odyssey and the credits land that it is adapted from Homer's The Odyssey. Simply just how closely does the motion picture's narrative tie into the Greek poet's tale? And, if yous're woendering where the title for the Coen Brothers film comes from, well the title of the moving-picture show is related to the Preston Sturges film "Sullivan's Travels," released in 1941 and not the Odyssey. Earlier I dive into the similarities of the two texts, I believe that it is all-time to give a summary most the tale of the Odyssey:
First off, The Odyssey is in fact a sequel; to Homer's Iliad (aye, an I know that sequels aren't as adept equally the original piece of text but in this example, this is an example of the sequel being better than the original). The poem mainly focuses on the Greek hero Odysseus (known as Ulysses in Roman myths), male monarch of Ithaca, and his journey domicile after the autumn of Troy. Information technology takes Odysseus x years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, information technology is assumed Odysseus has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must bargain with a group of unruly suitors, who are seeking her mitt in wedlock. Upon his journeying habitation, Odysseus encounters beautiful sirens who lure his crew to death, a cyclops who wants to kill him and a lotus plant which when digested causes amnesia.
Now upon researching, I discovered an abundance of references to The Odyssey throughout O' Brother Where Art Thou, which was a pleasant surprise. However, this realisation did not brand my task any easier! In that location were in fact more than I actually first realised, and sadly I tin can't list them all in great detail or else this would make for a very long article! Instead I want to focus on the master plot points in the film and compare them to the poem; and so we can analyse the similarities between the texts.
First off I want to discuss the main grapheme of both O' Blood brother Where Art Thou and the Odyssey. The Coens' flick follows the character of Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney), who is returning home after escaping from incarceration in Mississippi during the Dandy Depression. He is chained to two other prisoners, tedious-witted Delmar (Tim Blake Neslon) and hot-tempered Pete (John Turturro), so the three must escape together.
Every bit previously mentioned the Roman'due south name for Odysseus was Ulysses, and the graphic symbol of Odysseus has the same personality and characteristics every bit Clooney's character in O' Brother Where Fine art Thou. Both men are cunning, quick-witted, fast-talking and reckless in their decision-making, but they are loyal to their companions and they are likeable rogues even if sometimes their own selfish needs for attention place others at risks. Mayhap the about obvious deviation in the ii versions of the story is the fact that Odysseus is a famous king and warrior, while Everett aka Ulysses is a convicted con man who has escaped prison. Odysseus is oftentimes forthright almost his identity and purpose, unless he is absolutely required to prevarication, while Everett tends to operate in the opposite manner. Normally, he is lying, unless it is absolutely necessary to tell the truth. Both characters are arrogant and cocky-centered, but Odysseus assumes his condition as rex and soldier provides him this correct, while Everett just assumes a loftier status, with piddling reason or justification. The pride of both characters is made manifest through the presentation their fastidious nature. It is also worth mentioning that the proper name, Odysseus' means "trouble" in Greek, referring to bother you once more the giving and receiving of trouble—as is often the case in his wanderings problem by proper name, trouble by nature!
A skillful instance of how similar these two heroes are is in the post-obit scenes. In the Odyssey, Odysseus requests that his men necktie him to the ship'due south mast just so he can hear the siren's vocal, despite knowing that the sirens' vocal is so powerful that it can drive men crazy, this is but considering our hero wants to exist the merely man live to boast that he's heard the siren's song and has managed to survive the meet. In O' Brother Where Fine art Thou it is Everett who addresses the three siren like women washing clothes abreast the river, he talks on the behalf of the grouping and accepts their booze. The women's song distracts the men and causes them to temporarily carelessness their "quest" and being by the h2o, they are substantially lure them to a metaphorical watery grave. Although the characters in the Coen'southward film have a better fate than Odysseus men, and luckily wake up from their hypnotism to quickly go dorsum on their journey.
Sure pocket-sized and supporting characters which appear throughout the film are similar to the characters featured in the Odyssey. Homer (the blind poet himself) makes an "appearance" as the bullheaded radio man who records the Soggy Bottom Boys song, "Man of Constant Sorrow". Another character to mention would be George "Baby Face up" Nelson tin can be seen as an interpretation of Hermes the Greek God of thieves. Baby Confront Nelson was a famous bank robber of the depression era, therefore a thief. Peradventure i of the most recognisable characters from the poem and the most memorable in the moving-picture show is the Cyclops who is represented by the character of Big Dan Teague (John Goodman) who has 1 center, just like the Cyclops. In the poem, Odysseus and his men are captured by the cyclops who wishes to eat them. The hero escapes past blinding the cyclops which is a similar fate that occurs to Big Dan, and by disguising themselves as sheep. Ulysses, Pete and Delmar terminate up dressing like members of the KKK in club to escape from Big Dan. Thankfully, our merry band of heroes manages to escape the evil clutches of the Klan and keep on their journey.
Both the Odyssey and O'Blood brother finish in a similar fashion. Throughout the poem, Odysseus is driven by the need to get home afterwards discovering his married woman is being forced to remarry. A group of 100 potential suitors take arrived at Odysseus home, and are refusing to leave until Penelope picks a husband. In the case of O'Brother, the character of Vernon T. Waldrip (Ray McKinnon) is courting Penny (Holly Hunter) while Everett has been abroad. In order to face up his wife, Everett dresses as a hobo, which is the same event that occurs in Odyssey. In the movie, the men launch into "Man of Abiding Sorrow", which gains Penny's attention and she watches equally the entire audience rises to its feet and thank you, recognizing them equally the elusive Soggy Bottom Boys.
In the Odyssey, our hero decides to take on the claiming that Penelope has gear up out for the suitors in order to win her manus: the human being who tin string the bow and shoot information technology through a dozen axe heads would win. Odysseus takes role in the competition himself: he lone is stiff enough to string the bow and shoot information technology through the dozen axe heads, making him the winner. The difference between the texts is the amount of violence, in the verse form Odysseus slaughters the suitors, only O'Brother doesn't show Everett slaughtering Vernon, which is probably a practiced thing equally the tone of the film would be seriously effected by this act. Both the poem and the film ends happily, with the family being reconnected, and the chief heroes have adult equally an private, and ultimately go a better human being.
What makes O'Blood brother so good, is the fact that the Coen'southward take inspiration from the Odyssey simply put their own spin on the tale, and create something which is unique but also is quite true-blue to the original text. It is a great moving-picture show which hopefully promotes the poem which it is based loosely upon, and brings information technology to a new generation. The Coen'southward appreciation for the Greek myths and the films/stories that have come up before is what sets them apart from other filmmakers, and that's why I love them! So, I have reached the end of my essay, so I will cease on one of my favourite quotes from the Odyseey "At that place is a time for many words, and at that place is also a time for slumber."
Author: Bianca Garner
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Source: https://filmotomy.com/o-brother-where-art-thou-a-coen-brothers-odyssey/#:~:text=The%20difference%20between%20the%20texts,seriously%20effected%20by%20this%20act.
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