The Odyssey and O Brother Where Art Thou the Odyssey and O Brother Where Art Thou Unit
O' Blood brother, Where Fine art Thou? A Coen Brothers Odyssey
I am a human of constant sorrow,
I've seen trouble all my day
I bid good day to old Kentucky,
The place where I was born and raised-O' Brother Where Art Thou
"Exist potent, saith my heart; I am a soldier;
I have seen worse sights than this."
― Homer, The Odyssey
In this piece, I ready out to hash out the similarities and differences between the Coens' O' Blood brother, Where Fine art M and Homer'southward The Odyssey. "Sing to me O Muse . . . ", the line at the beginning of the film, is the first line of the Odyssey and the credits country that it is adapted from Homer's The Odyssey. Merely just how closely does the motion-picture show's narrative necktie into the Greek poet'southward tale? And, if you're woendering where the championship for the Coen Brothers film comes from, well the title of the film is related to the Preston Sturges film "Sullivan's Travels," released in 1941 and non the Odyssey. Before I dive into the similarities of the two texts, I believe that it is best to requite a summary about the tale of the Odyssey:
Start off, The Odyssey is in fact a sequel; to Homer's Iliad (yes, an I know that sequels aren't every bit practiced as the original slice of text but in this case, this is an instance of the sequel being improve than the original). The poem mainly focuses on the Greek hero Odysseus (known equally Ulysses in Roman myths), rex of Ithaca, and his journey home afterwards the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus 10 years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, it is causeless Odysseus has died, and his married woman Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a grouping of unruly suitors, who are seeking her hand in marriage. Upon his journeying home, Odysseus encounters beautiful sirens who lure his coiffure 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. Nevertheless, this realisation did non make my job any easier! There were in fact more than than I actually commencement 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 main plot points in the film and compare them to the poem; and then nosotros can analyse the similarities between the texts.
First off I want to discuss the main graphic symbol of both O' Brother Where Art Chiliad and the Odyssey. The Coens' moving-picture show follows the graphic symbol of Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney), who is returning home after escaping from incarceration in Mississippi during the Great Low. He is chained to two other prisoners, ho-hum-witted Delmar (Tim Blake Neslon) and hot-tempered Pete (John Turturro), so the three must escape together.
As previously mentioned the Roman'south name for Odysseus was Ulysses, and the character of Odysseus has the same personality and characteristics every bit Clooney's graphic symbol in O' Brother Where Fine art Chiliad. Both men are cunning, quick-witted, fast-talking and reckless in their conclusion-making, but they are loyal to their companions and they are likeable rogues fifty-fifty if sometimes their own selfish needs for attention place others at risks. Perhaps the most obvious difference in the two 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 house. Odysseus is often forthright about his identity and purpose, unless he is absolutely required to lie, while Everett tends to operate in the opposite manner. Ordinarily, he is lying, unless information technology is absolutely necessary to tell the truth. Both characters are arrogant and self-centered, but Odysseus assumes his status as king and soldier provides him this right, while Everett simply assumes a high status, with piddling reason or justification. The pride of both characters is made manifest through the presentation their fastidious nature. It is besides worth mentioning that the proper noun, Odysseus' means "trouble" in Greek, referring to bother you again the giving and receiving of problem—as is often the case in his wanderings trouble by name, trouble by nature!
A skillful example of how similar these two heroes are is in the following scenes. In the Odyssey, Odysseus requests that his men necktie him to the ship's mast just so he can hear the siren's song, despite knowing that the sirens' song is so powerful that it can drive men crazy, this is but because our hero wants to be the merely man live to boast that he'south heard the siren's song and has managed to survive the encounter. In O' Brother Where Art Thou it is Everett who addresses the three siren like women washing clothes beside the river, he talks on the behalf of the group and accepts their alcohol. The women'due south song distracts the men and causes them to temporarily abandon their "quest" and being by the water, they are substantially lure them to a metaphorical watery grave. Although the characters in the Coen's film have a amend fate than Odysseus men, and luckily wake up from their hypnotism to quickly get back on their journeying.
Certain minor and supporting characters which appear throughout the picture show are like to the characters featured in the Odyssey. Homer (the blind poet himself) makes an "appearance" every bit the blind radio man who records the Soggy Bottom Boys song, "Man of Abiding Sorrow". Another character to mention would exist George "Infant Face" Nelson can exist seen equally an interpretation of Hermes the Greek God of thieves. Babe Face Nelson was a famous bank robber of the depression era, therefore a thief. Perhaps i of the most recognisable characters from the poem and the most memorable in the motion-picture show is the Cyclops who is represented by the character of Large Dan Teague (John Goodman) who has one eye, only like the Cyclops. In the poem, Odysseus and his men are captured by the cyclops who wishes to eat them. The hero escapes by blinding the cyclops which is a similar fate that occurs to Large Dan, and by disguising themselves equally sheep. Ulysses, Pete and Delmar cease up dressing like members of the KKK in society to escape from Big Dan. Thankfully, our merry ring of heroes manages to escape the evil clutches of the Klan and continue on their journeying.
Both the Odyssey and O'Brother end in a similar fashion. Throughout the poem, Odysseus is driven by the need to go abode after discovering his wife is being forced to remarry. A group of 100 potential suitors accept arrived at Odysseus home, and are refusing to get out 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 his wife, Everett dresses as a hobo, which is the same issue that occurs in Odyssey. In the film, the men launch into "Man of Constant Sorrow", which gains Penny'southward attending and she watches equally the entire audience rises to its feet and cheers, recognizing them as the elusive Soggy Bottom Boys.
In the Odyssey, our hero decides to accept on the challenge that Penelope has set out for the suitors in club to win her mitt: the man who tin string the bow and shoot information technology through a dozen axe heads would win. Odysseus takes function in the contest himself: he alone is strong enough to cord the bow and shoot it through the dozen axe heads, making him the winner. The difference between the texts is the amount of violence, in the poem Odysseus slaughters the suitors, only O'Brother doesn't show Everett slaughtering Vernon, which is probably a good affair every bit the tone of the film would exist seriously effected past this human action. Both the verse form and the film ends happily, with the family unit being reconnected, and the main heroes have developed every bit an private, and ultimately go a improve man.
What makes O'Brother so skillful, is the fact that the Coen's have inspiration from the Odyssey but put their ain spin on the tale, and create something which is unique but also is quite faithful to the original text. It is a great flick which hopefully promotes the poem which it is based loosely upon, and brings it to a new generation. The Coen's appreciation for the Greek myths and the films/stories that accept come earlier is what sets them apart from other filmmakers, and that's why I honey them! So, I take reached the end of my essay, and then I volition end on 1 of my favourite quotes from the Odyseey "There is a time for many words, and there is as well a time for sleep."
Author: Bianca Garner
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Source: https://filmotomy.com/o-brother-where-art-thou-a-coen-brothers-odyssey/
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