Preview

Odyssey Vs O Brother Where Art Thou Analysis

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
566 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Odyssey Vs O Brother Where Art Thou Analysis
Htet Aung Hlaing Win
English Block H
Ms. Cice
October 15 2015
Odyssey vs. O’ Brother, Where Art Thou Both Odysseus and Everett are considered epic heroes. The film “O’ Brother Where Art Thou” is based on the adventures of Odysseus from “The Odyssey”. They both have similar challenges, but also have differences in the details. Such as, the enemies they face, the time they are from and how they try to fix their relationship with their wives. Both the poem and movie are similar to each other, but they aren’t absolutely the same. “The Odyssey” is an epic poem, so it’s natural that it’s less realistic than “O Brother, Where Art Thou”. For example, in “The Odyssey”, Homer describes that Odysseus faces the Sirens who have the bodies of fish on their lower body and eat men (bad description of sirens). “O Brother, Where Art Thou” does have Sirens in the movie, although it is more realistic. The Sirens in the movie have beautiful voices and seduces men with it just like the Sirens in the epic poem. Though the difference is that the Sirens in the movie don’t have bodies of fish nor do they eat men.
…show more content…
First off, “The Odyssey” is an epic poem based on Ancient Greece and “O Brother, Where Art Thou” is a movie based on the Mississippi from the 1900s. In “The Odyssey”, there are gods and mythical creatures involved such as Zeus, Cyclops, etc. On the other hand, for “O Brother, Where Art Thou” there are government officials and criminals involved, instead of fictional creatures. There are some resemblances in the movie and the epic poem, for example there are Cyclops in both the movie and the epic poem. But the Cyclops in the epic poem is a mythical creature while the Cyclops in the epic poem is just a thief with a blind eye. Both the epic poem and the movie have the same sort of characters in the story but the time setting is different and that leads to some differences in the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Who would have thought that a prison escapee would be modeled after a hero from the ancient Greece era? The movie is both similar to the book in plot line, themes and character traits, although there are also many differences and during certain scenes the movie somewhat mocks the novel. Ulysses (Odysseus’ Latin name) Everett, the hero in O’ Brother, Where Art Thou?, travels a Homeric journey through the Mississippi bible belt. Thus, we find the modern day film depiction of the troubles of a man during the depression is molded by the ancient struggles of Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey. Though O’ Brother, Where Art Thou? is not and exact reincarnation of the original masterpiece, there are still a vast amount of similarities between the two.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the "Odyssey" by Homer , and the "Siren Song" by Margaret Atwood, the sirens are portrayed differently for example in the story, the sirens are described through the ship members point of view whereas in the poem, the point of view is through the sirens. Perspective plays a huge role in this along with tone and imagery. Tone, for example, represents how beautiful or evil sounding the sirens were. In the story, the sirens have evil hoarse voices apparently , "...…

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In conclusion, while O Brother, Where Art Thou may have been based on the Odyssey by Homer it is almost completely Americanized. The film by the Coen brothers used the concept of the Odyssey to tell an American epic about the values that American culture holds above all others. The values shown are a part of the journey the trio makes and sometimes with the company of Tommy. By adhering to the values set by the American culture the trio advances toward their final goal, and are admired by those who share their values. In the end of O Brother, Where Art Thou is an American Odyssey with the final lesson of the epic being living a virtuous life will lead you to what you truly…

    • 127 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Odyssey, is a legendary tale written by David Adams Leeming. This epic tells the story of a wise man named Odysseus who struggled to return back to his homeland, Ithaca, after the fall of Troy. In comparison to the text, the movie "O Brother Where Art Thou," has a similar plot and is based on The Odyssey. In the movie, Ulysses Everett McGill is the main character played by George Clooney. Everett and Odysseus both encounter different struggles in their journeys throughout the movie and the book; however, both characters ' main goal was to be reunited with their families back home.…

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Odyssey and O Brother Where Art Thou?, are very similar in describing what the society consisted of. They are many society groups and individuals that represent and characterise the Ancient Greek Mythology. These both stories describe men in search of a treasure and all the obstacles they have to comfort in able to obtain it. In The Odyssey and O Brother Where Art Thou? were written in a different era, but they both illustrate the Ancient Greek Mythology. Many would say that The Odyssey and O Brother Where Art Thou? are very different, however they both share the same concept just written in a different period of time.…

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    O' Brother Where Art Thou (2000), was nominated for two Academy Awards for best cinematography and best screenplay writers/directors/producers Joel and Ethan Coen. The folk-infused adventure comedy film takes place in the 1930's. During a Mississippi summer, Delmar and Pete become Ulysses Everett McGill's accomplices after escaping prison. The film highlights Ulysses goal of getting back to his family. On their adventure, the three fugitives attempt to search for hidden treasure. They also have to overcome many obstacles along the way. Even though they are on the run Everett, Delmar, and Pete put out a best-selling record, The Soggy Bottom Boys.…

    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Homer’ s story The Odyssey tells of a triumphant hero named Odysseus and how his heroism saves his entire crew from the sirens. On the other hand, (“O Brother Where Art Thou”?) is not about bravery, but about being under the influence of the women's beauty and magical alcohol. Finally, Margaret Atwood's poem “Siren Song” talks about the women who are called the “sirens” the women who are part human and part bird, they sing the most beautiful song to get the men to crawl over board.…

    • 106 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The fictional queen of Ithaca and and a woman in 1930’s Mississippi having anything in common might seem like a stretch but in fact, they are more similar than they seem at first glance. Penelope of The Odyssey and Penny of O Brother, Where Art Thou have much in common along with characteristics that set them apart from each other. Penelope is presented as loyal, distraught. Penny is presented as unapologetic and a more independent, strong woman when being compared to Penelope. The two women are similar in that they are both cunning and cautious. Many of these changes are made in order to allow the character to blend into the time period and, in the case of Penny, to create a stronger, more realistic female character.…

    • 1084 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When the film O Bother Where Art Thou first started, I was unable to make any correlation between that and The Odyssey, but as it progressed I soon was able to follow the plot and match creatures to their ancient Greek counterparts. As Odysseus encountered many monsters, mystical creatures, and gods, Ulysses (the main Odysseus like character in O Bother Where Art Thou) had many of his own encounters with Odyssey like creatures. While O Bother Where Art Thou is based on The Odyssey they still have there similarities and differences in the way the various creatures are portrayed. Because of the way the different creatures are portrayed, it also gives them different symbolic relevance to the viewers.…

    • 1510 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Odyssey and O’ Brother Where Art Thou both shared the same themes and personalities of characters, but what differed was the music. In the movie The Odyssey, the music was very drastic, or it had a very strong effect to it, and the music changed as the people’s feelings did. In O’ Brother Where Art Thou the music had a diverse tune, there were multiple songs with a happy meaning behind it which reflected the character’s moods. The music helped develop the plot of film in both films because of the emotion and the characters’ personalities shown in the book or movie.…

    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the beginning of the movie we meet Everett, Pete and Delmar. Everett’s first name is Ulysses and Ulysses in roman is odysseus which is a comparison with the odyssey because they both have a similar meaning in names as also odysseus wife was called Penelope and Everett’s wife was called penny which was short for penelope. In the odyssey there is a Cyclopes mentioned who is a tall, one-eyed monster. Meanwhile, in a comparison the movie O’brother where art thou, pete and Everett meet a bible seller who was called after big dan. Big dan was a big man, who as well had and eye patch on one of his eyes. This big dan guy is in oneway or another like the Cyclopes in the odyssey. Afterwards, odysseus kills the Cyclopes and they escape but the Cyclopes is poseidon’s son in which then posiedon is the god of the water and makes it difficult for odysseus to try to get back to his home. Odysseus and his man arrives at a cabin when a big flood arrived next to them. Odysseus and two if his man survived while the rest drowned but this flood in fact helped odysseus and his two man left arrived back home to there families and wifes. Another description of Poseidon would be the sheriff cooley who in O’brother where art thou is who is trying to make all three Pete , Delmar and Everett’s life miserable and get them back from where they belong which was working as chaingang. At last, all three are captured and they are going to be hung when all of a sudden the floor start moving and a flood of water heads towards them and they don’t end up being hung but actually being saved. This water in both ways help each other by not getting hung and being able to live there life one again with there family. In my way of explaining I say that these both movies had a good connection which was actually interesting both have different seeks but both end as they were suppose…

    • 369 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Obwat

    • 584 Words
    • 3 Pages

    There are a plethora of similarities between works of literature and motion pictures, as well as one occasionally being based off the other. The Odyssey is an ancient epic written by the blind prophet, Homer. The story consists of the main character, Odysseus, and his treacherous journey home from the battles at Troy. Similarly, the film O Brother, Where Art Thou is about three men’s prison escape and their voyage home to Ulysses’ wife and family while facing many exertions along the way. O Brother, Where Art Thou is based off The Odyssey because of the similar character s present such as the Lotus Eaters, the Cyclops, and the main characters themselves.…

    • 584 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Lord of the Rings and Odyssey are two very weird stories in my opinion. The two stories include several similarities. The most noteworthy similarity of the two that were in common was the use of themes. Both included similar themes such as, life, death,power, brotherly love, myth, temptation, and journey.…

    • 1538 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Applicability Vs. Allegory

    • 1315 Words
    • 6 Pages

    This theme of The Odyssey makes it applicable to anybody travelling through the general paths of life, and experiencing adversity in an attempt to reach goals. As Odysseus travels from Troy at the end of the Trojan war towards Ithaca, and is knocked off course and forced to make his way back for ten years (Homer), his journeys are not directly paralleled in any other concepts, but instead serve as a psychological map for people travelling through their lives. While the film O’ Brother Where Art Thou? is a direct allegory to the events of the Odyssey it no longer applicable to the lives of the viewers since the film now possesses the forced allegory to the Odyssey. Where the Odyssey is applicable to personal experiences of the reader, the film allegory of it is only allegorical to the Odyssey and therefore not as applicable to daily life. This is a clear representation of why applicability is more powerful than allegory.…

    • 1315 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Another theme these two books have in common is pride. Odysseus is a very prideful man, because he’s good looking with a good looking wife, smart, etc. You get the picture. He’s kind of full of himself, and he’s got things going for him to back it up. Also, he was too prideful to take ownership when he said, “the god took away their homecoming” (Homer 419). In reality, the men themselves were at fault and not the god. In contrast, the pride found in “Much Ado about Nothing” is different because instead of the characters shooting up their own pride, they try to wound other characters’ pride. It is the cause for much action.…

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays