Preview

The Odyssey vs O Brother Where Art Thou

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
965 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Odyssey vs O Brother Where Art Thou
Brendan Ridge
Mr. Sims
Honors English 1
5 April 2014
The Odyssey vs. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? is about a group of three convicts who encounter many unique events in search for a lost treasure. The story The Odyssey is about a Spartan army that faces many difficult challenges in order to make it home. O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Odyssey have many similarities and differences, especially involving the main characters.
The similarities between O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Odyssey are crucial to keeping them related. The first major similarity is about the fortunetellers. In O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the blind man on the railroad tells the fortune, and in The Odyssey, Tiresias tells fortunes. The next major similarity is the many ways the crews travel off course. In O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the baptism at the river draws in Pete and Delmar, and in The Odyssey, Lotus-eaters draw in the crew. The third similarity is the next way the crews get blown off course. In O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the men get distracted by the women who are washing their clothes, and in the story, the men get distracted by the sirens. Another major similarity is one of the monsters the men run into. In O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the crew runs into a one eyed man named Big Dan T, and in the story the men run into a Cyclops named Polyphemus. The last major similarity is the suitors. In O Brother Where Art Thou?, Vernon T. Waldrip becomes the suitor for Everett’s wife Penny, and in The Odyssey, when Odysseus leaves, many men become suitors for his wife, Penelope. Although there are many similarities in O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Odyssey, there are also a few differences.
The differences between The Odyssey and O Brother, Where Art Thou? allow the stories to be more adapted and related for the audience. Overall, there are three major differences between The Odyssey and O Brother, Where Art Thou?. The first major difference is the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Odyssey and O’ Brother Where Art Thou have many similarities and differences. The poem and the movie have different settings and time periods. The movie is more of a comedy, and the poem is more of a dramatic story of an epic hero on a long journey. The poem and movie have the same main stories, but some of the details are changed. The Odyssey and O’ Brother Where Art Thou compare and contrast because of the storylines, the time periods and settings, and…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many similarities between the characters of Odysseus from “The Odyssey” and Everett from “O Brother Where Art Thou”. One similarity is that both characters are on a journey home to their families. To portray, Everett says “Me an’ the old lady are gonna pick up the pieces and…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When movies are made out of books there are many differences, but also many similarities. The director has a very difficult job; he or she has to make sure that parts of the film are recognizable as being in the book as well. The epic poem the Odyssey is a book about the Greek hero Odysseus’s journey home from the Trojan War. So, it is hard to believe that a book so very old can be made into a modern day movie. Though the film and the book have some different things in the plot, they both have to do with the same traditional Greek beliefs. In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey Odysseus, the epic hero, travels to many different places and completes some very herculean tasks such as going to the Underworld, battling the suitors, and getting away from Polyphemus, the Cyclops. Though portrayed in different ways, Everett, Delmar, and Pete go on similar journeys in Coen’s film O Brother, Where Art Thou?…

    • 778 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
  • Good Essays

    The movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou” is remarkably similar to Homer’s “Odyssey” in both plot and character description. Many stories and movies have been based on the same plot as The Odyssey, but one movie in particular did a wonderful job in comparing the two stories, “O Brother, Where Art Thou.” “O Brother, Where Art Thou” is about a man who has to break out of jail to stop his wife from marrying another man and includes his voyage home. “The Odyssey” is about the adventures and misfortunes of Odysseus These two movies, with many of the same events occurring in both allows for the works to be compared easily and thoroughly. Although there is some differences.…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    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

    A substantial amount of movies are based off of books. Rarely, the movies prove themselves better than their book counterparts, and sometimes the movie falls short of the mark. O Brother Where Art Thou? is unusual because it tends to stay on track with the Odyssey. Due to the fact that O Brother Where Art Thou? takes place in 1930’s Mississippi, plot elements obviously do not correlate directly, but other than that elements tend to be similar. Overall, The Odyssey and O Brother Where Art Thou? share similar major characters (with a few differences), and even with the changed setting, the plot events are similar as well.…

    • 1261 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many people have noticed the similarities between The Odyssey by Homer, and O’ Brother, Where Art Thou? by the Coen Brothers. Both characters exhibit perseverance at great lengths and many other things throughout their journeys. There are many things in common between the two main characters. Both are away from their homes for a long time and are leaving loved ones behind. Their journeys were very similar but different at the same time. Two things may be very similar but things are bound to be different.…

    • 584 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    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…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The three summary's from The Odyssey are, from book 1The narrator of the Odyssey invokes the Muse, asking for inspiration as he prepares to tell the story of Odysseus. The story begins ten years after the end of the Trojan War, the subject of the Iliad. All of the Greek heroes except Odysseus have returned home. Odysseus languishes on the remote island Ogygia with the goddess Calypso, who has fallen in love with him and refuses to let him leave. Meanwhile, a mob of suitors is devouring his estate in Ithaca and courting his wife, Penelope, in hopes of taking over his kingdom.His son,…

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The Odyssey” is a story about a King named Odysseus, who goes off to lead a war and is separated from his family and kingdom for 20 years. While he is away for so many years his son grows up into a man and helps his mother; Odysseus’ wife, Penelope rules the kingdom. After many years of Odysseus being gone, suitors or “wooers” arrive trying to win over the queen. When Odysseus gets back he brutally slaughters everyone who was involved with the suitor’s plans, including the innocent servant women, who were working in his castle at the time.…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Everyone loves to immerse themselves into a dramatic and extraordinary story with evil monsters, brave hero's, and the desperate will to survive. It allows you to escape your troubles and take you to a new and exiting please with each and every second. However, there are some stories that simply do not capture the essence of breathtaking adventure. The movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? created by the comedic team of Ethan and Joel Coen, simply does not capture the perplexing classic story. O Brother, Where Art Thou? Is the big screen remake of Homer's epic poem, "The Odyssey". This original story is about the adventure of Odysseus as he escapes his seven year imprisonment from the goddess Calypso. This Epic hero battles numerous monsters on his desperate attempt to return home to his wife Penelope, whom he meets again in a heartfelt reuniting. However, in the re-make film, a man named Ulysseus is a prison escapee that is desperate to keep his wife, Penny, from marrying another man, lying and cheating his way to reach his goal. The Coen brothers have created such a disappointing excuse for capturing a real hero and his adventures to be reunited with his true love. It is near idiotic. The story is so foggy and distracted by the unneeded details, and it abandons the true meaning of the heartwarming story.…

    • 1082 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Two men, though part of different stories, travel long journeys to return home. Their paths face many obstacles and trials. How do their stories compare? The main characters are Odysseus, from Homer’s, The Odyssey, and Everett from O Brother Where Art Thou, directed by Ethan and Joel Coen. Though O Brother Where Art Thou, is based on The Odyssey, the two share many similarities and differences, such as the characters’ encounters with others, conflicts faced in the stories, and characteristics of the major characters.…

    • 439 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Cyclops encounter is transcendent between both works. The Cyclops, in the ìOdysseyî and ìO Brother, Where Art Thou?î has obvious physical traits that connect the two pieces of work. The Cyclops in each story is a large man, who only has one eye. One website describe the Cyclopes race as, ìa rough and uncivilized race of one-eyed giants.î(Spark notes p1) Odysseus describe the giant as, ì 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.î(Wilkie p378) The encounter of the Cyclops shows a great similarity in both of these stories. Odysseus, the main character of the ìOdysseyî and Ulysses, the main character of ìO Brother, Where Art Thou?î are taken from of state of tranquility and savagely attacked. As described by Odysseus, ìSo there all day, until the sun went down, we made our feast on meat galore, and wine.î(p 377) This quote describes Odysseus and his men relaxing and enjoying a feast. Quite similar in ìO Brother Where Art Thou,î Ulysses was enjoying a picnic when the savage Cyclops…

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    treachery among the Gods that is so prevalent in the Iliad, is nowhere to be…

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays