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Epic characteristics in the odyssey
Archetypal characters in the Odyssey
Archetypal characters in the Odyssey
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The Odyssey and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, distinct texts share various elements including characters and theme. In O Brother, Where Art Thou? escapees launch a successful song while running from the law in hopes to return to their loved ones. In The Odyssey, post to the Trojan War, Odysseus travels back home after over ten years of absence. O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a film released in the year 2000, based off of The Odyssey, established its setting in the 1930’s during the Great Depression, a result of World War I. While The Odyssey took place after the Trojan War. Both texts share a setting post to a war, this time served as recovery from war. In O Brother, Where Art Thou? Everett begins his journey home to find his children and wife by …show more content…
Both characters face irony with their wives. Odysseus wife is suited by a large number of men; however, she remains loyal to their love. Contrastingly, Everett finds his wife in the process of remarrying. Significantly Everett and his crew, including two escapees and someone random from the road, encounter Big Dan Teague, a large man with one working eye. Similarly, Odysseus meets with Polyphemus, a cyclops. These two new characters are significant in the manner that they both play the role of antagonist, bringing trouble and misfortune in their journey. In addition, both Odysseus and Everett demonstrate perseverance. When crossing Skylla, Odysseus acknowledges that this specific journey may cause his men and himself to die; however, he continues and survives. Similarly, Everett Everett tricked the man he was chained too into believing a story where they would split 1.2 million in exchange for his freedom. Odysseus used his army and brain to overcome the problematic situation while Everett outsmarted the man. O Brother, Where Art Thou? reflects the writing of The Odyssey; however, the author updated the story for present teenagers and adults by adding updated action, violence and
The character of Everett has many Odyssean qualities: his cunning, his intelligence, his mastery of words, and, most notably, his stubborn pride. Odysseus’ downfall in the Odyssey is his overwhelming need to be remembered in name and deed. As a hero this is his tragic flaw. By the time he is introduced in the epic he has already been wandering for many years. He then narrates how he ended up in such a sad state, unable to reach his home in Ithaca. It all started with his encounter with the Cyclops, Polyphemus, on his way home from the Trojan War. Polyphemus is the son of Poseidon, the god of the seas. He entraps Odysseus and his men ...
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 Brother, Where Art Thou?, a reinterpretation which was made simply to show that an epic-adventure such as The Odyssey could be modernized to apply to modern times.
...journey that is taken by a man. Throughout both tales, the audience is habituated with the sense that both characters are on this journey. The journey, in both cases, is fought for family, which is indeed quite noble. Of course, human nature is a key similarity as well, as both of these men go great lengths in order to finally make it back to where they came from and to find true happiness. And as said before, both “The Odyssey” and “O Brother Where Art Thou?” can be thought of as stories of a man coming home, with all of the characters playing their parts to create a true epic. The small details are not what make these two tales similar. Instead, the creators used broad, yet powerful concepts about friendship, hardship, and love. And in the end, this pays off very well, giving the audience a great opening into a true world where human emotion and nature rule all.
The classic tale of The Odyssey by Homer has been replicated for centuries. In fact, one of Hollywood's best adaptation is the comedy “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” by the Cohen brothers. The Cohen brothers cleverly reconstructed The Odyssey with a 20th century twist. The film and the literary works provided a parallel journey of the main characters determination to return home. When analyzing the stories themes it had compelling correlations, which focused on perseverance and personal growth. O Brother, Where Art Thou explored new ways to experience The Odyssey's epic adventure through the eyes of cinematography.
In the movie “O Brother, Where art Thou?”, the characters are introduced to us by escaping prison and running away just as Odysseus sails away from Ithaca with his crew. As they try to catch a train to escape, they fail to do so and they discover themselves hitching a ride with an old blind man that tell them their fortune just as Teiresias did in the Odyssey.
won) fighting a war against the city of Troy and has been held captive by
are followed and proper respect given the gods, it is possible for man to live
The Odyssey and O’ Brother Where art thou, what makes them similar? On one hand, the Odyssey is an ancient Greek epic poem that was passed on from generation to generation, and on the other one O’ Brother where art thou was a period piece based set in the 1930s but made in the 2000s. What makes them similar is that writers for O’ Brother Where Art Thou based the movie lightly on the Odyssey. There are multiple Characters in the movie that are very similar to characters in the Odyssey, and they will be listed in this paper.
Next, there are many similarities between the Odyssey and “O Brother Where Art Thou?”, some including characters, characterization, and plot. First, The characters are alike in many ways. Odysseus and Everett are meant to be the same character. Pete and Delmar from the movie, are supposed to represent Odysseus’s crew, although they do not always act like the crew did. Next, the plot is similar to the book, The Odyssey. The three women singing are meant to be the sirens from the Odyssey. They draw the men into their trap, although it may not be killing them in the movie, but they turn Pete in for the bounty.
middle of paper ... ... In Homer’s Odyssey, both Odysseus and his son Telemachus embark on long, difficult journeys; Odysseus trying to return from Troy to his home in Ithaca, escaping Calypso and the island of Ogygia, and Telemachus from Ithaca to Pylos and Sparta in search of his lost father. While The Odyssey tells of the courage both men demonstrate during their respective travels, their quests are the results of the intentions and desires of gods. Odysseus is trapped in exile on Ogygia by the will of Poseidon, whose anger Odysseus attracts when he blinds the Cyclops Polyphemus, son of Poseidon, and by the love of Calypso, who wishes to make Odysseus her husband.
For hundreds, even thousands of years, society has taught us at an early age to do what is “right”. If we didn’t do the right thing, we are faced with consequences such as imprisonment or even death. Three pieces of literary art, written in different eras couldn’t tell us better of Society’s teachings.The Odyssey by Homer tells Odysseus’s long, perilous journey home after the trojan war. Chapter two of The Aeneid by Virgil tells the story of the Trojan Horse from the perspective of Aeneas, a trojan who goes on to found Rome. William Golding’s Lord of the flies is about the clash between two “tribes” of british boys stranded on a deserted island, left to govern themselves. These works of literature reinforce that all actions lead to certain
Both Odysseus of Homer’s “The Odyssey” and Desmond Hume of the ABC television show “Lost” were heroes who were trapped physically and psychologically, were loyal to those they loved, and desired to save the lives of their friends. Even though their stories were written thousands of years apart and took place in different geographical locations, the heroes are extremely similar. Modern-day Odysseuses such as Desmond Hume and their similarities with the epic hero reveal the timelessness and universality of ancient Greek literature. Thus, they reveal what humans of every time and every land have in common:
There has been much debate on who is the greatest hero of the ancient world. There has also been much dispute on which is the greatest epic poem of the ancient world. However, comparing The Aeneid to The Odyssey is entirely a difficult task itself. Odysseus' journeys, both physical and emotional, are essential in the overall work because it defines The Odyssey as an epic poem. Aeneas also shares a similar experience as Odysseus as well. Both stories are similar in countless ways because they both undergo comparable experiences on their travels and their life journeys. With that being said, they both demonstrated leadership in their own way. However, it is difficult to determine who the best leader actually is. Both men exhibit great leadership skills; therefore, causing a challenge for some in determining which the greater epic is. After analyzing both texts, it is possible to conclude that Aeneas is the better leader, but The Odyssey is the greater epic.
The ending of the book The Odyssey written by Homer shows a heart-warming moment between Penelope and Odysseus when they met again after twenty years and embraced each other . In the movie version of The Odyssey by Andre Konchalovsky it takes a more different approach than the book. While in the movie version of The Odyssey they are shown in a more sexual way. The movie betrayed the more caring ending from The Odyssey. They focused more on Odysseus and Penelope’s sexual relationship than their caring relationship shown in the book which confuses the audience.
In the book the Iliad, The Odyssey, and Works and days, there are many things that can be similar when talking about Greek heroes and the world of Greek poetry. The stories and topics are describing similar events during this time of the eighth and seventh century B.C. In the end, however, they do have some differences in some parts when describing or explaining certain situations and ideas. The world of Greek heroes is written like a story; or Epic Poetry. That is what The Iliad and The Odyssey are; Epic Poetries. They are telling a story of a great hero and their adventures. On the other hand, the more realistic Greek World that is being described in Works and days is a Didactic poem, which tells more of a moral or message to the reader.