Comparison O Brother, Where Art Though? by Joel and Ethan Coen is a film, made in 2000, that was based on the Odyssey in many ways. The movie is about a guy, Ulysses Everett, who is on this long journey to find the “treasure” which he tells his two friends, Delmar and Pete. He is actually tricking them about the treasure because he knows that they would not go on this elongated journey, which they are escaping prison for, if they knew the truth. He was actually going to try to stop the marraige of his wife with her new fiance. On the long journey they face many challenges that try to stop them from getting to the town his wife is in. Everett and Odysseus both have similar call to actions which, were to come home to stop their wives from marrying First of all they are the main characters that have company on their journey. For instance, Everett has his two friends from prison, Pete and Delmar, and Odysseus has his shipmates for most of the time. Another similarity is that they are very strong leaders that will overcome any challenges that come in their way. For example, Odysseus has many challenges he faces like, Polyphemus, but he defeats him with a stick on fire. He also has to deal with Poseiden becasue of what he did to his son polyphemus and defeats him with help from the gods/goddess which were Athena, Zeus and Aeolus. Another challenge he faces were the Seirenes, but has the help from Athena so him and his shipmates do not die and overcome this challenge, and more. Everett has many challeges like Odysseus, but they are not exactly the same. For instance, instead of Poseiden coming after him he has the sheriff. The sheriff is being compared to poseiden in an ironic way because he uses fire while Poseiden uses water. He also faces a Polyphemus, but instead of a cyclopes it is a guy with one eye named Big Dan T. He does not defeat him like Odysseus, instead the human cyclopes beats them with a stick and takes all of their money and their car. The movie switches the roles of the cyclopes and the hero so that the movie has its own version of this event and so its not exactly like The Oddyssey. Everett and his crew are very similar, but the movie portrays the book in a unique, interesting way. The movie has most of the characters the book has, but some of the characters do their part in a different way in the movie, that is what makes this new way of the book intreging. For example, the god of the sea, Poseiden is associated with water, the twist the movie puts on this character in the movie is instead of using water the Poseiden character, the sheriff, is associated with fire. These characters display irony because water and fire are opposites, which makes the movie have their own twist on the book. The Odyssey in a certain order. For the movie to be unique, it has the events in a different order. When readers read The Odyssey one character that appears in the middle of the piece is Teiresius. What makes the movie different from the novel is that the character Teiresius shows up closer to the beginning. Another example that makes the two pieces different from one another is the crew they travel along with. Odysseus’ crew actually all die off, but Pete and Delmar never die and stick by Everett for the whole movie. These pieces are both very similar, but the movie has its own twist, therefore transforming The Odyssey into a movie about a prisoner’s epic journey. The movie really has a good way in trasforming the book. They are not exactly the same, which makes the movie very interesting and fun to compare all of the events of The
Odysseus and Ullysseus Everett McGill are similar characters because of their perseverance, cleverness, and their leadership abilities. In The Odyssey, Odysseus portrays an important trait to the story, perseverance. His perseverance really stands out as something that he has and always will have. On his long journey home, he never gives up and just stays where he is, no matter how tempting.
Odysseus’ and Telemachus’ journeys or nostos were both very similar and different. They parallel each other in some ways but they are also completely different at other times. Telemachus starts as a younger, less mature boy, and without the presence of his father during his childhood, he becomes a timid, shy and spineless boy who is greatly pampered by his mother. He has even more to achieve, being the son of a world-famous father, and this is a very difficult reputation to live up to. His journey, and after that the killing of the suitors who took advantage of him really show how his journeys and problems throughout the book mature him from being a shy, timid boy into a mature man. Odysseus’ journey also taught him about many things which he had never really experienced before, including suffering, poverty, and other things of that nature. Telemachus and Odysseus have parallel, but different journeys, which drastically change them throughout the epic and they are influenced by many different forces, both human and supernatural. Telemachus matures into a man while Odysseus becomes more wise, and both journey through Greece in search of one another.
The film begins with a summoning of the Muse taken from Homer’s summons in The Odyssey. The writers pray to a higher power to tell them the story “of that man skilled in all the ways of contending…A wanderer, harried for years on end” (O Brother, Where Art Thou?). This is a direct and purposeful quote from Robert Fitzgerald’s 1961 translation of The Odyssey. By opening O Brother, Where Art Thou? with the same invocation of the Muse as Homer, the Coens creates a direct correlation between the two works early on. This tells the audience that they should expect the direction of the plot to mimic that of The Odyssey.
The myths of David and Goliath and Odysseus and Polyphemos from the Hebrew bible and the Odyssey, respectively, are examples of the classic little hero versus large enemy story. From both the Hebrews and the Greeks we receive iterations of the same myth of how the gigantic antagonist belittles the seemingly frail young man simply because of his short stature compared to that of the antagonist’s, but in the end he is subdued by the young man with an uncommon method. Warrior Odysseus and shepherd boy David both encounter their own menacing giant, a Cyclops and the champion of Gath, who they bravely defeat which results in the increase of morale
...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.
Throughout history the themes of literature has stayed relatively the same; the situations have been updated to appeal to a modern audience. One common trait in great movies and literature is the presence of a heroic figure. Odysseus can be classified as a hero, because he departed from his home Ithaca the day his son Telemachus was born and leaving his wife Penelope to fight in the Trogon war. Odysseus starts out his journey with six hundred crewmen and twelve ships.
Another difference between the film and The Odyssey is that in the poem Odysseus stayed in Polyphemus’ cave for one night and one morning until he returned the next day. However, in the movie, the entire scene of the eye-stabbing and escaping happened within the same night. Only two men were devoured in the movie when in the poem, six were. The first two were sacrificed in the first evening, two more for breakfast, and two more for the following evening when Odysseus planned his escape. Cyclops in the movie also didn't let any of his sheep into his cave, and therefore, Odysseus and his men did not escape the way they did in the book- by riding on the belly of one sheep chained to two other ships. He in the movie, escaped by putting sheep fur
The similarities between Odysseus and Jason are as vast as their differences, yet their main connections show their their main difference. The similarity of the two previously unsung heroic types is exactly what separates them, each man is a different type of the new hero that came about after the brutish and brawny warriors like Achilles and Hector. Each can be seen as a hero or as a perverse designation of the past warriors and heroic ideals. It is their journeys that define them as heros, Jason though he could not have made it alone succeeds in his endeavors and Odysseus although he made it home alone in the end he is the valiant lover and father. The endings show a major difference between the two characters as Odysseus is redeemed in the end for his good qualities, Jason become less of a heroic figure as he discards his ever helpful wife Medea.
In Virgil’s The Aeneid, there are many parallels found in Homer’s The Odyssey. In each epic, the heroes, Aeneas and Odysseus, are on a journey “home.” Aeneas is on the search of a new home for he and his companions to settle since Troy has been destroyed, Odysseus on the other hand is attempting to return to his home he left years earlier to fight the Trojan War. They both have Gods against them and helping them, both Aeneas and Odysseus are both held back by women, both voluntary and involuntarily, and they both have experiences visiting the Underworld. Despite these similarities, there are differences between the two characters and it reflects their values and the society they live in. Aeneas relies on his strength as a warrior, where as Odysseus uses his deception to survive which reflects how Aeneas is truly Roman is versus Greek.
...journey is less cyclical than Achilles' but similarly ends with his regret for the ravages of war. Odysseus is a flawed character, much like man himself, and his actions can only be fully accounted for by attributing them to the gradual progression of his soul. He is gifted, yet possesses shortcomings; insightful, yet blind; driven, yet lost. Achilles is divine, yet mortal; rational, yet contradictory; kind, yet vicious. Still, together they represent the ideals of Greek mythology and the weaknesses of mankind. They are in control of their own actions, but subject to fate. Through both heroes, Homer manages to convey some of the most fundamental features of human existence.
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.
To begin, both the leadership qualities and flaws of Aeneas and Odysseus must be examined in order to determine who the better leader is. Virgil presents Aeneas very differently than Homer presents Odysseus. They are both certainly heroes, but Aeneas seems more accessible and a stronger leader, due to the way Virgil presents him. Virgil illustrated Aeneas as a man that had to participate in many tests and tempering’s, and from that, his heroism was seen as flawless. The same goes along with Homers’ Odysseus, yet in a different, more astounding way.
Odysseus and Ulysses have differences, but also similarities. The man's role in his son's life shifts once Telemachus matures. However, Odysseus and Ulysses portray similar characteristics - their love for their crew and their determination in achieving goals. The man is a born leader; he shows leadership in raising his son, caring for his crew, and ultimately, in taking charge of his life. The poets acclaim men who have direction in life to strive and attain goals.
One of the most noticeable differences between the book and the movie is the absence of the Gods. In Homer's Iliad, the Gods played a major part in the Trojan War. Though the viewers are made aware that the characters believe in the Gods, the only God we see in the movie is Thetis, Achilles' mother. The omission of the Gods from the movie may give the audience a chance to view the characters more believable, however by omitting the Gods, the viewer did not get the full history of the characters.
There is a copious amount of major characters in the story. Some of them include Odysseus, the main character, who is a soldier and returns home after a twenty-year absence. Some of his family includes Laertes, his father, Penelope, his wife, and Telemachus, his son. There are many gods that Odysseus must battle on his journey home, including Zeus, who is said to be father of all gods, and Poseidon, the god of the ocean who punishes Odysseus and his crew by giving them a very difficult trip home after they blind his son, Polyphemus, or the Cyclops by blinding him after stabbing him in the eye. Another major character is Calypso, a sea goddess who is in love with Odysseus.