Comparing Odysseus In The Odyssey And O Brother Where Art Thou

In my eyes a hero is a person who shows courage, is humble, does not give up, and is someone everybody can relate to. The protagonist in “The Odyssey” by Homer, Odysseus is a hero because although he is emotional throughout the book and lets his emotions take over his actions, he displays immense courage and perseveres through his journey and hardships.

Most people have fixed concept that modern day films and Medieval Greek Epic poems differ a lot as if they are black and white, but the film O Brother, Where Art Thou and the story of The Odyssey are both parallel and perpendicular. O Brother, Where Art Thou and The Odyssey portray their story on the same path, yet on the branched path.

The Odyssey by Homer is a Greek epic poem based on its main character Odysseus and it took place in the classical Greece. The book was composed in the eight century B.C.E, after the events it describes, and narrates several adventures with the objective of its main character to return home with his family. Moreover, the movie O, Brother Where Art Thou was published in the year 2000 and directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. The movie also narrates the adventures of its main character Ulysses, interpreted by George Clooney, a prisoner that escaped from jail with two partners. Consequently, the film and the movie have its similarities and differences, but at the end the movie was absolutely based on the book.

The Cyclops, in The Odyssey and O Brother, Where Art Thou has noticeable relations that connect them both. The Cyclops in each story is a large man, who only has one eye. One website describes the Cyclopes race as, “a rough and uncivilized race of one-eyed giants.”(Hainsworth) Odysseus describes the giant as, “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.”(The Odyssey, Book 9, Lines 195-201)The Cyclops in each story characterizes similiarity between the two stories. Odysseus, the main character of The Odyssey and Ulysses, the main character of O Brother, Where Art Thou have unpleasant interactions with the Cyclops in each of the stories. Big Dan Teague, the con man, characterizes the “Cyclops” in O Brother, Where Art Thou by raising havoc in Ulysses and his partners’ lives. In each story an attempt to blind the creature offers a distraction for each character to escape from the Cyclops. The Coen

Both men show willpower in realizing their goals.  Odysseus's target is returning to Ithaca to his beloved wife and son. He overcomes many

The last big difference i saw was the scene with the Lotus Eaters. In the book, Odysseus and his men went to an island with Lotus Eaters while in the movie, the lotus blossoms were given by Circe. This made him and his men stay longer with Circe for five years. They had thought it had only been a couple days but Circe made it seem like that, so they wouldn't leave. That is also different from the book because in the book, Odysseus and his men only stayed with Circe for a year, not five years.

Many think being a hero is having super powers, but on the contrary it's more than that. A hero is one who is distinguished for their courage and bravery, and looked upon for their great deeds. A hero like this is not just found in modern society today, but in mythology as well. In the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus earns the title of a true hero by conveying many qualities such as: determination, courage and leadership.

The trait of heroism is something that has changed over thousands of years. Today’s heros have different traits than those heroes of the Trojan War. However, a few have survived the test of time. Many of modern day heroes, as well as past heroes, do hold these long enduring traits, like Nelson Mandela, Marcus Luttrell, Louis Zamperini, and the fictional Iron Man. Odysseus, the main character in The Odyssey by Homer, portrays the traits necessary to be dubbed a hero. One is a hero if he or she shows leadership, bravery, resilience, and creativity throughout their actions.

Many people might not have realized but in the movie “O Brother Where Art Thou” there are connections not only with actual events that have occurred in the 1930’s, but also with Homer 's "Odyssey". From similarities in characters and storyline in the Odyssey to the life during the Great Depression, are all included and demonstrated. However, just like similarities, there are also inaccuracies that are not exactly the same between the movie, story, and the actual events of the Great Depression. For example, the movie "O Brother Where Art Thou" was based on a greek myth called "Odyssey" by Homer. Also, the movie is based only from the perspective of 3 men escaping their sentence, not from the perspective of all the different races who had different opportunities and advantages compared to others.

The similarities between the two stories are quite extensive, so I will only focus on a few. There are similarities not only in the plot and the journey’s the characters take on and are involved in, but both are packed with metaphors. In both stories, the main characters are following the strong theme of nostos. Odysseus is battling gods, monsters, he even goes and visits Hades to help him return home to his family. McGill convinces two people to escape out of a jail so that he can return to his wife and daughters. Both stories begin with our “heroes” in custody when they are first shown. Odysseus is on an island with Calypso, and the three in O Brother are in jail. Both escape custody,

The poem “The Odyssey” and the movie O, Brother Where Are Thou were about two men and their struggle to get home. They were similar in many ways, yet they were also very different. Some of the similarities are more obvious and some of them are somewhat discrete. It was a very good way of showing what happened to Odysseus in a more modern way.

In Book 9, Odysseus does battle with a popular Greek Mythology creature the Cyclopes. Here Odysseus shows us how cunning he can be. While trapped Odysseus really fears that he will never see that homeland of Ithaca ever again. He is very mournful and we see just how much he misses home. He finally realizes how to escape from the Cyclops. He stabs the Cyclops in his only eye blinding him. He then tells the monster

Odysseus is the genius tactician whom Everett is modeled after. In the movie O’ Brother Where Art Thou, Everett is extremely similar to Odysseus. Everett is comparably much smarter than those around him, like Odysseus, and believes in his own power. He is also surrounded by people who want to betray him or hurt him, and uses similar methods of not being caught. Also, they both fully believe they are better than and don't need others. Everett and Odysseus also both only want to get back to their wives while they still hold slight concern for their companions. Everett in the movie O’ Brother Where Art Thou is made to be like Odysseus because they are both intelligent, narcissistic and have the same goal.

Throughout the history of epic literature, heroes have been an integral part of many different cultures. Some of these heroes are fierce and powerful, renowned for their skill in battle, while some others and clever and cunning, able to talk their way out of any difficult situation. These traits usually emphasize the values of the cultural from which the hero came, and depending on the culture,traits viewed as heroic may drastically differ. Although there exists a plethora of traits any one hero may have, there are three core characteristic that, in my opinion, a hero must have to be considered a hero: the courage to face hardships, the willingness to make major self-sacrifices for the benefit of others, and most importantly, the dedication to do what it takes to reach their goal.

In Narnia, a change in character could clearly be seen from the beginning to the end of the story. Each of the kids had learned their own lesson from their journey, and became better, wiser people from this journey. However, in The Odyssey, Odysseus did not show any change. He continued to make the same mistakes of getting his crew into trouble, and did not come home a changed man with different morals than he had left with. Furthermore, the children in Narnia did not want to return home from their journey, it had happened by accident. In The Odyssey, Odysseus had been working on returning home for 20 years and wants to return home as soon as possible. The differences between these two stories were made to differentiate between the different tales, instead of having each story be the exact same setup. These differences are what allow the Hero’s Journey to be used as a basis for each story, but still allow the stories to be different and have their own characteristics. Ultimately, the two pieces follow the same structure, but still have their own differences within this structure.