Odyssey and O\' Brother in the Course

Odyssey and O' Brother

In the course of human history, one of the interesting things about past literature is the way the heroic appears again and again. In fact, this appearance becomes an archetype in that we see very similar themes in literature, religion, mythology, and culture. This is perhaps because as humans we have the need to explain and explore the unknown, but also because we tend to psychologically need a guide through the complexities of life. The idea of the hero as a role model for behavior, in fact, is so tied to human culture that one need only look at popular culture -- television and motion pictures for certain, to epitomize the need for particular story themes to remain popular. Whatever the genre -- science fiction, fantasy, western, war, even politics -- the classic nature of human values become clear when one continues to see the character traits of the hero through a series of tasks, through personal and character flaws, and finally through the triumph of the human spirit and the restoration of good (until the next story) (Voytilla). One of the major functions of myth, then, is to establish models for behavior. The figures often described in myth are sacred and are the worthy role model for humans. Myths then not only entertain, they function to uphold current societal and cultural attributes that are considered valuable. We see quest, revenge, heroic behavior, fate, etc.

One such example is between Homer's Odyssey and the Coen Brothers movie, O Brother, Where Art Thou? There are certainly obvious comparisons in the underlying plot, the idea of a quest, certain names and even plot developments. Some are incredibly apparent, some less so, but it makes it interesting to transpose a tale from the Ancient World into the middle of rural Mississippi during the Great Depression. Above all, what seems most interesting is the manner in which the trials and tribulations of the Ancient Greeks, so representative in culture and history, translate so well 2,000 years later.

Of course, the most obvious similarity is the name of the title character, Ulysses; and in O Brother, he is Ulysses Everett McGill, who escapes prison and must undergo trials and tribulations (an epic journey) in order to become free and actualized. It is who he meets upon his way, and the issues that he encounters that form the basis of the epic.

The other most obvious, and commented upon, similarity is the way women are the temptresses in the journey. In The Odyssey, the sirens are special Sea creature who live on an isolated island. They had the gift of being very seductive -- each sailor who was passing became enchanted by their voices and the ship either crashed or the sailor was condemned to stay in their island forever and die. In fact, all over the island are bones of the dead. Ulysses and his sailors encounter the Sirens on their way back to Ithaca. Ulysses was prepared, though, and had wax put in his ears and asked his crew to tie him to the mast and ignore his pleading.

In O Brother, the Sirens are three dangerous ladies that bewitch as well, but the three fall prey to their charms. Pete, Ulysseses' travelling companion, is then caught by the police. And, like the original Sirens who can turn sailors into pigs, Delmar (another travelling companion) and Everett (Ulysses) believe that Pete is turned into a frog by the Sirens, "Scarce had they drunk when she flew after them with her long stick and shut them in a pigsty- bodies, voices, heads, and bristles, all swinish now, though minds were still unchanged" (Ody., 172).

The Kyklops in Odyssey is described 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" (150). The Kylops captures Ulysses and his men and wants to use them as his dinner. They, however, escape by blinding him and then tying themselves to the sheep's underbellies since the monster only checks the sheep's backs. In O Brother, the character is a one-eyed Bible salesman who lures them from their journey to rob them (eat their money). Also, in a rather brilliant juxtaposition of the name Kyklops to KKK (Ku Klux Klan). At the end of O Brother, just like Ulysses' crew, the three travelers dress up as KKK members to blend in and save their friend, but escape undetected with the same method.

The issue with the lotus eaters are also part of the plot similarities. Upon the return voyage, Ulysses and his crew find an island in which the characters eat a plant called the Lotus. Eating this, the sailors, like the people on the Island, go into a kind of hypnotic haze. "… But those who ate this honeyed plant, the Lotus, never cared to report, nor to return; they longed to stay forever, browsing on that native bloom, forgetful of their homeland" (148). The irony and the brilliance in this similarity is a bit of a comment on organized religion. In O Brother, the Lotus Eaters are the Christians being baptized -- and the implication being that in the daze of religious fervor, eating the Host turns humans into catatonic beings who are hypnotized by religion. There are some differences, in that Everett doesn't believe, so does not get baptized, and perhaps the impetus of the journey holds that Delmar and Pete can continue their quest because Everett (Ulysses) actually saves them with reason.