O’ Brother, Where Art Thou? Vs. The Odyssey By: Olivia Grieco

O’ Brother, Where Art Thou? Written by the Coen Brothers Follows 3 characters, Everett, Pete, and Delmar, on their journey after escaping from prison While searching for fortune, they get wrapped up in many sticky situations and meet many interesting characters

Invocation to the Muse “O Muse! Sing in me, and through me tell the story Of that man skilled in all the ways of contending, A wanderer, harried for years on end…”

Characters Ulysses Everett McGill vs. Odysseus Both clever and cunning Both leaders Everett is trying to find fortune and get home to his wife and kids Odysseus is trying to get home to his family Both have a crew on their journey

Characters Penny vs. Penelope Penny is Everett’s wife Has a suitor who she is going to marry Has Everett search for her wedding ring to prove he wants to be with her Penelope tests Odysseus by wanting to move their bed, proving it really it Odysseus

Characters Pete and Delmar vs. Odysseus’ crew They follow Everett like Odysseus’ crew follows him and go along with everything he says Pete represents the mutiny of Odysseus’ crew Delmar represents the foolishness of Odysseus’ crew

Characters Blind Railroad Seer vs. Tiresias Both are blind fortune tellers Tells Everett and his men that they won’t find the treasure they seek and that their journey will be long and hard Tiresias tells Odysseus he will get home but it may take many years and that he may face hardships

Characters Big Dan vs. Polyphemus Has one eye and an eyepatch over the other Everett and Delmar anger Big Dan like Odysseus and his crew anger the cyclops Big Dan kills the toad, which they think is Pete Polyphemus kills some of Odysseus’ crew members Big Dan is killed by a flaming cross

Characters Governor Menelaus (Pappy O’Daniel) vs. Menelaus Vernon T. Waldrip vs. The Suitors

Characters Sheriff Cooley vs. Poseidon Tommy vs. Athena Everett’s daughters vs. Telemachus

Scenes Baptism vs. Lotus Eaters Everett, Pete, and Delmar come across a congregation waiting to be baptized Pete and Delmar repent their sins and get baptized. Everett does not Makes them forget that they are on a journey for treasure Lotus Eaters make Odysseus’ men forget about returning home

Scenes The Sirens/Circe Everett, Pete, and Delmar hear women singing and go toward it The women seduce them and give them alcohol and they fall asleep When they wake up Pete is gone and a toad hops out of his clothes Delmar believes that they turned Pete into a toad, like Circe turns Odysseus’ men into pigs

Scenes Dressed in disguise to see his wife Everett disguises himself by wearing a long beard and pretending to be part of the band so he can see his wife and convince her to stay faithful to him Odysseus is disguised as a beggar in order to go see his wife and see if she is still faithful

Scenes KKK meeting vs. Escaping the cyclops’ lair Everett, Pete, and Delmar disguise themselves as KKK members to save Tommy and help him escape Odysseus and his men escape the cyclops’ lair by hiding under sheep

References Coen, Joel, and Ethan Coen. O'Brother, Where Art Thou. Succes, 2001. Homer. The Odyssey of Homer. Translated by Richmond Lattimore, HarperPrennial Modern Classics, 2007. Selvaraj, Kaaviya. “How Is ‘O' Brother Where Art Thou?", Based on Homer's the Odyssey?”Quora, 2015, www.quora.com/How-is-O-Brother-Where-Art-Thou-based-on-Homers-the-Odyssey. Siegel, Janice. “The Coens' O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Homer's Odyssey.” Mouseion: Journal of the Classical Association of Canada, University of Toronto Press, 27 Sept. 2008, muse.jhu.edu/article/247584.