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Challenges are what make life interesting, and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. In the epic, The Odyssey written by Homer is about a heroic leader named Odysseus, who struggled to return back to his homeland Ithaca, after fighting for 10 years in the Trojan War. In comparison to the epic, the movie O’ Brother Where Art Thou, has a lot of attributes with the epic. In the movie, a man named Ulysses Everett McGill is viewed as the alpha and the leader of two men named Pete and Delmar.
Everett and Odysseus creates disguises, encounter similar characters and events that either aid them or delay them from their one goal, to come home to their family.
Some characters may cause consequences or assist Everett and Odysseus on their journey. During their escape, the three men encounter an old, blind man driving a handcar on the railway. The blind man says a prophecy to the three boys, they will find a fortune, they must travel a long and difficult road, and they will see a cow on the roof of a cotton house.
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This old man can be compared to Tiresias, an old prophet who inhabits the underworld. Tiresias tells Odysseus and his men that he and his crew may still reach home but they must sail to Thrinacia before he can return home. Both prophets tell the leaders prophecy which will help them along the journey. In a restaurant, they meet a man named Big Dan Teague, the men invite him to a picnic under a tree.
During this picnic, Big Dan revealed his real intentions, he grabs a stick off a tree and beats up all three men and robs them of their money. Big Dan can be compared to the cyclops Odysseus encounters, Polyphemus. Odysseus and his men seek refuge in Polyphemus’ cave, but little did they know the cyclops was returning back soon. When the cyclops returned, he trapped them all in his cave, devouring Odysseus’ men one by one. Big Dan and Polyphemus have both impacted each leader’s crew throughout the journey. While driving on a road, Pete tells Everett to pull over, hearing singing from the forest. This is when they get lured in by three girls singing and washing clothes at the pond. This compares to the Sirens in The Odyssey, the Sirens were mermaids who sang and lured in ships where then shipwrecked on the island. Some of these characters have made a huge or small impact on both leader’s journeys.
As Everett and the men escape from jail, they need to create disguises to prevent themselves from getting arrested again. One of the disguises was the KKK disguise when they attempted to save their friend, Tommy. Everett and the boys dressed themselves up as members of the KKK so they wouldn’t be detected by other members. One of the members was Big Dan, the man they met earlier in the movie who beat them up and robbed them. This relates to when Odysseus saying his name is “Nobody” and this prevents him from getting attacked by the whole community of cyclops. Both disguises prevented them from getting attacked and even killed. In addition, another disguise was when Everett and Delmar were watching a movie when the fugitives entered the movie theatre. They had to hide in the dark movie theatre from being seen by the fugitives and by the sheriffs. When Odysseus and his crew were sneaking into Troy, they used a Trojan Horse, which stopped them from being detected by the soldiers of Troy. At the end of the movie, the “Soggy Bottom Boys” were performing a song to citizens of the city, but none of the citizens knew that the boys were wanted fugitives that have escaped prison. This connects with how Athena disguised Odysseus as a beggar, to prevent the citizens of Ithica from knowing that their king Odysseus was back. All of these disguises have benefited the leaders on their journey home.
Odysseus and Everett run into many similar events along their journeys. While walking on a road, the three men meet a guy named George driving his car on the road. They all got in the car and then started driving away, but soon they realized there were cops following them. George peeks out of the car while shooting his gun then suddenly he runs into a herd of cattle. This relates to the event in the Odyssey where Odysseus’ men were told not to touch the cattle but did not listen to his commands. All of his men were killed by Zeus, the god of lightning. George killing the cattle represents Odysseus’ men touching the cattle and George shooting out of his car represents Zeus “shooting” thunder. In addition, another similar event was when Pete gets turned into a frog. After a confrontation with the three girls, the men couldn’t find Pete but ended up finding a frog, this caused the men to think the girls turned Pete into a frog. In The Odyssey, Odysseus and his men meet a goddess named Circe, she turns all of Odysseus’ men into pigs. Both events relate because they each represent some type of character life form being turned into an animal. Furthermore, at the end of the movie, Everett earned the trust of his wife and proved himself to prevent his wife from marrying another man. This links to Odysseus proving and earning the trust of his wife Penelope to prevent her from marrying suitors wanting power.
In conclusion, as both leaders progressed throughout their journey and overcame challenges, they each accomplished their main goal, to make it back to their families. Overcoming challenges, Everett and Odysseus created disguises, encountered many similar characters and events upon their journeys. They may have benefited both leaders or delayed them from returning to their families. Odysseus and Everett both had one goal they needed to accomplish, prevent their wives from marrying another person and proving themselves. Both leaders, away from home for a lengthy amount of time, returned home happy with their families, proving themselves to their wives.
The Odyssey: An Epic Poem Written by Homer. (2024, Feb 23). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/the-odyssey-an-epic-poem-written-by-homer-essay
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