Attachment theory and interpersonal relationships

O Brother Where Art Thou? And the Odyssey

In the film "O Brother Where Art Thou?" The filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen loosely paralleled the epic found in the Odyssey. Though there are some obvious parallels between the story and the movie, there are numerous similarities which are much subtler. These can be found in scenes, settings, characters, and plot. A close examination of the movie reveals the multiple layers of the film's similarity to the epic work.

Of course, the most obvious comparisons are Odysseus and Ulysses, Penelope and Penny, and the Sirens and the "Sireens." But, there are also additional character similarities. The foot stomping politician Menelaus 'Pappy O'Daniel has the same first name as the King of Sparta, who fought beside Odysseus at Troy. Furthermore, it is no mistake that Homer, the author of the Odyssey, shares the same name as Homer Stokes, the man who was challenging 'Pappy' in the election. Additionally, Homer was supposedly blind, so it may be that the blind man in the radio station also represents him. After all the blind man in the radio station was the first to record the Soggy Bottom Boys, while Homer was the first to record the saga of Odysseus.

Yet another similarity comes in the form of the character Dan Teague, the salesman with an eye patch. This one-eyed character corresponds to the Cyclops, Polyphemus. The similarities continue when one examines the action related to Teague; in the scene where he is pinned under the burning cross which Everett cut loose, it seems that the falling cross drives the pole of the Confederate flag into his good eye. This completes the comparison to Odysseus putting out the Cyclops eye with a burning piece of wood.

Though the "sireens" and the Sirens are pretty obvious, the fact that Circe, the sorceress in the Odyssey seems to turn the men with Odysseus into pigs and the fact that the "sireens" appear to turn Pete into a toad is a little more obscure. However, that such similarly-named groups of women both have the power to turn men into animals is a clear reference to Homer's work. Also, like the scene in the film, while Odysseus sleeps nearby, the princess Nausicaa bathes and sings in a river while her two servants wash clothes.

Another similarity which is rather obscure is the scene where a group of worshippers walk in a trance like state in their quest to be baptized. Then Delmar joins them and he too is baptized. The worshippers trance like placidity echoes the Lotus-Eaters of the Odyssey. Furthermore, Delmar's statement that he is staying on "the straight and narrow from here on out," likely mirrors Odysseus's crew desire to discontinue their quest after they encountered the Lotus-Eaters.

Delmar mirrors Tiresias when he mistakes Pete and the others in the theater for ghosts because he believes that Pete has died (after he was turned into a toad). This alludes to Odysseus' trip to Hades. The underworld is also alluded to when Everett, Pete, and Delmar slip down a cliff and find themselves in the midst of the Klan's cross burning ceremony with flames blaring on the cross. Hell is symbolized in this scene by the red robes of the grand wizard, the flames, and the song "O Death" being sung. The final symbolization of the underworld is the sheriff and his bloodhound, with the hound being Cerberus, the hound of Hades whom Odysseus encounters in his trip to the underworld.

Tiresias prophesied the trials and obstacles of Odysseus' return trek home when Odysseus visited him in the underworld and it is possible that the blind black man on the railroad car is an illusion to him. Then again, it could also be a comparison to Nestor; Telemachus, Odysseus' son consults with the Trojan War hero Nestor. Indeed, it could be that the handcar represents Nestor's chariot. Homer describes Nestor as the "Gerenian charioteer" time and again. Therefore, it seems likely that the blind black man on the railroad is inspired by Nestor.

Odysseus must traverse a wretched path between Charbydis and Scylla in the story, which obviously puts him in a very tight spot. Like Odysseus, the boys find themselves in a predicament when the Hogwallop barn is besieged by the posse. Everett laments several times, "Damn! We're in a tight spot!" (Coen & Coen, 2000). This clarification of their difficult predicament helps highlight similarities in the journey stories.

In The Odyssey, even against his strong warning, Odysseus' fellow travelers kill the sacred cows of the sun god Helios. When the boys join with the gangster George Nelson and George begins shooting at a herd of cattle, Delmar sternly admonishes, "Oh, George, not the livestock!" (Coen & Coen, 2000). One sees the important of this warning later in the film; as George is being led to his death in the electric chair, someone from the crowd at the parade who is leading a cow hollers, "Cow killer!" At him (Coen & Coen, 2000). It is not insignificant that the method of George's execution is the electric chair when one considers that in the Odyssey, Odysseus' ship is struck by lighting and everyone aboard, with the exception of Odysseus, dies.

Further, as the end of the movie nears, the Soggy Bottom Boys sneak into city hall disguised with long beards. This is probably an allusion to Odysseus' return to his hometown when he too sneaks in wearing a beard, long hair, and tattered clothes. That they are disguised is similar; that they are disguised by long beard is clearly an allusion to The Odyssey.