“Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of contending, the wanderer, harried for years on end, after he plundered the stronghold on the proud height of Troy.” (Homer, 1.1-5, 1) These words were spoken in praise of Odysseus by the classical poet, Homer. The Odyssey tells the tale of Odysseus’ ten year journey after he departs from Troy bound home for Ithaka. Odysseus’ motivation throughout the poem is to be reunited with his son, Telemakhos and his wife, Penelope, but his task doesn't come without struggle.
There are many themes in both O Brother where Art Thou and the Odyssey which seem to be strongly similar. Many similarities between the characters and their actions surface through their actions. In my essay I will not only compare and contrast the most important elements of the mentioned works, but will also discuss the importance of heroic figures and the less favored themes, such as revenge and foolish fearlessness.
Everyone knows the Greek myth of Odysseus and his long journey to return home. On this journey, recorded in Homer’s “The Odyssey”, Odysseus encountered the mythical and deadly Sirens. In Homer’s text, Odysseus braves the enchanting songs of the horrible temptresses. In Margaret Atwood’s rendition titled “Siren Song”, though, the Sirens are more humanized, and the satirical writing turns the Sirens into bored singers who hate their jobs. The difference in the portrayal of the Sirens in these two pieces of writing are huge, one being the original text, mythical and suspenseful, the other being a satirized adaptation, depicting the Sirens as normal people in “Bird costumes”, bored and lonely.
The Odyssey, one of the oldest texts known to mankind, has made a permanent mark in the heart of Greek art and literature forever. The Odyssey is known as the story of a long forgotten king, Odysseus, exploring the seas, going on his long quest to make his way back to his homeland. One grand encounter Odysseus faces are the mythical creatures known as the sirens. The sirens are notorious for the beautiful song they sing, but this song leaves a deceiving effect on anyone who hears the words, and anyone who’s heard the song has either been killed or does not remember. The only way Odysseus could return home is if he sailed passed the sirens. To keep Odysseus’ men from falling victim to the song, he filled their ears with beeswax. He told his
The story Odyssey and O Brother, Where Art Thou have a lot of connections to our life just like how Odysseus was on a journey to get home and Everett was on a journey to get the treasure, we all have roadblocks and fears we have to pass. In the text, The Odyssey was written by Homer and the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen both authors deal with the main idea loyalty. Both stories have loyalty as the theme because in the Odyssey Odysseus wife was loyal to him for 20 years while he was gone. In the movie Everetts, wife, for the most part, was loyal to him until she was about to marry Veron. The differences between Odyssey and O Brother, Where Art Thou are pronounced, and they deserve a thorough investigation. As a result, just like when Poseidon tried to kill Odysseus, in the movie the cops were trying to kill Delmar, Pete, and Everett. In the movie, the blind railroad conductor is similar to Tiresias because they both predicted the future for the main characters. Another similarity of both stories is when the main character of O Brother, Where Art Thou dressed up as KKK
“O Brother Where Art Thou?” is a comedy, adventure film produced in 2000. Many of the scenes in this film are based off the Odyssey, which is an epic poem by Homer. It is based on a true hero’s journey back home. There are many correlations and yet differences between the Odyssey and the film. Although the overall plot of “O Brother Where Art Thou?” is vaguely similar to the Odyssey, there are certain “episodes” that closely mirror the film’s classical influence.
The Odyssey and the poem "Siren Song" both portray sirens ;however, in The Odyssey, the focus is on resolving the "problem" of the sirens, no differently than any other obstacle on his journey, whereas "Siren Song" focuses on the siren as more than merely an obstacle.They share, however, the preying of the siren upon hubris and the desire to be special, as well as, by what happens, illustrating the allure of the sirens in the spite of the pain that may be suffered to get there. The Odyssey initially describes the actions of Odysseus much more than the sirens.The beginning discussion does describe the sirens at all;it merely states that they were approaching the island of the sirens, and then for the first ten lines it does not even begin to consider the sirens.Instead, the text talks about the actions of Odysseus who "sliced an ample wheel of beeswax [...] and I stopped the ears of my comrades one by one".Indeed, the only understanding of the sirens comes from their speech; this perspective originates from the Odyssey's point of view.Unlike "Siren Song," The Odyssey's focuses on the person who opposes the sirens, Odysseus, more than the sirens themselves.This leads to the Sirens lacking any special quality that would make them any different than any obstacle there is noting personal about them.This is in contrast "Siren Song," which focuses almost exclusively on the siren.The
The Odyssey written by Homer and the Siren Song, by Margaret Atwood both use imagery, symbolism, different tones and different point of view to depict Sirens. The Odyssey surrounds a man who hears the Sirens song, but uses different tactics to survive it, although the Siren Song is written as if the written is a siren trying to prey on the readers. The difference of narrators tells the story of the Sirens in two very different
In the beginning of the Odyssey, the invocation of the muse brought the reader into the book. In O Brother, Where Art Thou?, it started the mood of the movie. In the Odyssey, Odysseus he 's tremendous pride which can serve as a negative factor in many situations, In the movie, Everett has pride of what people think about him with his over care of his hair. Also, when the men go to the river because they heard the women singing, they were in danger. In the Odyssey, sirens were beautiful women who in the end was a threat , just like the in the film. From what we have seen so far, the similarities between this book and this movie proves that O Brother, Where Art Thou? based the movie on The Odyssey.
There are sundry items emphasized in these three texts. Not only is the song and spell highlighted in “The Odyssey”, but also the challenge Odysseus and his crew had to face(Homer). “O Brother Where Art Thou?” discusses the women who sing the Siren song, the spell, and the disappearance of the men. The poem accentuates the Siren song (Atwood). Odysseus wanted to surrender to the captivating song of the Sirens, but the ropes hindered him. His men couldn't be inveigled because they had wax in their ears(Homer). Pete, Delmar, and Everett thought the women were seraphic, and they were willing to do anything they asked. Pete ended up disappearing, so his men didn't find him(“O Brother Where Art Thou?”). These actions were stressed so people
In the “Odyssey”, Homer introduces the expedition Odysseus goes through to return to his native land. At one point he and his comrades must take the path that leads them to the island of the Sirens. The notorious sirens sing their sickeningly sweet tune to entice men to their eradication. Poet Atwood depicts the sirens in a calamitous facet. Both Homer and Atwood convey the idea that the Sirens pose a detrimental role through the application of imagery and diction.
Wreck it Ralph V.S Odyssey Hero Journey In almost all films and pieces of literature a hero’s journey is portrayed. A hero’s journey is an archetype present in all cultures and time periods. In a hero’s journey there are four main parts; however, there could be more. The four main parts are separation, initiation, discovery, and lastly return.
The song and the poem are easy to compare, as they have many resemblances. They both take place in cold weather. This is shown in the poem, “A wind came out of a cloud, chilling/ My beautiful Annabel Lee;”(Poe)
In these three texts, somethings are the same, and some are not. Homer likes to emphasize on three main things; the heroism of Odysseus, the magic powers of sirens, and the steps Odysseus uses, told by Circe, take to get past the sirens. Whereas, “O’ Brother Where Art Thou,” emphasizes where Pete gets turned into a toad (according to Delmar), the spell of the sirens is being controlled by making the three men drink moonshine, yet the sirens still sing a song in the background. Lastly, Atwood emphasizes around the ideas, the sirens do not like being stuck on the island, the content of the song is stated many times, and that the three sirens are bored of being on the island. The authors of these three texts primarily emphasized their own things, they easily felt that their ideas were more important.
Sundiata and The Odyssey are two out of the many great great orally told tales in all of mankind history. In writing, comparing your work to another similar text is extremely important for making your paper understandable to any audience. In this case, I will be comparing the two similar texts, The Odyssey and Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali. Both of these two tables show the characters, Sundiata and Odysseus, long quests of pursuing and accomplishing a certain objective. To reach their goal, both characters encounter obstacles and enemies who want to stop them on their prolonged journey. Another item that is extremely important in both stories is the use and importance of fate. Both characters rely on their fates for assistance and for achieving