The Odyssey and O Brother Where Art Thou!
Nomen ________________________________
There are a great number of parallels between O Brother Where Art Thou! and The Odyssey. While the main character
of The Odyssey is Odysseus, the main character of OBWAT is:
_____________________________ which is the Latin word of Odysseus. Both characters are too smart for their own
good. Everett is proud of his loquaciousness. As he observes of Big Dan Teague, “Like myself I can see that you’re
endowed with the gift of _______________________________. Of course this gift gets both Odysseus and Everett in
trouble many a time. As Pete says outside of the theater, “Who elected you leader of this outfit? Since we’ve been
following you we’ve had nothing but trouble!” This sort of trouble is represented in the Odyssey when Odysseus is
leaving the cave of Polyphemus. He can’t resist the urge to let Polyphemus know who had blinded him. He tells him, “It
was not_______________________________ but I, Odysseus, who blinded you.” Of course Polyphemus then follows
the sound of the voice and throws a rock at their ship, nearly hitting it. The journey home for Everett seems to be going
along swimmingly until he and his companions run across a bunch of Baptists. The music overwhelms both Pete and
Delmar who run to the water to be saved. Everett can’t resist the opportunity to make fun of his companions and
_______________________________ in general. He calls them “dumber than a bag’a’hammers.” It is from this point
that things turn troublesome for Everett. His self-assuredness and aggrandizement is personified in his use of:
_______________________________ which the sheriff in turn uses to track in. In both films, the protagonist is pursued
by a god. Poseidon harasses Odysseus for not following the law of propriety and giving thanks for his victories. Everett
was in jail for_______________________________________. Although in the guise of a sheriff, we know the character
pursuing Everett must be some sort of god (or the devil) from three clues:
________________________________ which they learned from Tommy. ________________________________ which
could perhaps represent “Cerberus” the guardian of the underworld and the quote at the end of the movie. The sheriff
says, “The law?! __________________________________________.” This suggests that he himself is not human.
The purpose of both Odysseus and Everett is one in the same: to get home as quickly as possible to stop their wives from
marrying another man. While the wife of Odysseus is “Penelope,” the name of Everett’s belle is:
_____________________________. She needed to marry another man to provide for her “little Wharbley gals.”
Both Odysseus and Everett are told that they “must travel a long and difficult road a road fraught with peril. Mm-hmm.
You shall see thangs, wonderful to tell ... And, oh, so many startlements. I cannot tell you how long this road shall be,
but fear not the obstacles in your path, for fate has vouchsafed your reward. Though the road may wind, yea, your
hearts grow weary, still shall ye follow them, even unto your salvation.” What was similar between these two prophets
with the same message?
_________________________________. While Odysseus and his men stumble upon Circe who delays them, the men of
Everett stumble upon:
three __________________ down by a ________________________ who intoxicate them. When they wake up Delmar
believes that Pete has been turned into a _________________ ________________. In fact, Pete had been “trussed up
like a _______________________ and turned in for the bounty.” Everett and Delmar continue on without their
companion until they run into Big Dan Teague ... or “Big Dan, Tout Court.” This character represents the:
_____________________________. In the same sense of Polyphemus, Big Dan violates several sacred laws. He
ridicules God by selling __________________________ while at the same belonging to the KKK. Everett and Delmar
give Dan a meal. Dan in turn ___________________________. He even goes so far as kill their friend, ______________.
Downtrodden, Delmar and Everett return home at the same time a rally for the upcoming competition (or election).
This election pits _____________________ (also the name of the author of the Odyssey) against __________________
(also the name of the King of Sparta), the current governor of the state of Mississippi. It is here that Everett learns the
name of his wife’s fiance, Vernon T. Waldrip. Everett’s little girls tell that Vernon was “a _________________________”
which is also how the men seeking the hand of Penelope were collectively called in the Odyssey. When he finds his wife
in the five and dime (buying nickels) he challenges Waldrip to a fight. Waldrip beats the snot out of him. This leads his
wife to remark, “That’s not my husband. He’s just some _________________, I guess.” Everett goes to the movies to
cool off. The movie theater quickly becomes synonymous with _____________________________ of the Odyssey.
Both places are dark. Both have shades that run past. Finally, the ghost of a man believed to be dead offers Everett
advice:
“__________ _________ ______________ ____________ ______________________.” Later that evening Delmar
and Everett save Pete and bust him back out of prison. They then stumble upon a KKK mob that is about to kill their
friend, Tommy. How was the flaming cross more similar to the stick Odysseus men used to blind the Cyclops than the
confederate flag?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
With Tommy rescued, Everett and his men hurry back to his wife. Of course she does not recognize Everett as he is
disguised as ____________________________. She ignores him until he performs a feat that no one else could
_________________________________________. The two reconcile and the two state their intentions of patching
things up. Before that can happen though, the Misses sends Everett to retrieve her ring from the roll-top desk. When
they arrive, it seems that their pardon hasn’t reached the sheriff. Just before they are about to meet their end, they are
saved when Everett _______________________________________________________________________________.
Oftentimes in film “Fire” is seen as representing “Death.” In the Odyssey, fire was most prominently displayed when
Odysseus and his men journeyed to:
______________________________
Fire represents death for Ulysses and his companions in O Brother Where Art Thou! Name the four scenes where a
death is about to occur and there is a prominent display of fire:
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
In contrast “Water” is seen as representing “Salvation.” Name three scenes from O Brother Where Art Thou! Where
water is present at the ‘saving’ of a soul.
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
The Coen brothers incorporate a number of Classical phrases and referencesinto the film. How many can you name?
I’m the damn ___________________________ (Father of the Family). – Everett
But you’re not ___________________________ (in good faith). – The Warbley Girls
I could not gaze on that ____________________ (English phrase to represent death). – Pete
Deceitful, two-faced ______________________ (English to represent mother of Romulus and Remus). - Everett