Allusions in Joel and Ethan Coen’s O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
An allusion is a reference to another “text”: novel, play, opera, poem, music, music lyrics, film, history,
religion, popular culture, etc. When a text makes allusion, it can be attempting to describe something in
shorthand (instead of saying “an incredibly large ox that was tall as a barn,” you could simply say, “Babe
the Blue Ox”).
An allusion can also expand the original meaning of a newer story by inviting us to make associations
between the new text and the old, original text. For example, in Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,” the example
in Foster, we have the allusion to the “cup of trembling.” When that allusion to bible is understood, we
see that the story of Sonny and his brother is also set in the context of divine forces—God’s judgment—
since the cup of trembling is a reference to the Lord’s fury at those who are afflicted and who may
succumb to desolation.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? contains many allusions. The title of the film is a reference to the 1941
Preston Sturges film Sullivan’s Travels, in which the protagonist (a director) wants to direct a film about
the Great Depression called O Brother, Where Art Thou? will be a “commentary on modern conditions,
stark realism, the problems that confront the average man.” Lacking any experience in this area, the
director sets out on a journey to experience the human suffering of the average man, but is sabotaged
by his anxious studio. The film has some similarity in tone to Sturges’ film, including scenes with prison
gangs and a black church choir. The scene with the prisoners at the picture show is also a direct homage
to a nearly identical scene in Sturges’ film.
Summary of Homer’s The Odyssey
The Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou?, as the opening credits indicate, is based on the roughly
three-thousand-year-old epic poem by Homer: The Odyssey. Homer’s epic mainly focuses on the
cunning Greek hero Odysseus (also known as Ulysses in Roman myths) whose name means “he who
grieves or causes pothers pain or makes others angry”--and his journey home after the fall of Troy. It
takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, it is assumed he
has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of unruly suitors, who
compete for Penelope’s hand in marriage.
Unknown to the suitors, Odysseus is still alive. The beautiful nymph Calypso, possessed by love for him,
has imprisoned him on her island, Ogygia. He longs to return to his wife and son, but he has no ship or
crew to help him escape. While the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus debate Odysseus’s future,
Athena, Odysseus’s strongest supporter among the gods, resolves to help him.
Athena reminds Zeus to send Hermes to Calypso, and he tells her that Odysseus may leave but under
strict conditions: He has to build his own raft. Calypso isn’t happy about the command and Odysseus has
problems believing her. Once he has built his raft, she gives him food and sends him off. He sails for
seventeen days and then his raft is destroyed by Poseidon. He is aided by a nymph and floats for two
days to land. He is found by a girl named Nausikaa and told to go to the house of her father King
Alcinous. Alcinous hears part of his tale and secures passage for him back to Ithaca. There are athletic
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games and feasts at which a minstrel sings. The minstrel’s songs make Odysseus cry and this makes
Alcinous even more curious about his situation. Alcinous asks Odysseus if any of his relatives died at
Troy and Odysseus begins his tale.
He tells them how he left Troy and lost some men in a botched raiding party. Soon after this they came
near the land of the Lotus-eaters where some of his men were almost lost to the inebriating effects of
that enchanted flower. Then came the island of the one-eyed Cyclopes. Odysseus led his men in to
investigate and were trapped by Polyphemus, one of the Cyclopes. They had to blind him and sneak out
in order to get away from him. They came to the island of the King of the winds (Aeolus), but when they
approached Ithaca with his gift of storm winds contained in a bag, Odysseus’ men opened the bag of the
winds thinking it was treasure, sending them all the way back to the same island. The king refused to
help them again. They ended up at Circe’s island where the witch turns some of his men into pigs. With
the help of Hermes, Odysseus resisted her magic and impressed her. His men were restored and they
remained on her island for a year. When they left, Circe told them they had to go to the land of the dead
first. At the land of the dead they spoke with the blind prophet Tiresias, who told them how to get
home. They also spoke with Elpenor, a crewmember who had died, many relatives, and dead heroes.
After they left the land of the dead, they returned to Circe’s island and then made their way home. Even
though they sailed past the Sirens—whose beautiful, otherworldly singing had enticed many sailors to
their deaths on their rocky coasts—and past the sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis, the men insisted on
stopping at the island where the cattle sacred to the sun god Helios were kept. Here they eventually
disobeyed Odysseus and killed the cattle. This sacrilege eventually resulted in the destruction of their
ship. Odysseus, the sole survivor, floated back through the dangers of the sea and ended up on
Calypso’s island.
Alcinous is moved by Odysseus story and he gives him more gifts. His men take Odysseus to Ithaca and
he sleeps the entire way. Because of Poseidon’s wrath, their ship is turned into stone when it nears their
home harbor. Athena comes to Odysseus and tells him he is home. She instructs him to spend a night or
two at the hut of the swineherd disguised as a beggar. She tells him that while he waits she will get
Telemachus to return. Odysseus goes to the house of the swineherd and tells a long lie about his fall
from riches to rags. The swineherd takes him in and gives him hospitality but refuses to believe any
news about Odysseus. Telemachus leaves the house of Menelaus with gifts and avoids Pylos so that he
will get home faster. He makes room for a seer in his ship and departs from his men near the house of
the swineherd as Athena instructed. When they first meet, Odysseus is still a beggar, but after the
swineherd leaves, Athena has Odysseus reveal himself. They plan out how they are going to get rid of
the suitors. Odysseus is changed back into a beggar when the swineherd returns.
The next day Telemachus returns to his house first and the swineherd follows with the beggar. On the
way they are mocked by the goatherd. When they get to the house Odysseus, is given food as a beggar
but must withstand the taunts of the suitors. When he implies that they are generous because they are
giving away somebody else’s food, Antinous throws a stool at him. Odysseus continues to test the
loyalty of people around him. He tells his story to Penelope and when his old nurse gives him a bath she
recognizes his scar. Penelope tells him that she will challenge the suitors to string Odysseus’ bow and
shoot it through twelve axeheads. Whoever does this may marry her. Odysseus is forced to box another
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beggar and is rewarded with blood pudding and wine when he wins. They sleep one night and the
suitors return the next day.
When Penelope rises, she retrieves the bow and the axeheads and announces the contest. Telemachus
tries to bend the bow and almost can, but his father has him stop. None of the suitors can bend it and
Antinous proposes they carry on with the contest tomorrow. Odysseus asks for a try and the suitors
would have denied him but Telemachus demanded that he be allowed. Odysseus strings it and shoots
through the axeheads easily then he begins to kill suitors. Telemachus joins him with the cowherd and
the swineherd. The goatherd helps the suitors get weapons, but the other herders stop him. Athena
joins the battle and they slaughter everyone but the minstrel and the herald. Odysseus has the bodies
piled up and he hangs the disloyal serving girls. He bathes and approaches Penelope who does not
believe it is him until they speak of secret proof. They sleep together and tell each other their stories. In
the morning, Odysseus instructs everyone to pretend there is a wedding feast so that no one will come
looking for the suitors. He goes and finds his father and lies to him at first but then reveals his identity.
Meanwhile, the town assembles, enraged at Odysseus’ deeds. When the herald tells them that a god
helped him, half of the townspeople calm down. The others go in search of Odysseus. There is a brief
battle, but Athena stops it and persuades them to sign a pact which declares Odysseus the king.
Some Allusions in Detail in O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Tommy, the lead guitarist of the Soggy Bottom Boys, is an intentional reference to the legend of
influential delta blues artist Tommy Johnson, who claimed to have sold his soul to the devil in return for
blues fame. The same connection can be made to Robert Johnson, who was also reputed to have sold
his soul to the Devil at a crossroads in return for musical skills. This attribution is supported when the
boys pick up Tommy at a crossroads, “Cross Road Blues” being a signature song of Robert Johnson.
Ulysses, the Latin form of the Greek name Odysseus, is the first name of the film’s protagonist, Ulysses
Everett McGill.
Menelaus “Pappy” O’Daniel, who pardons the Soggy Bottom Boys at the end of the film, shares his first
name with the King of Sparta, who fought alongside Odysseus at Troy and was the leader of the Greeks
against the Trojans. Pappy O’Daniel’s challenger in the election is Homer Stokes, who shares his first
name with the author of the epic poem.
Odysseus’ wife was named Penelope. Penny, a shortened version of Penelope, is the name of Everett’s
wife.
The African-American man on the railroad handcar is most likely an allusion to Tiresias, who prophesied
the trials and tribulations of Odysseus’ journey home when Odysseus visited him in the underworld of
Hades.
The merciless sheriff is analogous to the god Poseidon, who torments Odysseus and prolongs his journey
home. A link between Satan and Poseidon is made when Everett mentions that Satan carries “a giant
hay fork” (a trident); both figures are often depicted with just such an instrument. In the penultimate
scene of the film, the sheriff’s dog and his hired men are killed in a surprise flood (though we do not
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know if the sheriff himself is dead, as no body appears), while Everett and his friends save themselves;
Poseidon, god of the waters, destroyed all who had manned a ship sent to aid Odysseus, turning them
into a rock in retaliation for the blinding of his son Polyphemus, and also plagued Odysseus himself
constantly with floods. The sheriff may also reference the god Hades, who, as ruler of the underworld, is
sometimes compared to Satan; the sheriff’s hound echoes Cerberus, the three-headed watchdog of the
underworld.
The travelers’ siege in the Hogwallop barn parallels Odysseus’ dangerous course between Scylla and
Charybdis, when Everett helplessly cries “Damn! We’re in a tight spot!” several times. This also could
have paralleled Odysseus’ peril in Polyphemus’ cave.
There is a trancelike progression of worshipers seeking to be baptized. Their glassy-eyed placidity draws
a parallel with the Lotus-eaters of the Odyssey.
At one point, George Nelson shoots at a herd of cattle. Odysseus’ fellow travelers slaughter the cows of
the sun god Helios; Odysseus warns his men against killing the sacred oxen. Because of this, in The
Odyssey, Odysseus’ ship is struck by a thunderbolt, killing all but him. In the film, George is sent to be
executed in the electric chair. During the parade to the execution, someone leading a cow behind the
mob yells, “Cow killer!”
Continuing their journey, Pete tells them to pull over at a river because he sees beautiful, singing
women. These women can be compared to the Sirens in The Odyssey that attract men, only to kill them
in the end.
After their encounter with the Sirens, Everett and Delmar wake up to find Pete missing; Delmar is
convinced Pete has been transformed into a frog. This is similar to Odysseus’ encounter with Circe the
witch-goddess, who turns half of his crew into swine.
In the restaurant, Everett and Delmar encounter the one-eyed bible salesman—Daniel “Big Dan” Teague
(John Goodman)—who then attacks them in a field to steal their money and car. This part is an allusion
to Odysseus and his crew being trapped by the cyclops Polyphemus, who devours many of the crew.
The scene in the movie theater alludes to the Odysseus’ encounter with their dead crewmember
Elpenor, when Odysseus visited Hades for advice on his return course.
Everett has to enter the dinner party in disguise to avoid detection. This parallels when Odysseus had to
enter his own palace disguised as a beggar. Vernon Waldrip represents the suitors waiting to marry
Penelope.
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