O Brother Where art Thou: a Recent and Common Parallel to The Odyssey

The film O Brother Where art Thou is frequently referred to when talking about
Homers The Odyssey. The film was made in such a way that it would parallel this
ancient book. In regards to characterization and gender inequality, this movie does a
great job of giving the general public a good sense of what The Odyssey is about.
The way that the creators of this film corresponded the characters between the book
and the movie was very accurate. For example, the well-known Cyclops, son of
Poseidon, was depicted in this film as a man with one eye. More specifically, Big Dan
T. In The Odyssey, Odysseus killed the Cyclops by sticking a burning stake into his
eye. So the eye of the Cyclops sizzled around that stake! (9.441) In O Brother Where
art Thou, Big Dan T wears an eyepatch. He, too, is killed with a burning stake - a
burning cross. Similarly, the Suitors inhabiting Odysseus home while he was away has
a parallel in the movie. Vernon T. Waldrip. In the book, Penelope wants to hold a contest
to see which of the suitors she will marry; she does this in the fear that there is no hope
of Odysseus coming back. In the movie, on Everetts long journey home, Vernon almost
steals his wife.
Gender inequality is prominent in both the film and the book due to the time periods.
The film, O Brother Where art Thou, is set in the Great Depression era - not a super big
time for feminism. And the book was written so long ago that its hard to even say what
people lived like at that time. What we know about gender inequality in the film is how
the females were portrayed; luckily, thats what we also know about the book. The
characters that hit the hardest in terms of inequality were the Sirens and Scylla. Scylla
wasnt prominent in the film, but in the book, shes no mortal, [shes] an immortal
devastation, terrible, savage, wild. (12.128-129) This is how many of the women were
portrayed - as deceiving, disgusting - in the book. The film made the Sirens deceiving
as well, having them dressed beautifully but luring in the men. The book portrays this in
exactly the same way. First, she warns, you must steer clear of the Sirens. (12.172)

Due to the striking similarity between these two pieces, anyone would agree that
O Brother Where art Thou is a useful, recent, and accurate representation of Homers
The Odyssey. The main points and the characterization supported the book well.
Anyone preparing to read The Odyssey should definitely first watch this film.