Oh Brother WhereArt Thou

The Coen brothers contrasted the character Odysseus with their own version of Ulysses. Ulysses was an ill tempered man who stole and that no one had aspired to be like, yet Odysseus was a man that was filled with many aspiring traits. He embodied the ideals Homeric Greeks aspired to obtain: manly valor, loyalty, intelligence, and piety. Piety meant that one acknowledged that the gods were in control of their fate, were respectful of them, and acknowledged that they needed the Gods help. Ulysses on the other hand did not believe in god and felt that he did not need gods help.

The film opened with three convicts escaping a chain gang. Ulysses was portrayed as the

Ulysses wife no longer wishes to have him as a husband since he was in prison and perhaps did not want her children to know their father was in prison so she told them that their father had been run over by a train. Odysseus’s wife and son knew all too well that he was in prison and his wife had sworn that she would wait for him to return, all the while resisting the temptations of hundreds of suitors attempting to take over Odysseus’s land and possessions while they slowly depleted them, eating his cattle and occupying his land. Odysseus’s wife faithfully waits for him to return and finally grows tired of waiting for him and really has no idea what has happened to her husband, so her son set out to sea on a quest to find out what had happened to his father.

These men were portrayed to have very few common qualities. Ulysses was portrayed as a man who made a complete mockery of the heroic character we know as Odysseus. Througho

Some topics in this essay:
Odysseus Odyssey, Naove Pete, Homeric Greeks, Ethan Coen, Goddess Athena, Ulysses Ulysses, Pete Coen, Odysseus Throughout, Whereart Thou, odysseus’s wife, gods help, character odysseus, acknowledged gods, coen brothers, ulysses portrayed, ,