O Telemachus, Where Art Thou?

Though it was a great movie, one of the things that baffled me about O Brother, Where Art Thou? was that there wasn’t a clear parallel to Telemachus. Everett’s daughters, known as the Wharvey gals, ensure that the McGill family has a similar structure to the family in The Odyssey, but the girls do almost nothing to further the plot besides inform their father of their mother’s suitor. To further contrast Telemachus, they have no desire to get rid of the suitor and are hardly excited to see their father again (though, like Telemachus, they hardly believe their father is alive, but, unlike Telemachus, it is because they have been told outright that their father has been hit by a train). They mostly just parrot what their mother says and do very little to help Everett. This leaves a bit of a gap in the story, if it is supposed to parallel The Odyssey: there are no clear connections to the Telemachiad books, and there’s not a clear father/son reunion parallel followed by the two of them banding together for the great slaughter in the hall.

Unfortunately, I have yet to identify a single character who alone fills in the Telemachus role in the movie. There are different elements of Telemachus’ character, however, that different people in the movie embody. I mentioned before how the Wharvey gals fit into the literal role of the children of Everett. For the “slaughter in the hall” (where the Soggy Bottom Boys reveal themselves), there is a group of four men that could parallel the four-man alliance in The Odyssey of Odysseus, Telemachus, the cowherd, and the swineherd. I see Delmar as the Telemachus in this situation, because he is the closest and has been sort of guided the most by Everett at this point.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of the movie, there is no character equivalent of Telemachus who goes on his own little journey of his own, though there are allusions in the film to first four books of The Odyssey. The initial hospitality of Pete’s cousin Walsh somewhat parallel’s that which Nestor and Menelaus show Telemachus, though Telemachus stays much longer at Menelaus’ palace, and neither Nestor nor Menelaus betray him. Still, Walsh’s son plays a similar role to Pisistratus, particularly as he is helping the men get away. The image of Telemachus “vaulting onto the splendid chariot” (3.549) of Pisistratus and traveling as fast as they could go across the country is actually quite similar to that when Everett and crew get into the car and are driven off rapidly by Walsh’s son. Another parallel arises when the men insist that Walsh’s son go back to his father, like how Telemachus has Pisistratus drop him off at his ship and then go back to Nestor when they leave the palace of Menelaus.

All in all, I was a bit frustrated by the lack of a clear Telemachus figure in the movie, so it was interesting to try to put together the bits and pieces of Telemachus' character that are kind of scattered throughout O Brother. What do you all think? For a while, I was leaning towards Tommy the guitar guy as the closest character to Telemachus, but didn't have too much reason to stick with that idea. Do you think he's a more compelling parallel to Telemachus? Am I missing any other references or clues about a Telemachus character in the movie?

That One Scene with the Dog

Though it only takes up about a page and a half in The Odyssey, the story of Argos the dog is a truly touching one. It not only is a homecoming vignette that contributes to the more domestic aspects of Odysseus's journey and makes the reader a bit emotional, but it also provides some interesting comparisons for the other characters that Odysseus meets in disguise as he tests their loyalty. Argos seems to be the one character who has no ulterior motives (for lack of a better term) for staying loyal to Odysseus, as he is a simple creature who is also man’s best friend.

To give an example of one of these comparisons, we can look at the loyal swineherd, Eumaeus. He is loyal to Odysseus in that he carries on life as though he is waiting for him to come home and still sort of mourns his disappearance, as “the heart inside [him] breaks when anyone mentions [his] dear master” (14. 195). However, he has no doubt in his mind that Odysseus is lost forever, which he tells Odysseus (in disguise) many times. So Eumaeus seems to be staying loyal to Odysseus partly because he is still grieving the loss of his master, probably partly because he is a good person who wants to stay on the “good” side, but also probably for the sake of Penelope and Telemachus, to whom he is still loyal to. After all, the reunion between Telemachus and Eumaeus is described as that of one between a father and son. Meanwhile, however, Argos displays true loyalty, as he is over twenty years old and is literally staying alive just so he can catch a glimpse of his master before he lets himself die, as he has no other reason for living.

Penelope and Telemachus are also loyal characters, but they too have their doubts and other reasons for waiting for Odysseus. Telemachus has never met his father, so he probably does not really miss him much as a person. Rather, he wants his father to come back and get rid of all the suitors who are exploiting his hospitality and competing to marry his mother: “He could almost see his magnificent father, here…/in the mind’s eye – if only he might drop from the clouds/ and drive these suitors all in a rout throughout the halls/ and regain his pride of place and rule his own domains!” (1. 134-137) In addition, Telemachus still has many doubts that his father will return, even after Athena tells him so and takes him on his journey. He doesn’t even believe Odysseus at first when he reveals himself to Telemachus.

Anyway, I know it seems a bit cliche to use the dog as the epitome of loyalty, and it may be a bit excessive to write an entire blog post about him, but I thought that the scene with Argos was so touching because he had the most straightforward reasons for waiting for Odysseus, which brings into light some of the other characters’ motives. In addition, it proves this classic homecoming-man-meets-his-dog scene is really timeless, and I found it amusing that the Greeks from thousands of years ago would be touched by this kind of classic reunion just as much as we are.