<P> The next morning, the group sets out to retrieve the ring, which is at a cabin in the valley which Everett had earlier claimed was the location of his treasure . The police, having learned of the place from Pete, arrest the group . Dismissing their claims of having received pardons, Sheriff Cooley orders them hanged . Just as Everett prays to God, the valley is flooded and they are saved . Tommy finds the ring in a desk that floats by, and they return to town . However, when Everett presents the ring to Penny, it turns out it was not her ring, she doesn't want that one, and she can't remember where she put the real ring . </P> <Ul> <Li> George Clooney as Ulysses Everett McGill, a man who is imprisoned for practicing law without a license . He claims to have escaped from prison so he can find a stash of money he had hidden, though in reality it is so he can get back to his family before his wife remarries . He corresponds to Odysseus (Ulysses) in the Odyssey . </Li> <Li> John Turturro, as Pete Hogwallop, a fellow criminal who reveals little about his past . He believes in being true to one's kin, even when his cousin Washington B. Hogwallop betrays him . He dreams of moving out west and opening a fine restaurant, where he will be the maître d' . He agreed to go along with the breakout, though he only had two weeks left on his sentence . </Li> <Li> Tim Blake Nelson as Delmar O'Donnell, a small - time crook imprisoned for robbing a Piggly Wiggly in Yazoo City; he initially claims innocence but later admits he is guilty . Delmar says he will spend his share of Everett's nonexistent money buying back his family farm, believing, "You ain't no kind of man if you ain't got land ." </Li> <Li> Chris Thomas King as Tommy Johnson, a skilled blues musician . He is the accompanying guitarist in the Soggy Bottom Boys . He claims he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his skill on the guitar . He shares his name and story with Tommy Johnson, a blues musician with a mysterious past, who is said to have sold his soul to the devil at the Crossroads (a story more often attributed to Robert Johnson). </Li> <Li> Frank Collison as Washington B. "Wash" Hogwallop, Pete's paternal cousin . He removes the escapees' chains but later betrays the men to the police . </Li> <Li> John Goodman as Daniel "Big Dan" Teague, a one - eyed man who masquerades as a Bible salesman and mugs Everett and Delmar . He later reveals the identity of the trio when they are disguised at a Ku Klux Klan rally, but they kill him by cutting loose a burning cross, which falls on him and the Klansmen . He corresponds to the cyclops Polyphemus in the Odyssey . </Li> <Li> Holly Hunter as Penny, Everett's ex-wife, who is fed up with Everett's wheeling and dealing . She divorces him while he is in prison, telling their children he was hit by a Louisville & Nashville train . She is engaged to Vernon T. Waldrip until Everett wins her back . She corresponds to Penelope in the Odyssey . (Penelope is an icon of the faithful wife, as she rejected her many suitors, stalling for time while awaiting Odysseus' return .) </Li> <Li> Charles Durning as Menelaus "Pappy" O'Daniel, the incumbent Governor of Mississippi . He is frequently seen berating his son and his campaign managers, who are depicted as simpletons . The character is based on Texas governor W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel . (Flensted - Jensen elaborates on the connection between the fictional and the real Pappy O'Daniel .) He shares a name with Menelaus, an Odyssey character, but corresponds with Zeus from the narrative . </Li> <Li> Daniel von Bargen as Sheriff Cooley, a ruthless rural sheriff who, with his bloodhound, pursues the trio for the duration of the film . It is implied several times that he is the devil incarnate, and Cooley fits Tommy Johnson's description of Satan: Cooley's sunglasses evoke Satan's "big empty eyes ." He eventually ambushes the escapees after they have been pardoned by the governor . He intends to hang them nonetheless, but when the valley is flooded, he, his men, and his dog all drown . He corresponds to Poseidon in the Odyssey . He has been compared to Boss Godfrey in Cool Hand Luke . </Li> <Li> Wayne Duvall as Homer Stokes, the reform candidate in the upcoming election for Governor . He travels the countryside with a dwarf, who depicts the "little man", and a broom, with which he promises to "sweep this state clean ." He is secretly an Imperial Wizard in the Ku Klux Klan . He falsely identifies Everett, Pete, and Delmar as people of color because they darkened their faces to remain unseen when freeing Tommy . </Li> <Li> Ray McKinnon as Vernon T. Waldrip, Penny's bona fide suitor and the manager of Homer Stokes's election campaign . It has been suggested that his name is a nod to novelist Howard Waldrop, whose novella A Dozen Tough Jobs is one of the inspirations for the film . He corresponds to the Suitors of Penelope in the Odyssey . </Li> <Li> Michael Badalucco as George Nelson, a bipolar bank robber who dislikes being called "Baby Face ." The real George Nelson died in 1934, three years before the story is set . Nelson died in a shootout known as the Battle of Barrington rather than by electric chair, as suggested in the film . </Li> <Li> Stephen Root as Mr. Lund, the blind radio station manager who records Everett's story in the song "Man of Constant Sorrow" and makes him known throughout the state . He corresponds to Homer . </Li> <Li> Lee Weaver as the Blind Seer, a mysterious railroad man who accurately predicts the outcome of the trio's adventure as well as several other incidents . He corresponds to Tiresias in the Odyssey . </Li> </Ul> <Li> George Clooney as Ulysses Everett McGill, a man who is imprisoned for practicing law without a license . He claims to have escaped from prison so he can find a stash of money he had hidden, though in reality it is so he can get back to his family before his wife remarries . He corresponds to Odysseus (Ulysses) in the Odyssey . </Li> <Li> John Turturro, as Pete Hogwallop, a fellow criminal who reveals little about his past . He believes in being true to one's kin, even when his cousin Washington B. Hogwallop betrays him . He dreams of moving out west and opening a fine restaurant, where he will be the maître d' . He agreed to go along with the breakout, though he only had two weeks left on his sentence . </Li>

How is o brother where art thou a parody of the odyssey