Compare And Contrast Odysseus And Leopold Bloom

Dylan Madden
Professor Jeffrey Skoblow
English 497A: Ulysses
27 October 2017

The Idea of a Hero

Every day in our lives, we look around and we wonder about the people around us. There is good and evil in our world and we the people are the ones that are easily influenced by those events whether its poverty, disease, war, or even if were just people trying to figure out the kind person we are. We have the power to choose our own path, just like the characters in James Joyce and Homer’s stories: Odysseus and Leopold Bloom. Both characters have shown different qualities and traits that showed the readers why they are the heroes in their own perspective stories. Odysseus is a man who left his home of Ithaca, his wife and child, to fight in

Odysseus starts in the ordinary world, his/her home, and then an even takes place in which the hero is being called, in Odysseus’ case he is called into the Trojan War. Odysseus then refused the call because he didn’t want to leave his family, knowing that it could take a long time for him to return home to them. Once Odysseus departed on his adventure, he goes through the next step which is having a supernatural aid or mentor to help him; in this case he receives help from the goddess of wisdom Athena. Knowing the gods would be angry and taking sides during the war, there was no question that there were gods that were going to make sure Odysseus died. Athena however, felt pity for him because she knew the kind of man he was; someone who wanted to be reunited with his loved ones. After the war, Odysseus began the next stage of his journey, crossing the Threshold into a different world. He enters the next stage called The Belly of the Whale after the freak storm conjured up by Poseidon, god of the sea, one of the many gods who were upset with Spartans. His god-like powers created powerful waves and increased winds that would send Odysseus and his crew further away from

The book has had its issues with being published because of its endless amount of sexual, cruel and unbearable moments, religious conflicts and language along with shallow characters. For example, the chapter called “Nausicaa” parallels to Odysseus looking on Nausicaa and her maids washing their clothes by the river but unlike what occurred in the Odyssey, Bloom’s approach was entirely different. Among the women he was spying on, he was more focused on a woman named Gerty MacDowell. She was deep in thought of a boyfriend Reggie Wylie who never showed up and she felt like she was unwanted and undesirable. She looked on and noticed a hidden Bloom masturbating, which led her to adjust her seating and move around “her wellturned ankle” (Joyce 350) to show off her legs. The scene was perverted toward women but in a sense, Bloom’s actions not only helped him out but made her more