Homeric Parallels
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Ep. 110 – Aeolus
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind… We kick off our series on Ulysses’ seventh episode, “Aeolus”! Topics in this episode include Book X of The Odyssey, Homeric parallels found in “Aeolus”, the headlines, the Evening Telegraph as it appears in Ulysses, Stromboli, brazen walls and floating isles, wind and air imagery, the…
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Ep. 109 – The Tower of Silence
Break out the Tantalus glasses – we’re finally getting out of the Underworld! Topics in our final episode covering “Hades” include paying the ferryman, turning a suit, rats, Robert Emmet, the speech from the dock, toxic nostalgia, cremation, the Catholic Church’s position on cremation, quicklime, Zoroastrianism, the Parsi Tower of Silence, the unexpected consequences of…
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Ulysses & The Odyssey – The Lestrygonians
“I have just got a letter asking why I don’t give Bloom a rest. The writer of it wants more Stephen. But Stephen no longer interested me to the same extreme. He has a shape that can’t be changed.” – James Joyce to Frank Budgen The Odyssey – Book X After their dust-up with Aeolus,…
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Ep. 92 – Hades
The parallels between Bloom and Odysseus’ journeys to the Underworld. Topics include a summary of Chapter XI of The Odyssey, Bloom as sideways Odysseus, the neighborhoods of Glasnevin and Sandymount, Paddy Dignam and his “apoplexy,” Elpenor, Martin Cunningham the Sisyphus of Dublin, Dublin’s waterways, Dublin’s Charon, coins for the eyes, psychopomps, Reuben J. Dodd, Corny Kelleher,…
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Ulysses & The Odyssey: Aeolus
“We mustn’t be led away by words, by sounds of words.” – “Professor” MacHugh Part of an occasional series on the Homeric parallels in James Joyce’s Ulysses. To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. The Odyssey, Book X: After escaping the Cyclops, Odysseus and his surviving crew find…
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Ep. 75 – The Lotus Eaters
We begin our foray into the languorous “Lotus Eaters” episode. Topics in this episode include how Kelly is like the Terminator, Odysseus and his crew’s misadventure with the Lotus Eaters in The Odyssey, why forgetfulness is evil in Odysseus’ view, some peculiar tales from Westland Row, cultivating an appreciation for the mundane, the Lotus Eaters…
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Ep. 71 – Agendath Netaim
Leopold Bloom contemplates the purchase of immense melonfields north of Jaffa. Topics covered in this episode include the Zionist movement of the early 20th century, how to pronounce Agendath Netaim, why Joyce might have changed Agudat to Agendath, hypostasis, the business sense (or nonsense) of buying farmland in Palestine, Bleibtreustrasse 34, morphic resonance, Dlugacz the…
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Ep. 69 – Met Him Pike Hoses
We do our best to take Molly’s advice and tell it in plain words – what is metempsychosis? Topics covered in this episode include Boylan’s bold hand, whether or not cats are kosher, moustache cups, secret letters, “La Ci Darem La Mano”, an orangekeyed chamberpot, how Molly can be both Calypso and Penelope, Joyce’s personal…
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Ulysses & The Odyssey: Hades
Part of an occasional series on the Homeric parallels in James Joyce’s Ulysses. The Odyssey, Book XI: Odysseus travels to the underworld and meets the prophet Tiresias, who reveals the ultimate fate of Odysseus and his crew. Odysseus has a chance to speak to other souls in the underworld, including his mother, a parade of…