Odysseus’s travels were not yet over. The families of the slain suitors complained to King Neoptolemus of Epirus, and he ruled that Odysseus must be exiled. Odysseus eventually returned to Ithaca and lived to be an old man. Tiresias’s prophecy about the death of Odysseus was fulfilled. Telegonus, the son of Odysseus and Circe, came to Ithaca to find his father. He came in peace, but when Odysseus confronted him, Telegonus did not recognize Odysseus and wounded him with his spear. The spear was tipped with a poisonous stingray spine, and Odysseus died.
James Joyce’s Ulysses
Irish writer James Joyce (1882-1941) is famous for his novel Ulysses, published in 1922. Joyce wanted to create a modern version of Homer's poem the Odyssey. Instead of a ten-year journey, Joyce made the action take place over the course of a single day, June 16, 1904, in Dublin. The hero, Leopold Bloom, represents Ulysses (or Odysseus) as he wanders around his city. Bloom's wife Molly stands for Penelope, and his friend's son, Stephen Dedalus, is Telemachus.
Each chapter in Joyce's Ulysses corresponds to an episode of Homer's poem. For example, Chapter 12, known as the Cyclops chapter, has several parallels with Homer's Cyclops myth. It is set in a dark Dublin bar, representing the Cyclops's cave, and Bloom, the hero, uses a fake name, as Odysseus does. At the end of the chapter, someone throws a biscuit at Bloom and misses, just as the Cyclops throws the errant rock at Odysseus.
Left: This photograph of Irish writer James Joyce was taken in 1938. The author of Ulysses was visiting Zurich, Switzerland.
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