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READ THIS
Ulysses -- originally Odysseus -- was the hero of Homer's epic of a ship blown off course after the battle
of Troy and then the sailors being subject to many amazing adventures.
This poem takes up the story many years later, when Ulysses is now the ruler of the Greek island of
Ithaca. It is a boring and unprofitable existence and our hero wishes to return once more to a life of
adventure.
He decides to leave his island under the care of his son, Telemachus, and to set off once again with his
trusted crew.
THE STORY IN SIMPLE LANGUAGE
It is of little use for a king to remain idle, bored out of his bracket, and ruling a people who simply are
unable to appreciate me. Indeed, many don't even know me!
I can no longer rest from the excitement of travelling and so I intend to live life once more to the full.
I have enjoyed my life immensely thus far, even though there has often been hardship, both on shore and
upon the stormy seas.
I am a legend for what I have seen and done, for the strange peoples, lands and governments I have
visited. I have been everyone's equal, and have delighted in fighting alongside my fellow soldiers, even
far away from home on the battlefields of Troy.
Adventure runs in my blood, but my life is now pathetically boring. And yet, despite my advancing age,
I still feel I can hold death at bay for just a little bit more by undertaking further exciting adventures and
fulfilling my passionate thirst for knowledge.
I shall therefore abdicate my throne in favour of my son, Telemachus. He's a trustworthy fellow who will
rule wisely, slowly civilizing these boorish people so as to make them industrious and useful.
He knows what he must do, and I can rely on him. He will also make sure to keep my household gods
satisfied so that they won't get angry in my absence and sink my ship while I'm not looking.
There below me is the harbour. The ship has all her sails ready for departure.
My sailors are trustworthy folk who have delighted in sharing my previous adventures, who love fun and
excitement, and who are also capable of tough work and hardship.
It's true we are all old, but we are still capable of a bit more from life. After all, death brings an end to
everything, so we must live it up now while we still have the chance.
The night is approaching, the moon is rising slowly into the sky, the lights of the harbour are beginning to
twinkle.
Come, my friends let's away now and row this ship into the deep waters of the Mediterranean, then head
westward to where the sun sets, and keep sailing till we die.
Who knows what lands we may reach? Perhaps even Heaven itself where we might be honoured to make
the acquaintance of the great Achilles once more.
We are what we are, but we still have a little life left in us to achieve some more truly amazing things.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
"By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Match'd with an aged wife."
- What is Ulysses getting at? (4)
[Need help?]
Have you noticed all the similarities in these words? There's a barrenness in each of them: a fireplace
with no fire; rocky cliffs that are sterile; an old wife whose flame of passion is quite dead.
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"I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me."
- Why are the speaker's laws "unequal . . . . unto a savage race"? (4)
[Need help?]
Just think of it. Ulysses has the immense experience of many adventures. He is obviously a philosopher
king and a very intelligent person.
The people over whom he rules, on the other hand, are uncouth and boorish -- a very difficult situation
for a ruler, where his wise laws are beyond the understanding of his people.
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"I cannot rest from travel; I will drink
Life to the lees."
- What is meant by drinking life "to the lees"? (4)
[Need help?]
The lees is the sediment found at the bottom of a bottle of wine.
In the old days where there was no adequate means to filter the wine before bottling it, an amount of gunk
always found its way into the bottle and would settle at the bottom. One had to be careful not to disturb
it when pouring the wine.
To drink right down to the lees, therefore, meant to drink everything -- right down to the bottom of the
bottle. One would surely be enjoying the wine immensely if one did that.
To "drink life to the lees", therefore, would mean to celebrate life to its fullest, to live a really fulfilling
dream.
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What was Troy famous for? (2)
[Need help?]
Remember the wooden horse? And what about Helen's face that launched a thousand ships?
Troy is one of the great legends to come down to us from ancient Greece, of how Helen -- the most
beautiful of all beautiful women -- was abducted from her husband Menelaus. The latter destroyed Troy
in revenge, using the wooden horse as a ruse to get his soldiers into the city.
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Who was Achilles? (2)
[Need help?]
Achilles was one of the generals in the Trojan War. He had been dipped in the River Styx as an infant
and was therefore immortal, except for his heel which was what nursemaid clung to while dipping him into
the river -- she didn't want her hands to become immortal by having them touch the water!
His heel was therefore his only vulnerable spot. During the Trojan War, a lucky arrow struck him there
and he died. This was the origin of the term "to have an Achilles Heel" which is a vulnerable spot.
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"I am a part of all that I have met."
- Is this true for all of us? (4)
[Need help?]
Think about this or debate it with your friends. To what extent does our past life determine our present
and our future?
In Ulysses' case, he couldn't rest from travelling and adventure. His past life, he said, determined who
and what he was. He had need to give up even his kingdom to let his restructured genes have their way.
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"But every hour is saved from that eternal silence."
- What does Ulysses mean by "that eternal silence"? How does "every hour" save him
from it? (4)
[Need help?]
The "eternal silence" is, of course, a euphemism for death.
Ulysses is getting old but he realises that dedication to a life of adventure will push back that moment of
death.
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"How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!"
- Explain the metaphor that Ulysses is using here. (4)
[Need help?]
Ulysses is using the image of a soldier whose sword is made of iron. If he doesn't use his sword -- or
at least polish it often -- it will rust.
Imagine a soldier rushing into battle with a rusty sword! It would embarrass all his comrades, and would
cause his enemy to die of blood poisoning.
The soldiers used to keep their swords shiny by rubbing them continually with a piece of chain mail.
In Ulysses' case, he himself needs to keep his life active or he will die of boredom.
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"My purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die."
- What does Ulysses mean by this? (4)
[Need help?]
The Mediterranean Sea was the centre of the universe for the Greeks. Yet they knew that, if they sailed
ever westward towards the setting sun, they would pass through the Straits of Gibraltar and out into the
Atlantic Ocean.
It is clear that this voyage had taken place at least once, because the Greeks knew of the existence of
a series of islands off the coast of Africa. They called these islands the "Happy Isles" where lived
the spirits of the dead.
So, says Ulysses, if they sailed towards the sunset and out into the Atlantic Ocean where the stars were
washed each night, it was possible to meet Achilles once more by passing into the realm of the dead.
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