Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Episode 4, Calypso

Homer's Odyssey:
Though the nymph, Calypso, is mentioned in the very first book, details of the involvement of Odysseus with her is the subject of book V of Odyssey. After the Trojan war, when Odysseus is travelling back home with his men, bad weather strikes him, the ship gets destroyed, and the men lost. Odysseus, all alone, lands on the island of Calypso, who falls in love with him, and keeps him with her in his cave for years. Finally the goddess Athena appeals to Zeus to help rescue Odysseus so that he can return home. Zeus sends his messenger, Hermes, to tell Calypso to let Odysseus free. 

James Joyce's Ulysses:
Joyce used the name Calypso to refer to the 4th episode/chapter of his Ulysses. It is first episode of Book II. The episode, Calypso, is much more straightforward and easier in tone than the 3 preceding episodes. Here we meet for the first time Mr Leopold Bloom. It is here he tries to explain to Molly the meaning of the word, Metempsychosis.
It is 8 a.m. 

Selected Highlights of Episode 4 in Ulysses for the Uninitiated:
1. Sayings from Ulysses explored/explained:
- a homerule sun rising up in the northwest from the laneway behind the bank of Ireland . (4.101)
- Met him what? he asked. (4.336)
- They used to believe you could be changed into an animal or a tree, for instance. What they called nymphs, for example. (4.375)
- he smiled with troubled affection at the kitchen window. (4.432)
- Will happen, yes. Prevent. Useless: . . . (4.447)
- . . . came forth from the gloom into the air. (4.539)
(Episode.Line numbers in brackets above are according to Critical Edition of Ulysses by H. W. Gabler, 1986)

2. Illustrations:
- Reproduction of a sketch of Leopold Bloom by James Joyce 
- Watercolours by Catherine Meyer
- Reproduction of a moustache cup belonging to the Zurich James Joyce Foundation holdings

3. Links to
- Ildebrando D'Arcangelo and Valentina Nafornita's rendering of the aria 'La ci darem la mano' from the opera, Don Giovanni, by Mozart
- The music hall song, Seaside Girls, sung by Kevin McDermott

And much more!


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