Schemata for James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’

In writing his modernist epic, Joyce had many many themes in mind, with the most obvious being the Homeric parallels between his work and that of ‘The Odyssey’. However, there were also multiple other correspondences within the book, to certain elements, diseases and body parts. the style, symbols and techniques of the book have also proved basis for schemata. The listing of these follows. In lengthy detail. Hopefully they will work as a study aid rather than add to your confusion with an information overload. Hopefully…

Of course, you could just go play on the Ulysses For Dummies web-page, which gives a tidy stick-figure summary of each chapter…

Homeric Schemata

Ch.	Homeric Title	Homeric Correspondences
1	TELEMACHUS	Martello Tower = Odysseus' Ithacan home, Stephen =
		Telemachus, Buck Mulligan = Antinous, Milkwoman = Nestor
2	NESTOR	School = Nestor's home of Neleus
		Deasy = Nestor, Mrs O'Shea = Helen of Troy
3	PROTEUS	Sandymount Strand = island shores of Pharos
		Metamorphosing ideas = Proteus, Kevin Egan = Menelaus
4	CALYPSO	No.7 Eccles Street = Calypso's cave on Ogygia
		Leopold Bloom = Odysseus, Molly = Penelope, Jewish
		Dlugacz = Recall of Odysseus, Nymph = Calypso
5	LOTUS EATERS	References to flowers & sleep & perfume = Lotus-Eaters
6	HADES	Hades = Glasnevin Cemetery, Cattle-driver = Orion
		Cunningham = Sisyphus, Father Coffey = Cerberus
		John O'Connell = Hades, Daniel O'Connor = Heracles
		Caretaker = Hades, Dignam = Elpenor
7	AEOLUS	Newspaper Offices = volcanic Isle of Aeolus (Stromboli)
		Crawford = Aeolus (agreeable -> dismissive)
8	LESTRY-	Eaters in Burton restaurant = Lestrygonians of Lamos
	GONIANS	Hunger = Antiphates, Soup pot = Ring of harbour, Women's silk petticoats = Seduction motif
9	SCYLLA &	Stability of Dogma & Aristotle & Stratford = Scylla The Rock
	CHARYBDIS	Whirlpool of Mysticism & Platonism & London = Charybdis
10	WANDERING	Dublin's streets = Labyrinth of rocks, Liffey = Bosphorous
	ROCKS	Viceroy = European Bank, Conmee = Asiatic Bank
N.B.	Only Jason went	between the 'Wandering Rocks' - Odysseus chose Scylla...
11	SIRENS	Barmaids = Sirens, Bar of Ormond Restaurant = Sirens' Isle
		Bloom's elastic band = Odysseus' mast-bindings
12	CYCLOPS	Barney Kiernan's pub = Cyclop's cave
		Polyphemus = The Citizen, Bloom's Cigar = Odysseus'
		Stake, Bloom unnamed = Noman, Biscuit Box = Boulders
13	NAUSICAA	Sandymount Strand = Phaecia, Gerty MacDowell = Nausicaa
14	OXEN OF	Hospital = Trinacria, 2 Nurses = Phaethusa & Lampetie
	THE SUN	Fertility = Oxen, Fraud = Crime, Mentions of (Papal) bulls
15	CIRCE	Brothel = Circe's home on Aeaea, Bella = Circe
		Bloom's luck (escapes injury) = Chance flower 'Moly'
16	EUMAEUS	Cabman's shelter = Eumaeus' hut, Skin-The-Goat =
		Eumaeus, Sir John Corly = Melanthius
17	ITHACA	Home of No.7 Eccles Street = Ithaca (united family)
		Blazes Boylan = Eurymachus, Scruples = Suitors
18	PENELOPE	Molly = Penelope & Gaia (Earth Mother)

Linati Schemata

Chapter	Time	Colour	Homeric Reference	Science / Art
1	8-9am	gold / white	TELEMACHUS	Theology
2	9-10am	brown	NESTOR	History
3	10-11am	blue	PROTEUS	Philology
4	8-9am	orange	CALYPSO	Mythology
5	9-10am	dark brown	LOTUS EATERS	Chemistry
6	11-12pm	black-white	HADES	Occult
7	12-1pm	red	AEOLUS	Rhetoric
8	1-2pm	blood red	LESTRYGONIANS	Architecture
9	2-3pm	~	SCYLLA & CHARYBDIS	Literature
10	3-4pm	rainbow	WANDERING ROCKS	Mechanics
11	4-5pm	coral	SIRENS	Music
12	5-6pm	green	CYCLOPS	Surgery & Politics
13	8-9pm	grey	NAUSICAA	Painting
14	10-11pm	white	OXEN OF THE SUN	Medicine
15	11-12am	violet	CIRCE	Dance
16	12-1am	~	EUMAEUS	Navigation
17	1-2am	starry milky	ITHACA	Astronomy
18	2-	starry milky	PENELOPE	Geology

oh, and…

Ch.	Sense / Meaning	Organ	Symbol
1	The dispossessed son	~	Intellectual conflict
2	Wisdom of the Ancients	~	Common sense
3	Primal matter	~	Metamorphosis
4	Departing Wayfarer	Kidneys	Exile
5	Temptation of Faith	Genitals (Impotence)	Eroticism
6	Descent into Nothingness	Heart	Heartbreak / the unconscious
7	Derision of Victory	Lungs (Emphysema)	Mutability
8	Dejection / Despondency	Oesophagus (Dysphagia)	Shame
9	The 2-edged sword/dilemma	Brain	Youth & Maturity
10	The hostile environment	Blood	Resemblances
11	Sweet deceit	Ear	Sounds / embellishments
12	Egocidal Terror	Muscle	Exaggeration / collectivity
13	The projected mirage	Eye	Hypocrisy
14	The eternal herds	Uterus	Fecundity
15	Man-hating Ogress	Joints	Personification
16	Ambush at Home	Nerves	Boredom
17	The armed Hope	Juices	Scruples
18	The Past sleeps	Fat-Flesh	Web - movement

Ellmann Schemata

	FROM: Ellmann	FROM: Ellmann	FROM: Ellmann	FROM: Ellmann
Ch.	Language	Time/Space	Wisdom	Keyword
1	Irish	Space	Oracular	Transubstantiation
			(Delphic)
2	Symbolic poetry	Time	Devious	Parallax
3	Vernacular	Space-Time	Sympathetic	Descent
	(wave speech)
4	Hebrew	Space	Oracular (Solar/Nubilous)	Metempsychosis
5	Italian	Time	Devious	Immersion
	(symbolic opera)
6	Vernacular	Time-Space	Sympathetic	Ascent
	(Irish anecdotes)
7	Greek (sacred)	Space	Oracular	Inflation
			(Law Tables)
8	Symbolic poetry II	Time	Devious	Juxtaposition
9	All levels	Space-Time	Art loves	Weaving
			Nature
10	Latin (sacred)	Space	Oracular	Displacement
			(hidden clues)
11	Symbolic (operatic)	Time	Devious	Synaesthesia
12	Vernacular	Time-Space	Sympathetic (Love)	One-sidedness
13	Latin (sacred) II	Space	Oracular (Virg-	Concurrence
			(-inal & Priestly)
14	Symbolic	Time	Devious	Similitude
15	Demotic (scatological)	Beyond Space/Time	Sympathetic (Purgatorial)	Doublecross
16	Latin (sacred) III	Space	Oracular	Analogy
			(Prophetic)
17	Symbolic (geometry)	Time	Devious	Muliebrity
18	Vernacular (natural speech)	Eternity	Sympathetic	Transubstantiation
			(Acceptant)

Diseases, Scene And Symbols

	FROM: Moxham	FROM: Gilbert (Gorman)	FROM: Moxham	FROM: Gilbert, Williams
Ch.	Disease	Scene	Terrain	Key Figures
1	Neither flesh / blood	The Tower	Rocky shore	cow, gold teeth, sea
2	Cachexia	The School	School floor	horse
3	Comatose	The Strand	Sandy shore	tide - flotsam
4	Renal colic	The House	Kitchen floor	nymph
5	Impotence	The Bath	Bathroom floor	wax, communion
6	Angina	The Graveyard	Cemetery	grave
7	Emphysema	The Newsroom	Factory floor	editor
8	Dysphagia	The Lunch	Dining room floor	police
9	Epilepsy	The Library	Library floor	cerebrum, gambling
10	Anaemia	The Streets	Streets	citizens
11	Tinnitus	Concert room	Pub lounge	barmaids
12	Muscular atrophy	The Tavern	Pub saloon	Fenian
13	Astigmatism	The Rocks	Sandy shore 2	virgin
14	Infertility	The Hospital	Hospital floor	porcelain, babies, vulva
15	Arthritis	The Brothel	Brothel	whore
16	Insomnia	The Shelter	Street at night	sailors
17	Oedema	The House	Back yard	comets
18	Dysmenorrhea	The Bed	Bedroom floor	earth

Techniques, Sexuality & Recurring Characters

	FROM: Moxham	FROM: Moxham	FROM: Gilbert	FROM: Me (s'why it's incomplete)
Ch.	Sexuality	Female as:	Technique	Joycean Characters
1	Homo-	Servant	Narrative	Stephen: 'A Portrait…'
	sexuality	Supplicant	(young)
2	Paedophilia	Mother	Catechism (personal)	~
3	Sexual	Muse	Monologue	~
	fantasy		(male)
4	Incest	Nymph	Narrative (mature)	~
5	Voyeurism	Temptress	Narcissism	Bantam Lyons: 'The Boarding House',
			Prayer	Mr M'Coy: 'Grace'
6	Necrophilia	Widow	Incubism	Mr Cunningham & Mr Power & Mr Kernan:
				'Grace'
7	Adultery	Gossip	Enthymemic oratory	O'Madden Burke:'A Mother'
				Ignatius Gallaher: 'A Little Cloud'
8	Oral sex	Lover	Peristaltic prose	Bartell D'Arcy & Julia Morkan: 'The Dead'
				Bob Doran:'Boarding House'
9	Anal sex	Madonna	Dialectic	~
			whirlpools
10	Promiscuity	Social	Labyrinth	Mr M'Coy & Mr Kernan: 'Grace'
		dependent
11	Flirtation	Flirt	Fuga per Canonem	~
12	Bestiality	Adulteress	Gigantism, asymmetry	Bob Doran: 'Boarding House'
				Orangeman, Crofton: 'Ivy Day…'
13	Onanism	Romantic	Tumescence	~
			Detumescence
14	Mating, phys-	Child-bearer	Embryonic	~
	iological sex		development
15	Prostitution	Prostitute	Hallucination	~
	S & M
16	Celibacy	Wife	Narrative	John Corley: 'Two Gallants'
			(old)
17	Troilism	Mistress	Catechism (impersonal)	Mrs Sinico: 'A Painful Case'
18	Coprophilia	Mother Earth	Monologue (female)	Kathleen Kearney: 'A Mother'
			(female)
				Italics = stories from 'Dubliners'.

Christian & Literary Allusions

Ch.	Christian Parallels / Allusions	Quotes / References
1	Shaving bowl = Chalice	'Hamlet'; Wilde (mirror); Yeats' song;
	Mulligan's temptations = Devil's	Photius et al who questioned Father/Son rel.
2	God is 'a shout in the street'.	Pyrrhus; Blake; Swift; Milton's 'Lycidas'
3	Telephone system of linking	Aristotleian idea of recognition; Verdi's 'Il
	navels going back to Eve	Trovatore'; Swift; Leo Taxil's 'La Vie De Jesus'
4	~	Hand in hand' recalls 'Paradise Lost'
5	Molly = Mary, Martha = Martha	~
6	Boylan is Bloom's crucifixion	'Don Giovanni'; 'Hamlet's grave-diggers;
	(causes him to focus on nails)	Donizetti's 'Lucia di Lammermoor'
7	Brayden's beared face = Jesus'	the aria 'M'appari' in Flotow's 'Martha';
	Crawford = betrayal crowing cock	Dante's rhymes; 'Cymbeline'; St. Augustine
8	cannibalistic limerick about the	Robert Emmet; 'The Meeting of Waters'; Dion
	Reverend MacTrigger	Boucicault's 'The Shaughraum'; 'Don Giovanni'
9	Shakespeare = Christfox	Goethe; Plato V Aristotle; 'Hamlet', etc.;
	Artist nailed 'on a cross-tree'	Shakespeare & his works; Aquinas; Wilde
10	Joke about Cashel Cathedral fire	'Hamlet'
11	Clock = cock herald of betrayal	'Martha'; 'Don Giovanni'; 'The Croppy Boy'
12	Bloom's cod's eye = God's eye	'Othello' (Bloom is identified as Othello);
	last interpolation is in Bible-style	The Bible
13	Gerty MacDowell = Virgin Mary	The Bible (cockcrow betrayal passage again)
14	Calm in hospital = Nativity scene	Beamont & Letcher's 'The Maid's Tragedy';
	Haines' appearance = risen Christ	style of Anglo-Saxon prose, Dickens, etc.
15	Stephen&Lynch = StPeter&StJohn	'Macbeth'; 'Don Giovanni'; 'The Croppy Boy'
16	discussion of God & souls	Tennyson's 'Enoch Arden'; Rip Van Winkle
17	Stephen (wounded) = Christ	Chaucer's 'Prioress' Tale'; Sinbad The Sailor
18	"Hail Mary" reply to thunder	'Moll Flanders'; Aristotle's 'Masterpiece'

Last revised: 28/07/01