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
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