The Myth of Ulysses in European Literature

The present book is a research on the archetype of Ulysses, which originated in ancient Greece and was given a literary representation by Homer. Both as a literalised and literary myth in latter stages of its development, the archetype is handled in relation to the philosophical background of its age in a diachronical way. Starting from its Greek genesis, the archetype is analyzed in Italian literature in relation to Medieval tradition with Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy, in French literature, in relation to Renaissance tradition with Joachim Du Bellay’s sonnets, in English literature, in relation to Victorian tradition with Alfred Lord Tennyson’s Ulysses, and finally in modern Irish literature with James Joyce’s Ulysses. These works of art are discussed in respect to the archetype’s development in European literature and its references in the age’s philosophical background.