The poem Lycidas in James Joyce’s Ulysses

Seminar paper from the year 2001 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,5, University of Hannover (Englisches Seminar), course: Ulysses, 6 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: The references to other pieces of literature play an important role In James Joyce’s Ulysses . The title itself, alluding to Homer’s Odyssey, is the first of such references to be found when reading the book. Other famous examples are Stephen Dedalus’ treatment of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Chapter 12, which is a parody of different styles of literature. As the reader should expect of a work deeply concerned with religious matters, John Milton also is one of the poets whose works are frequently being referred to throughout Ulysses . While the poems Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained (to a lesser degree also Samson Agonistes ) are those among Milton’s poems which are used the most by Joyce, the poem Lycidas plays a central role in the 2nd chapter. The fact that it is placed so early in the book makes the poem’s meaning to the book very special, even more so, as one has to keep in mind that the structure of Ulysses is elementary for the understanding of its contents.