Ulysses

Ulysses is a 1922 novel by Irish author James Joyce. The story is a loose adaptation of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, portraying a day in the lives of several characters who live in Dublin, Ireland, in June 1904. Ulysses proved controversial on release due to accusations of obscenity but is now celebrated as one of the most important and influential works in the English language and considered a classic.

This guide is written using the 1998 Oxford World Classics edition of the 1922 text.

Content Warning: This guide and source material contain references to miscarriage, child death, suicide, blackface, and antisemitism.

Plot Summary

At eight o’clock on June 16, 1904, Stephen Dedalus talks to his housemates, Buck Mulligan and Haines. After overhearing Mulligan’s coarse remark regarding his dead mother, Dedalus is angry with Mulligan. He also resents that Mulligan has invited Haines to stay with them. They agree to meet at a pub later in the day, but Dedalus quietly decides that he will not return. Dedalus is a history teacher. After a class on Pyrrhus of Epirus, he sits down for a private algebra lesson with a student named Cyril Sergeant.