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Ha, that's made me feel better. I don't feel like I'm on plan with this one, but I suppose I am!

Sorry to be gone for awhile. I had a fuzzy head and congestion. Reading Circe is interesting when one's head is fuzzy. I may go back a few pages and skim it for things I missed.

For example, I didn't get that Virag was the man in the macintosh!

My vision of Molly was of a plump, soft, voluptuous woman. Mainly because she lounges around in bed the entire time we know her. The voluptuous part comes from using her lungs so often for her opera singing (that may not be fair and probably a stereotype that I should change).

'ineluctable modality of the visible': that has come up in discussion somewhere, I'm sure.......just can't remember where.
Interesting article:
From this article, this basically means "there's more than meets the eye"......the update is even more interesting.
The last 2 paragraphs of the "History" section relate:
(is this phrase in Circe?.....if so, I missed it)

Yeah....now we find out that Stephen is without glasses on June 16, 1904. It meshes well with the 'ineluctable modality of the visible' concept since Stephen can't see clearly; he has to reach to the inside of himself to see or "see" his world through other senses.
(again.....I seem to have missed something by not seeing "ineluctable modality of the visible" in Circe. It clearly ties this segment with Proteus. Have to go back to find this....maybe I haven't reached it yet since Gill's notes are in reverse order :D)

'ineluctable modality of the visible'

I quite like that article.
Breaking the phrase down it:
"Can't be escaped from""a condition with a limitation" which is visible.

So....visibility is incomplete. ("there's more than meets the eye")

I also like the update in which is stated that if visibility is limiting, then invisibility is not limiting. God, being invisible, is not limiting, therefore omnipotent.

Joyce is a genius. He's put a lot into just a few words.

(there's a lot more to discuss in this phrase..I'm just getting us started if we want to go down that rabbit hole)

Petra wrote: "Sorry to be gone for awhile. I had a fuzzy head and congestion. Reading Circe is interesting when one's head is fuzzy. I may go back a few pages and skim it for things I missed.

For example, I di..."

Re writing my notes backwards - I just thought that reading Ulysses is so straightforward, that I'd give us a little bit of confusion, in case we were getting bored!!!

Hahaha........ priceless!

Drat.....GR ate my message! I was almost through writing one when GR froze and all was lost. Drat!

Back to "ineluctable modality of the visible". Just before that, Joyce says that "the eye sees all flat", gives a two-dimensional view of the world.
Joyce uses this phrase "ineluctable modality of the visible" twice already; once in Proteus when Stephen is roaming the beach, and here.
In Proteus, we don't know that he's broken his glasses but there's a lot of emphasis on his other senses. Here, we're told that the glasses are broken and his other senses are rather inebriated.
I'm not sure of the significance but I'm sure Joyce had something in mind.

Petra wrote: "Sorry to be gone for awhile. I had a fuzzy head and congestion. Reading Circe is interesting when one's head is fuzzy. I may go back a few pages and skim it for things I missed.

For example, I di..."

Thanks for the articles re 'ineluctable etc ....' Petra. I must admit, I couldn't make sense of the first one.

The sentence comes in Circe in the bit where Stephen is using a match to light a cigarette, and just after he talks about 'Lynx eye. Must get glasses. Broke them yesterday' etc etc

Gill, some thoughts on "You'll meet with a....." that the palm reader says to Stephen:


She starts by saying "the mount of the moon". Depending on how developed Stephen's Luna mount is, the statement could mean either that Stephen's future could be difficult because he doesn't see reality clearly and pulls into himself or it could mean that he lacks imagination and is a pessimistic, unenthusiastic person who is rather closed down.

"I won't tell you what's not good for you" may indicate that if Stephen isn't careful, he'll pull into himself and let any talents that he has slip away and he'll become a pessimistic recluse.

I found this on another site:
"Rising from the Mount of the Moon the Fate will be more
eventful, changeable, and largely depending on the fancy and caprice of other people."

However, Joyce also states that regardless of what the Fates say in our palms that we have the ability to change our future course:
"That weal there is an accident. Fell and cut it twentytwo years ago."
We have the ability to change our palms/future, either by accident or choice.

Here are my thoughts on the last quarter of Circe, (working forwards this time!)

Have the rest of you got a bit with the list
Cavaliers
Hours
Cavaliers
The Pianola?
I don't understand why there's no dialogue between these headings.

I love the bit where Buck appears from the top of a tower with
'a smoking buttered split scone in his hand' and then says 'She's beastly dead. The pity of it!' I thought it was priceless.

To be followed shortly by the stage direction 'Tears of molten butter fall from his eyes into the scone.' What an image!

I only picked this up from the notes, that when the bloodhounds appear, Bloom is being chased by people he has seen or thought of during the day.

What a fabulous list it is: Whatdoyoucallhim, Strangeface, Fellowthatslike etc

The Croppy Boy comes up again, this time in person. I think we found out earlier it's an important Irish song didn't we?

Enough for now, a few more comments to come later.

I'm just beyond that point, Gill. My copy has short lines of dialogue:

{stage directions: "the morning and noon hours waltz in their places, turning, advancing to each other, shaping their curves, bowing vis a vis. Cavaliers behind them arch and suspend their arms, with hands descending to, touching, rising from their shoulders."}

Hours
"You may touch my....."

Cavaliers
"May I touch your?"

Hours
"O, but lightly!"

Cavaliers
"O, so lightly"

The Pianola
"My little shy little lass has a waist,"

Can't say I understand what it means, except that the hours and cavaliers are dancing around each other, maybe being cautious but willing to mingle?

Thanks, Petra. I think there's a bit of a mixup in my copy then. The dialogue is all together before the headings.

I'm trying not to add everything I've thought of, or it will be becoming as long as the book!
So:

A fabulous list again, this time about how the fight builds up:
......peregrines, merlins, blackgrouse, sea eagles, albatross, barnacle geese. The midnight sun is darkened. The earth trembles. The dead of Dublin.....

Re The part where Bloom says 'Poetry. Well educated. Pity. (He bends again and undoes the buttons of Stephen's waistcoat.) Bloom so much wants to look after Stephen. He is very tender in this passage.

Right at the end of the episode (view spoiler)[ I thought the appearance of Rudy, and the description of this and Bloom's reaction were lovely. Very, very moving. I thought this was a beautiful end to the episode. (hide spoiler)]

I'm starting reading Eumaeus early, because I'm pretty busy at the end of the week. I'll use spoilers if I add any comments before the proper date.

Just before Stephen smashes the chandelier, he calls out "Nothung!". I looked up the footnote for that:
In "Der Ring des Nibelungen", an opera by Wagner, Nothung is the name of a sword that get reforged somewhere within the story. After being reforged, it's used to slay the dragon, which leads to the end of a regime and establishes a new world order.

Therefore, Stephen attacking his mother (metaphorically "slaying the dragon") sets him free, so to speak, to leave his guilt behind and go forward in life. I wish I'd read that footnote in previous readings.
In a way, this ties in with the palm reader's reading, Gill. If Stephen didn't let go of the past, he couldn't move forward and his "mount of the moon" would remain undeveloped.

I love how Joyce ties these things together (although it's an invisible tying up of things for me, for the most part). Everything connects with everything else. I rather got the idea of everything being interconnected but am only just realizing how much the interconnectivity is burrowed into this book.

We've reached the end of The Odyssey.
What are your thoughts on this section (Episode 4-15)?
What are your opinions of Ulysses to this point?
Are you enjoying this story?

Next week, we start The Nostros, the final section of Ulysses.

Gill wrote: "Re The part where Bloom says 'Poetry. Well educated. Pity. (He bends again and undoes the buttons of Stephen's waistcoat.) Bloom so much wants to look after Stephen. He is very tender in this passage.

Right at the end of the episode (view spoiler) "

Gill, I agree. Bloom is truly protective of Stephen. It was very touching. Bloom has his faults but lacking compassion isn't one of them. He's shown this caring self throughout this book. He's a gentle man with compassion and caring in his soul.

I also agree with the spoiler. A perfect ending.

Still struggling with Circe. Everyone else seems to have managed it. I am finding it the most difficult chapter to read. I like the drama format, but I find I can only read it in short bursts, and as a result it feels even choppier than it already is. I can't seem to get any distance on it. I'll keep going, I've only got about a third to do to finish it...

I'm only about halfway through Circe, but I haven't picked it up in a couple of weeks, so I feel a bit detached from it right now. Need to return to it.

Petra, I think we officially have all of this week still on Circe, don't we?

That's what I'm hoping!

Yes, we have this week to finish Circe. No worries at all.

Geoffrey, sometimes it helps to post our questions and confusions here. This episode is a truly psychedelic one and hard to follow at times. I find that there are inserts, sometimes longer than a page, where I'm not at all sure what's happening.....and then it gets back to the actual story.
It's a fun episode to read but not straightforward. Try to follow Stephen and Bloom as much as possible, the others are "filler" and fun (for this reading; the next reading can look more closely at them, if you want).

I really encourage everyone to think out loud by posting all questions, thoughts, confusions or miscellaneous ideas while reading. It really helps to sort things out. Sometimes, just writing things out brings a solution or idea.

I had an epiphany last night as I lay in bed.
It's about The Odyssey section in general and the ending of Circe in particular, so I'll put it in spoiler tags for this week:

(view spoiler)["RUDY (Gazes unseeing into Bloom's eyes and goes on reading, kissing, smiling. He has a delicate mauveface. On his suit he has diamond and ruby buttons. In his free left hand he holds a slim ivory cane with a violet howknot. A white lambkin peeps out of his waistcoat pocket.)"

Seeing Rudy at this time is Bloom's very own "Nothung!" moment. Rudy appearing, smiling and lovingly surrounded by talismans and unseeing to this world is Bloom's way of "slaying the dragon" and allowing himself peace and permission to move on in Life.
Both Bloom and Stephen can now live their future instead of existing in the present, as they have been doing.

Throughout The Odyssey episodes, Bloom has been growing stronger within himself (standing up to The Citizen, for example). Stephen has pondered his current situation and started to realize that he's stuck and needs to learn to move forward in Life. It's a big maturation for both of them.
At the end of The Odyssey, they are both more able to face a future than they have been throughout this book 'til now.

Just like in Homer's Odyssey, Telemachus is ready to face the suitors and Odysseus is ready to go and stay at home. (hide spoiler)]

Not a big epiphany but every one helps with this piece of work. :D

Petra wrote: "Just before Stephen smashes the chandelier, he calls out "Nothung!". I looked up the footnote for that:
In "Der Ring des Nibelungen", an opera by Wagner, Nothung is the name of a sword that get ref..."

Very interesting re Nothung. Thanks! Extra interesting since I read it as Nothing, so had been working to understand that word instead!

I love finding out these details, too, Gill.
Each detail makes me love Joyce more and want to throttle him again (:D). He's a genious.....how are the rest of us to pick up on all the details, nuances and insights that he's put into this book? It's a lifetime endeavor to get to where he got to in 10 years of writing (I think that's how long he was writing this book). This man knew *everything* about *everything*. He had *all* the details in his head. ....I'm lucky to remember everything I need for today. :D

Hi all, I finally pushed through and finished Circe - I think I needed to rant a bit to give myself the push I needed to get through it! There were, as usual, many things I liked about the episode. Even its long-windedness and lengthy digressions have a certain charm - I mean nobody else writes like this and gets away with it!

Here are a couple of passages I liked :

"Man and woman, love, what is it? A cork and bottle. I'm sick of it. Let everything rip."

***
"BLOOM
(Murmurs lovingly.) To be a shoefitter in Manfield's was my love's young dream, the darling joys of sweet buttonhooking, to lace up crisscrossed to kneelength the dressy kid footwear satinlined, so incredibly impossibly small, of Clyde Road ladies. Even their wax model Raymonde I visited daily to admire her cobweb hose and stick of rhubarb toe, as worn in Paris.
THE HOOF
Smell my hot goathide. Feel my royal weight.
BLOOM
(Crosslacing.) Too tight?
THE HOOF
If you bungle, Handy Andy, I'll kick your football for you.
BLOOM
Not to lace the wrong eyelet as I did the night of the bazaar dance. Bad luck. Hook in wrong tache of her... person you mentioned. That night she met... Now!
(He knots the lace. Bella places her foot on the floor. Bloom raises his head. Her heavy face, her eyes strike him in midbrow. His eyes grow dull, darker and pouched, his nose thickens.)" Circe
***
"You will be laced with cruel force into vicelike corsets of soft dove coutille with whalebone busk to the diamondtrimmed pelvis, the absolute outside edge, while your figure, plumper than when at large, will be restrained in nettight frocks, pretty two ounce petticoats and fringes and things stamped, of course, with my houseflag, creations of lovely lingerie for Alice and nice scent for Alice. " Circe
***

I have to say that my interest in the last two passages is personal - I am a corset-maker! I do think the passage reveals a vulnerable side to Bloom that I like, though.

I will have some more general things to say after I digest a bit more :)

I have been in a bit of a lull. I started listening to the Joseph Campbell videos about Joyce /Ulysses. They have helped make me more curious about the chapter again.

I was looking up something in another book and an italicized Ulysses showed up on the page. I like seeing what different people thouggt about the book. What is interesting about this review is that he is talking about it before WW2, 1938. It is also way before it would become legal to read here in the US.

Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy

"In 1904 the world crash began to appear on the horizon. Irredentism became more violent. The most sensitive writer on the Fin de Siele decay, Joyce, dates his s witches' Sabbath on civilization in Ulysses back to June, 1904, with an astounding instinct for the epoch made by that year in the soul of the European. The catastrophe to which Europe had long since been driven as if "in a torture of tension", according to Nietzsche's phrase, followed rst became visible in this year." Page 98 Out of Revolution: Autobiography of Western Man

I highly recommend this book. Just thumbing through it again i wish there was a group read on it.

Irredentism (from Italian irredento for "unredeemed") is any political or popular movement intended to reclaim and reoccupy a lost homeland. As such, irredentism tries to justify its territorial claims on the basis of (real or imagined) historic or ethnic affiliations.

Pink wrote: "I'm only about halfway through Circe, but I haven't picked it up in a couple of weeks, so I feel a bit detached from it right now. Need to return to it."

Pink, I hope you had time to continue reading this week. This isn't the easiest episode to get through (and it's really long) but it is funny and says a lot about Bloom. It's an interesting way for Joyce to give us a small glimpse into the younger Bloom's life.

I hope you're continuing to enjoy the book.

Geoffrey wrote: "I have to say that my interest in the last two passages is personal - I am a corset-maker! I do think the passage reveals a vulnerable side to Bloom that I like, though...."

Geoffrey, that's an interesting detail of your life. It's great that there are lines that resonate with this talent of yours. What got you into making corsets?

Cosmic, it would be interesting to read reviews of Ulysses written while it was still banned. Actually, it would be interesting to read any early reviews of Ulysses, even shortly after the ban was lifted. It's such a different book and it must have been revolutionary in its time. I wonder if people of that era understood the references more and, therefore, the story was "easier" to read for them than it is for us.

I am going to be away a lot this coming week. My husband is going in for surgery and I'll be spending time in the hospital with him.

I'm looking forward to dropping by and seeing new comments. I will be reading along in Episode 16 and hope not to drop behind too much.

Geoffrey wrote: "Hi all, I finally pushed through and finished Circe - I think I needed to rant a bit to give myself the push I needed to get through it! There were, as usual, many things I liked about the episode...."

Thanks for highlighting those passages! I have been enjoying all the clothing details that Joyce mentions. It is amazing. In some ways reading Ulysses is like reading a condensed encyclopedia. Like i have learned so much just looking up things. This book invites inquiry! I love that! It is like a treasure hunt!

I will try to pick up my pace on this book this week. I have so many distractions!

I'm kind of wondering about Joyce's association with prostitutes. I mean, everything else in the book appears to have been written from direct experience, at least strongly informed by it, combined with Joyce's photographic memory, so why not the visit to the whorehouse? And certainly among the intelligentsia of the era, and the people he knew, whether during his time in Paris or in Ireland, a visit to a whorehouse, while not conventionally accepted, would have been part of the life of the times. Maybe this is obvious, I just find it interesting.

In the final sequences, there seem to be three prostitutes that dominate the context - the three paid for by Stephen - Kitty, Zoe and Florry. I wonder if this isn't also a reference to the three Fates, or Moerae, Clothos (who spun the thread of life), Lachesis (who measured its length) and Atropos (who cut it) - this would tie in to the liberating role played by the whole incident in Bloom and Stephen's life stories.

Petra wrote: "I am going to be away a lot this coming week. My husband is going in for surgery and I'll be spending time in the hospital with him.

I'm looking forward to dropping by and seeing new comments. I ..."

Thinking of you, Petra. X

Petra wrote: "Geoffrey wrote: "I have to say that my interest in the last two passages is personal - I am a corset-maker! I do think the passage reveals a vulnerable side to Bloom that I like, though...."

Geoff..."

There's a long and a short answer to your question. Ultimately, I do corsets because I love making quality clothes, in particular for women, although I also make some clothes for men. I also make dresses for women, and am working on another project involving diverse items of clothing that incorporate jewelry. A hobby, really, when I'm not reading Joyce, doing research, or writing my book :)

Petra, hope all goes well. Virtual hugs.

Take care at the hospital, Petra. I remember you mentioned about this earlier.

Thanks everyone. Yesterday's surgery went well. We're both exhausted. It's more natural that he would be after a big operation. I just hung around waiting. I did go for a walk to fill some time but it wasn't strenuous or anything.
Thank you for the well wishes.

Episode 16 (Eumaeus):

From Homer, Eumaeus was the slave-prince that fed and sheltered the disguised & unrecognized Odysseus (Eumaeus' beloved master) when he returned home. As well Telemachus went to Eumaeus' hut when he returned from his travels. Eumaeus greeted Telemachus as a son while the disguised Odysseus watched.
Eumaeus represents the loyal servant and is also a model for good hospitality.

Summary of Homer's Eumaeus episode:
(from: )

•This wonderful book has little to do with the plot but much to do with character. Here we see Odysseus with the common man. So much of his distinctive personality comes out. We also learn a lot about what he was like before he went to Troy 20 years ago.

•Through the swineherd we learn the extent of Odysseus's wealth: "'no twenty men in the world could equal his great treasures!'" the swineherd brags about his master.

•This book provides us a contrast between a slave and a free person. Through observing this contrast, we see what the swineherd, incredibly resourceful though he is, lacks in contrast to Odysseus. Odysseus's freedom is all important to him. Odysseus is a leader, a master.

•But as great and as admirable as the swineherd is, without Odysseus, he is basically nothing. The suitors can jerk him around at will. Odysseus, on the other hand, although he is all by himself at this point, is planning revenge to restore his rightful place -- as ruler.

"Whatever Odysseus's apparent circumstances, and whether he is acting in his true role or in disguise, Eumaeus works for him and not the other way around. It seems fitting that this should be so, not because Eumaeus is in any contemptuous sense a gull or a patsy, but rather because in Homer's world the goodness of a Eumaeus, to be rewarded, depends on the ability of men like Odysseus to gain and keep power"

It appears that this episode (or a combination of episodes around this one) is about position and power.

In Circe, we got a little bit of a picture of Bloom's history as a young boy and teenager, which is a lot like the above "we learn a lot about what he was like before he went to Troy 20 years ago".
Maybe this episode is about the contrast between slave and free person? Until this point, Stephen is a slave to his situation. Bloom, despite being ridiculed, is more of the master of his life. I guess we'll find out.
The third point above seems more fitting to the story we've heard so far: everyone can jerk Stephen around; Bloom, on the other hand, while not seeking revenge, is more a ruler in his life.
(I always get the feeling that Bloom also is growing and is getting ready to take his life back by taking control; maybe that's a form of revenge on those who are taking from him?)

Geoffrey wrote: "three prostitutes that dominate the context - the three paid for by Stephen - Kitty, Zoe and Florry. I wonder if this isn't also a reference to the three Fates, or Moerae, Clothos (who spun the thread of life), Lachesis (who measured its length) and Atropos (who cut it) - this would tie in to the liberating role played by the whole incident in Bloom and Stephen's life stories.
..."

I just finished Circe.

Geoffrey that is interesting. I am going to read more.


Thank you!

I wonder what you make of the lantern? I was thinking about Buck Milligan being the 'fool'. In that section it talks Stephen's mother comes back from the dead. 'death'. I think Fortune is mentioned. All archetypes from the Tarot.


(From the top of a tower Buck Mulligan, in particoloured jester’s dress of puce and yellow and clown’s cap with curling bell, stands gaping at her, a smoking buttered split scone in his hand) BUCK MULLIGAN: She’s beastly dead. The pity of it! Mulligan meets the afflicted mother. (He upturns his eyes) Mercurial Malachi.
....
Stephen:Theysaid I killed you, mother. He offended your memory. Cancer did it, not I. Destiny.

....
THE MOTHER: (In the agony of her deathrattle) Have mercy on Stephen,....
STEPHEN â€�. Nothung! (He lifts his ashplant high with both hands and smashes the chandelier. [I think a symbol of the Hermit, who holds a light in his hand]. °Õ¾±³¾±ð’s livid final flame leaps and, in the following darkness, ruin of all space, shattered glass and toppling masonry.)

I marked Time and Space as well because i have found this to be a big subject in the book The Decline of the West, and i think it may come from some classic 19th century philosophy? I would have to look at my notes.

I think what you said Petra, that it would be interesting to read what others were writing about Ulysses when it first came out our when it was first released in the US, is something i am curious about.

Joseph Campbell mentions this chapter in particular in his serious on Joyce. There is a lot of Hindu mythology mentioned as well.

I just finished Episode 16.

Cosmic wrote: "Geoffrey wrote: "three prostitutes that dominate the context - the three paid for by Stephen - Kitty, Zoe and Florry. I wonder if this isn't also a reference to the three Fates, or Moerae, Clothos ..."

The Tarot card reference is a really cool one I missed. I just started doing Tarot card readings again over the last few weeks,, after having left them alone for many years. In many ways, Ulysses could also be viewed as an Initiatic Journey through the Tarot, starting with the Fool (and Buck Mulligan!) and finishing with The World at the end of the Penelope sequence. I'll have to go back over the whole thing and see how well the episodes match up with Tarot cards - there are 18 chapters in Ulysses and 22 cards in the Major Arcane, but my intuition tells me the match may be quite good overall. I mean, Nestor makes a good Magician, Proteus a good High Priestess, Calypso a decent Empress, and so forth (Hades=The Hierophant, Aeolus=The Lovers, hmm, Lystrygonians=The Chariot, Scylla and Charybdis=Strength, Wandering Rocks=The Hermit... anyways, it is interesting...)

Petra wrote: "Thanks everyone. Yesterday's surgery went well. We're both exhausted. It's more natural that he would be after a big operation. I just hung around waiting. I did go for a walk to fill some time but..."

Glad things went well, Petra. You had us worried there for a bit...

Hi everyone! I thought I'd jump in quickly to see how we're all doing.

Hubby has had a few rough days. Looks like he won't be coming home by the weekend. I'm going from work to the hospital, then home to sleep. I haven't read a page all week.


I like the Tarot Card addition to our ponderings!! Nice connection, Cosmic!!! It fits into Circe somehow.
Geoffrey, as our resident expert on tarot cards, please keep us updated if you see any of the connections. I have no doubt that Joyce was an expert in tarot cards/readings. He seems to have known *all* the knowledge. :D

Petra, I'm sorry to hear that your husband has had a bad few days. I hope that everything improves soon.

I'm behind again with Ulysses...still only halfway through Circe, haven't read any for a couple of weeks now. I'll read through all the comments when I've caught up.

Petra wrote: "Hi everyone! I thought I'd jump in quickly to see how we're all doing.

Hubby has had a few rough days. Looks like he won't be coming home by the weekend. I'm going from work to the hospital, then..."
Dearest I'm so sorry to hear that. You're in my thoughts

Petra wrote: "Hi everyone! I thought I'd jump in quickly to see how we're all doing.

Hubby has had a few rough days. Looks like he won't be coming home by the weekend. I'm going from work to the hospital, then..."

You have been in my thoughts as well. Hope the complications clear up quickly and your husband feels like himself again.

Geoffrey wrote: "The Tarot card reference is a really cool one I missed. I just started doing Tarot card readings again over the last few weeks,, after having left them alone for many years. In many ways, Ulysses could also be viewed as an Initiatic Journey through the Tarot, ..."


Glad to have stirred up some interest in the Tarot in relation to Ulysses. I keep thinking about Circe so much that i think i will go back and reread it.

Petra you said:
"He seems to have known *all* the knowledge. :D "

I have been thinking about the name that Joyce chose for Bloom. In circe we have Bloom dressed in all the secret societies. I think the flower Rose is used a lot. Could it be a reference to the ?

There are actually a lot of flowers and a lot of breeds of dogs in Circe. I highlighted them but i haven't gone back to count them. I thought about the dog when Stephen is on the beach. Also in this chapter we get more information about Stephen's broken glasses. It seems they were broken 15 years ago. (Hmmm...that might be in chapter 17). I wonder what was going on historically 15 years ago in Irish/British history? Or even world history?

Just some streams of consciousness here...to think about.

Cosmic wrote: "It seems they were broken 15 years ago...."

1904-15 = 1889

From Wikipedia:
"In 1887, his father was appointed rate collector (i.e., a collector of local property taxes) by Dublin Corporation; the family subsequently moved to the fashionable adjacent small town of Bray 12 miles (19 km) from Dublin. Around this time Joyce was attacked by a dog, which engendered in him a lifelong cynophobia. "

It doesn't specifically say that Joyce was bitten by the dog in 1889 but this is suspiciously close to your ponderings and the connection to dogs, Cosmic.

Another interesting musing......

Petra wrote: "Cosmic wrote: "It seems they were broken 15 years ago...."

1904-15 = 1889

From Wikipedia:
"In 1887, his father was appointed rate collector (i.e., a collector of local property taxes) by Dublin C..."


That was very interesting, Petra.

I looked up what happened in 1889.


One of the big things that happened was the suicide pact of



Rudolf (21 August 1858 � 30 January 1889), who was Archduke of Austria and Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, was the heir apparent to the Austro-Hungarian Empire from birth.

This set in motion a chain of events that eventually led to the
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive. In 1914 Franz Ferdinand's assassination sparked a chain of events that caused the dynasty's collapse just over four years later in November 1918. Emperor Franz Joseph died in November 1916 and was succeeded by his grandnephew, Karl.

Of course by the time Joyce writes Ulysses he knows the outcome.

It is interesting that Hitler was born that year, though I don't think that Joyce would understand that significant.

Moulin Rouge
Also,

So I was looking up dogs in mythology.

Why i didn't remember Odysseus dog I don't know: