Homer

This is the first of four instances of "Ulysses" in the text , marking this passage as notable. The character Ulysses appears in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, Dante's Inferno, and as Odysseus in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. The character's "appearance" in Joyce appears to be part of the latter's 3+1 pattern: or why the number "four" is significant in Joyce's book.

Corresponds to the ten years in which Odysseus was absent from Penelope.

In the following pages note the inversion of traditional domestic roles: this is the palace of feminine authority with the male acting as servant, as was the case when Odysseus was captive to (captivated by) Calypso.