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Ulysses: Episode 14: Oxen in the Sun: The Critic in the Cabernet 05/30/09
After I make my Ulysses post for this week I'll have to get started on reading "Circe" for next week. So far the episodes have been between thirty and sixty pages long. "Circe" is 180 pages long! Fortunately it's written in the form of a play so hopefully it will be manageable for reading in a week along with all of my regular reading. The "Oxen in the Sun" section of The Odyssey is a warning against "tempting fate." Throughout the epic Odysseus is warned not to harm any of the Oxen of the Sun if he wishes to return to Ithaca with his ship and crew intact. Of course despite his warnings and orders, Odysseus can't keep his ship of their island or his crew from killing some of them for food.
Meanwhile Bloom, Stephen and Buck Milligan spend their time drinking. First they drink in the hospital where Mina Purefoy is laboring but they are shooed away by the midwife because their debauchery is disturbing the beautiful moment of a woman giving birth. The episode follows them to the pub where they continue their drinking.
In "The Critic in the Cabernet" the tempting fate theme comes to play in two forms. First and foremost there is the vintner who is selling his cheap wine bottled in knock off versions of the much more expensive wine next door. While the average consumer probably can't tell the difference and will pay the extra money by label and reputation alone, a wine critic can tell the difference. Rather than own up to his forgery he temps fate a second time and will eventually be caught.
What makes the "Oxen in the Sun" difficult to read is the sheer length of each of these parodies. Most paragraphs are a page long. The sentences are long and rambling. The sentences draw from many different literary sources. There are online resources for fully understanding the ins and outs of "Oxen in the Sun." Next Saturday I'll post my thoughts on Episode Fifteen: Circe. If you want to read along, Ulysses is available online at Read Print. Comments (0) |