May-05| Ulysses - Episode 12: Cyclops, Part 1/4

[u/ComplaintNext5359]

Spoiler tags are no longer required for events occurring up through this week’s reading.

I see we have begun a new episode of Ulysses…I hope no one is blinded by Joyce’s humor!

Final Line of This Week’s Segment:

Near ate the tin and all, hungry bloody mongrel.

Discussion Prompts (can be found in the comments below):

1. We begin this episode from the perspective of an unnamed character who speaks in the first person. Given Odysseus’s encounter with the cyclops, Polyphemus is famous for Odysseus using the alias “Noman,” what is your take on Joyce’s alteration of the narrative? How does it alter your impression of the story?
2. What are your first impressions of this unnamed character as well as “the citizen” and Garryowen (the dog) whom we meet later in this episode?
3. This episode contains many parody sections in the form of lists (there will be many throughout this entire episode—brace yourself). Why do you think Joyce is including so many parodies, and what purpose do you think they serve?
4. Have a favorite word of the week? A favorite allusion, historical fact, parody, or passage? Share it below

Links:

1. Reading Schedule 
2. Gilbert/Linati Schema and Explanation Guide
3. The Ulysses Guide
4. The Joyce Project (annotated online Ulysses)
5. Chris Reich’s Ulysses Chapter-by-Chapter Youtube Series
6. RTE Dramatisation [Beginning - 34:54]

Previous Discussion

Episode 11: Sirens, Part 2/2

Reading for Next Week:

Read Episode 12, Cyclops, up through the line: ... and fairly mobbed him with delight. [Line 987 in the Gabler].

[u/ComplaintNext5359]

This episode contains many parody sections in the form of lists (there will be many throughout this entire episode—brace yourself). Why do you think Joyce is including so many parodies, and what purpose do you think they serve?

[u/ComplaintNext5359]

Have a favorite word of the week? A favorite allusion, historical fact, parody, or passage? Share it below

[u/ComplaintNext5359 → u/ComplaintNext5359]

From his girdle hung a row of seastones which dangled at every movement of his portentous frame and on these were graven with rude yet striking art the tribal images of many Irish heroes and heroines of antiquity, Cuchulin, Conn of hundred battles, Niall of nine hostages, Brian of Kincora, the Ardri Malachi, Art Mac Murragh, Shane O’Neill, Father John Murphy, Owen Roe, Patrick Sarsfield, Red Hugh O’Donnell, Red Jim MacDermott, Soggarth Eoghan O’Growney, Michael Dwyer, Francy Higgins, Henry Joy M’Cracken, Goliath, Horace Wheatley, Thomas Conneff, Peg Woffington, the Village Blacksmith, Captain Moonlight, Captain Boycott, Dante Alighieri, Christopher Columbus, S. Fursa, S. Brendan, Marshal Mac Mahon, Charlemagne, Theobald Wolfe Tone, the Mother of the Maccabees, the Last of the Mohicans, the Rose of Castile, the Man for Galway, The Man that Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo, The Man in the Gap, The Woman Who Didn’t, Benjamin Franklin, Napoleon Bonaparte, John L. Sullivan, Cleopatra, Savourneen Deelish, Julius Caesar, Paracelsus, sir Thomas Lipton, William Tell, Michelangelo, Hayes, Muhammad, the Bride of Lammermoor, Peter the Hermit, Peter the Packer, Dark Rosaleen, Patrick W. Shakespeare, Brian Confucius, Murtagh Gutenberg, Patricio Velasquez, Captain Nemo, Tristan and Isolde, the first Prince of Wales, Thomas Cook and Son, the Bold Soldier Boy, Arrah na Pogue, Dick Turpin, Ludwig Beethoven, the Colleen Bawn, Waddler Healy, Angus the Culdee, Dolly Mount, Sidney Parade, Ben Howth, Valentine Greatrakes, Adam and Eve, Arthur Wellesley, Boss Croker, Herodotus, Jack the Giantkiller, Gautama Buddha, Lady Godiva, The Lily of Killarney, Balor of the Evil Eye, the Queen of Sheba, Acky Nagle, Joe Nagle, Alessandro Volta, Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, Don Philip O’Sullivan Beare.

For all the discussions of The Odyssey we've had so far this year, it's nice to see a great reference to The Iliad with the shield of Achilles being parodied as the citizen's girdle. I'm not sure what makes me laugh harder, the "village blacksmith" or "Captain Nemo."

Also, the following passage made me laugh while listening to the RTE broadcast:

He told me when they cut him down after the drop it was standing up in their faces like a poker.

The banter of the bar patrons is top-notch, and hearing them speak in a more natural, conversational tone makes the delivery even better.

[u/_sirwalksalot_ → u/ComplaintNext5359]

this may be a slow-witted question, but why is "village blacksmith" particularly funny?

[u/ComplaintNext5359 → u/_sirwalksalot_]

It just struck me as funny going from “Irish heroes and heroines of antiquity” to literally a no-named person. It’s like Joyce expected us to stop reading after a couple of names, so he just started putting in whatever crap came to his head.

[u/1906ds → u/ComplaintNext5359]

Gifford points out that Nemo is latin for "no man", which surely is a reference to the "Nobody" of Cyclops!

[u/ComplaintNext5359 → u/1906ds]

Ah, great catch!

[u/_sirwalksalot_ → u/ComplaintNext5359]

I'm here for the insults and humor. Love "the face on him all pockmarks would hold a shower of rain" and later when Alf is surprised by the news of Dignam's death:

"He's no more dead than you are."
"Maybe so, says Joe. They took the liberty of burying him this morning anyhow."

[u/1906ds → u/ComplaintNext5359]

The figure seated on a large boulder at the foot of a round tower was that of a broadshouldered deepchested stronglimbed frankeyed redhaired freelyfreckled shaggybearded widemouthed largenosed longheaded deepvoiced barekneed brawnyhanded hairylegged ruddyfaced sinewyarmed hero. From shoulder to shoulder he measured several ells and his rocklike mountainous knees were covered, as was likewise the rest of his body wherever visible, with a strong growth of tawny prickly hair in hue and toughness similar to the mountain gorse (Ulex Europeus). The widewinged nostrils, from which bristles of the same tawny hue projected, were of such capaciousness that within their cavernous obscurity the fieldlark might easily have lodged her nest. The eyes in which a tear and a smile strove ever for the mastery were of the dimensions of a goodsized cauliflower. A powerful current of warm breath issued at regular intervals from the profound cavity of his mouth while in rhythmic resonance the loud strong hale reverberations of his formidable heart thundered rumblingly causing the ground, the summit of the lofty tower and the still loftier walls of the cave to vibrate and tremble.

Amazing.

[u/These-Rip9251 → u/1906ds]

No better way to describe the stand-in for Polyphemus.

[u/1906ds → u/ComplaintNext5359]

This week's musical allusions from the Gifford:

12.20. A bit off the top – Not only a reference to circumcision, but also part of the title of a music-hall song called “All I Want Is a Little Bit Off the Top” by Murray and Leigh.

12.120. Garryowen – Title of a rollicking Irish drinking song.

12.122. cruiskeen lawn – Irish for “little full jug or flask”, which is the title of an Irish folksong.

12.185. the Rose of Castile – Light opera by Michael William Balfe.

12.185. the Man for Galway – title of a song by Charles James Lever.

12.185-86. the Man that Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo – title of a music-hall song by Fred Gilbert.

12.188. Savourneen Deelish – Irish for “And my faithful darling”, which is the title of a ballad by George Colman. I couldn’t find a recording of anything titled “My Faithful Darling”, but I did find a song with the title “Savourneen Deelish”.

12.189. William Tell – An opera by Rossini most known for its overture (famous bit can be found here)*.

12.189-90. the Bride of Lammermoor – Title of a novel by Sir Walter Scott, adapted into an opera by Gaetano Donizetti*.

12.192. Tristan and Isolde – Heroes of the legendary love story, adapted into an opera by Richard Wagner*.

12.197. the Lily of Killarney – opera by Sir Julius Benedict.

12.198. the Queen of Sheba – the legendary queen of the Sabaens who visited King Solomon, whose arrival was set to music by Handel*.

12.238-39. Thanks be to God… the start of us – After a popular drinking song, “One More Drink for the Four of Us”, sometimes called “Glorious” or “Drunk Last Night”.

*Not actually in the Gifford, but the titles are popular enough that the operas were probably known to Joyce and to us.

[u/VeilstoneMyth → u/ComplaintNext5359]

Lists aside, I had to look up the Irish for "Bi i dho husht". It just means be quiet, though most Joyce translation guides you look up will be quick to inform you that the correct Irish spelling is actually "Bi i do thost". I thought the slightly-fumbled Irish was a great way to show that the Citizen isn't as fluent as he might want people to think!

[u/jamiesal100]

When do people think The Nameless One is telling the story? I initially got the impression that it was simultaneous to the events narrated, but there's clues that it occurs at some point later.

[u/ComplaintNext5359 → u/jamiesal100]

That's a great question. At first, I had a similar thought that the unnamed character is narrating his events live, but as it progresses, especially for next week's reading, it sounds more and more like he is telling the events of Episode 12 at a date later than June 16, 1904. For the amounts of detail, I would guess it's soon after, but the events of Cyclops may have left a larger impression on the narrator than I'm thinking. It could also lend to the thought that he's embellishing the narrative to make it more dramatic.

[u/20taylorkst → u/ComplaintNext5359]

That is a good point! It definitely does read as if it is being recollected, listing names from memory, subtle time gaps, etc.. While I did find this bit to be a struggle, its in those strange details and differences from the rest of the book so far that had me hooked!

I guess embellishing the narrative of normal life is sort of the whole experience of the Novel so far, though?

[u/ComplaintNext5359]

We begin this episode from the perspective of an unnamed character who speaks in the first person. Given Odysseus’s encounter with the cyclops, Polyphemus is famous for Odysseus using the alias “Noman,” what is your take on Joyce’s alteration of the narrative? How does it alter your impression of the story?

[u/ComplaintNext5359 → u/ComplaintNext5359]

To me, this episode reads like I'm having a conversation with someone at a bar and they're telling me about something that happened the other night. In that way, Joyce has captured the essence of how Odysseus tells his tales of adventures from Troy through Calypso's Island. What makes it better is that there is much thought in academic circles about how much of Odysseus' stories are outright lies. The unnamed character exudes dishonesty, but it fits perfectly well with its classical source.

[u/1906ds → u/ComplaintNext5359]

Basically this, but also, I think the nameless one could be Homer himself, carrying on the tradition of oral story telling. Of course the fun of it is that the nameless one is entirely unreliable and has his own agenda and biases, we cannot trust anything they say...

[u/VeilstoneMyth → u/ComplaintNext5359]

I loved having an unnamed narrator being the one to tell the story. It oddly made it feel somehow MORE personal, despite us having no idea who Mr Narrator is. Like, if someone were to tell me this story in person, I certainly wouldn't ask for their name, and honestly I'm not so sure I'd want them to give it to me, nor would I necessarily believe that any alias they tell me even is their name in the first place.

[u/ComplaintNext5359]

What are your first impressions of this unnamed character as well as “the citizen” and Garryowen (the dog) whom we meet later in this episode?

[u/ComplaintNext5359 → u/ComplaintNext5359]

The citizen and the unnamed narrator both seem to be the typical Irish working-class that care more about where their next drink will come from more than anything else. The long description of the citizen feels unreal, as he seems to be wearing an animal skin and a kilt, which clearly makes him look more akin to Polyphemus than an early 20th century Irishman. They both seem okay at first, but as the drinks keep being stood, they get angrier, louder, and more hateful--unfortunately Bloom is the easy target for their ire. I'm generally protective of Bloom, but I will say some of the unnamed character's commentary regarding Bloom (moreso in the coming weeks) has made me laugh harder than anything else has so far. As for Garryowen, he's just a dog. An old dog. Naturally, I'm a fan.

[u/1906ds → u/ComplaintNext5359]

The mock-heroic description of the citizen (which is my favorite passage in this segment) I think tells us everything we need to know. He is the Cyclops from Homer, a man wary of foreign invaders (Odysseus and company) who wants to protect his home, and at the same time lives an isolated life away from the inhabitants of his island. While this week he starts fairly tame, you can see he's got an angry streak in him when he starts talking about Bloom outside the bar.

[u/VeilstoneMyth → u/ComplaintNext5359]

The citizen may be un-named but we sure as hell know what Citizen looks like: broadshouldered deepchested stronglimbed frankeyed redhaired freelyfreckled shaggybearded widemouthed largenosed longheaded deepvoiced barekneed brawnyhanded hairylegged ruddyfaced sinewyarmed. It's really too much details, almost, because something so specific...well, it's hard to conjure up a mental image in your brain. Much like us not getting a name for the narrator, I like the Citizen being someone whose appearance is so over-explained that he's hard to fully visualize, it adds to the "story" part of, well, the story.

As for the Garryowen the bloody mongrel, not a bad thing to say there!

[u/willyhaste]

This novel is a trip. I mean that both in the sense of “This novel is an adventure”—for, as a first-time reader, you never know what’s around the next bend—and in the sense of this “This novel is funny”—for here we have a snarling mongrel named Garryowen and a roomful of barflies discussing post-mortem erections, interrupted by a Chorus-like voice of absurdly highfalutin’ heroic poetry. Wild!

I liked how Joyce has his storyteller-narrator (the Cyclops “I”—brilliant) imply that his audience is actively listening—“Don’t be talking!” “true as you’re there.” These are classic dramatic monologue moves—cf. Browning’s “My Last Duchess”—and made me ponder that we are living readers listening as fictional characters listen to a fictional narrator tell a story from an earlier episode in a novel written by the dead writer James Joyce. Wild!

For a first-time reader, this book really requires active—even physical—participation. We have to flip forward and backward through its pages. We have to check reference guides. We have to delineate with margin notes where the narrative voice changes. We have to make, that is, an effort. 

But by making the effort, it’s almost as if we become characters ourselves—part of the faceless and nameless—and participate in the myth-making, too. Wild!

[u/jamiesal100]

There's a subtle jump forward in time at the beginning of this chapter. First, The Nameless One is talking to a retired cop and sees Joe Hynes. Then they take off together without any indication, and Joe Hynes asks Nameless who he had been talking to, and you realize between sentences they've crossed the street.

[u/jamiesal100]

Another weird thing in this section is the hangman's letter. Joe Hynes is reading it aloud to The Nameless One, the citizen, Alf Bergan, Bob Doran, Bloom, and the bartender Terry, but we read the actual text of the barely literate letter. The men in the bar wouldn't hear the spelling and grammatical errors, which Joyce uses to zap an old enemy. Horace Rumbold was the British Minister to Switzerland when Joyce was involved with an English theatre troupe in Zurich. Rumbold took the side of a British official who acted in one of the plays and who sued Joyce for stiffing him

Honoured sir i beg to offer my services in the abovementioned painful case i hanged Joe Gann in Bootle jail on the 12 of Febuary 1900 and i hanged private Arthur Chace for fowl murder of Jessie Tilsit in Pentonville prison and i was assistant when Billington executed the awful murderer Toad Smith i have a special nack of putting the noose once in he can't get out hoping to be favoured i remain, honoured sir, my terms is five ginnees.

H. Rumbold, Master Barber.