Now that I have mastered the art of putting audio on my blog (and you would be ashamed of me if you had any idea how long it took me), I thought I would give you my reading of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "Ulysses," my second favorite poem in the world. Again, this recording came from my Mini-Con poetry appreciation course.
During the course, I used different poems to illustrate some tips that I thought might help the layman appreciate poetry more. I enjoy poems much more when I have some context, including understanding the circumstances in which the poem was written, knowing something about the poet, and having the general understanding of the subject matter that the poet might have expected his audience to have. I used "Ulysses" to illustrate the enjoyment that can be gained by understanding the subject matter of the poem, especially if the author probably expected the readers in his time to know about it.
"Ulysses" was written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (who was, in my opinion, a god among men) in Victorian England. Ulysses is the Latin name for the Greek hero Odysseus. Odysseus, a character in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, was a sly, crafty, intelligent man who thought up the Trojan Horse trick and then had about 14 million adventures on his way home for the Trojan War. Most of you probably know those stories, and if you don't, oh my god, go read them now. In the Odyssey, a prophet foretells that Ulysses will make it home to his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus (remember that name) but will leave again on an adventure.
But Tennyson's Ulysses isn't completely like the ancient Ulysses. Tennyson's has a thirst for knowledge and a desire to explore new places that isn't there in the Iliad or the Odyssey. And even stranger, our Victorian Ulysses seems to have a dislike for governing and politics. That's a big departure from the Greek presentation of him. But, what you may not know (that Tennyson's Victorian audience certain did) is that Ulysses appears again in another epic poem - Dante's Inferno.
Except now, instead of being lauded as a hero, Ulysses is being punished in the eighth circle of hell. The medieval Christian church didn't value trickery and slyness like the Greeks. In fact, Dante finds Ulysses in the hell reserved for "Counselors of Fraud," all for his wartime sneaky strategies. Because Dante didn't have access to Homer (only to other writers riffing off of Homer's stories), he gives Ulysses's earthly story a different ending. Since Tennyson stuck with Homer's ending, I won't tell you about that. (Go read the Inferno! You'll love it!)
The important thing that Tennyson got from Dante was a new portrayal of Ulysses's character. Dante portrays Ulysses as a man who lusts after adventure and knowledge to the detriment of his duty; he neglects his (god-given) family and civic responsibilities to go and explore the world. Tennyson latches on to that trait, but without condemning him for it (cause Tennyson rocks!). Our Ulysses, as Tennyson writes him, thirsts for adventure and knowledge, but is heroic because of that thirst and because he will act on it.
Now, with all that context in mind, here is Tennyson's "Ulysses":
8/13/10
