laika
Well-known member
as in " the tales of brave ", seem to remember in the long and distant path reading some of it , but dont think i ever finished it .
I think we have at the very least:
The Odyssey: poem by Homer about the voyage of Odysseus (romanised as Ulysses) returning from Troy
Ulysses: Novel by James Joyce structured around the Odyssey
Tales of Brave Ulysses: Song written by Martin Sharp (who knew?) on Cream's Disraeli Gears and notably featured in a couple of Buffy episodes (the latter to great emotional effect)
2001: A Space Odyssey: Not really anything to do with Odysseus. According to wikipedia Kubrick (not clarke) chose the name to sort of give it a bit of gravitas
Ulysses: Poem by Tennyson, about Odysseus/Ulysses back in Ithaca towards the end of his life
Odyssey: American disco band who had a hit with "Native New Yorker" in the 80s
The Ulysses under discussion I am unqualified to comment on as I've spent my adult life with people telling me that it's only worth reading to say you've read it but this thread has made me think perhaps I should dip my toe into Dubliners.
If this thread is sufficiently stalled as to permit some drift, if you've never read the Odyssey (or rather, if like me you don't read ancient greek, a translation) I'd strongly recommend giving it a go. Perhaps my memory of it being exciting and easy to read for an ancient classic was coloured by having read it right after the Iliad which was considerably weightier. It's obviously somewhat boaty and particularly suited to reading whilst on a charter anywhere between the coast of turkey and the ionian. The casual reader might want to skip the Iliad and re-watch the movie Troy instead before tackling the Odyssey. I'm surprised they never made The Odyssey into a big budget sequel to Troy. In fact at the end of Troy they seemed to be setting up the Aeneid as a possible sequel. I'd be interested in other opinions but the Aeneid struck me as largely a load of Roman propaganda, though obviously it's recently paid dividends with being the source for a couple of test and trace gags no-one got.
If folks have never read Tennyson's Ulysses, it's relatively short and may be somewhat apropos for sailors in the autumn of their years who still have wanderlust:
Ulysses by Alfred, Lord Tennyson | Poetry Foundation
I think we can forget about the disco band, but obviously not this: