Ulysses/Hades

Notes

The Hades chapter of Ulysses corresponds (obviously) to Odysseus's descent into the underworld. Many of the symbols we see in that portion of Homer's Odyssey show up in this chapter.

The chapter begins with a carriage ride to Glasnevin Cemetery, on the outskirts of Dublin, featuring four characters: Martin Cunningham, Jack Powers, Simon Dedalus, and Leopold Bloom. Their arrangement in the carriage is not specified, but right away, Bloom is marked as an outsider in a subtle way: Martin Cunningham asks, while everyone is climbing into the carriage and when Bloom is conspicuously absent from the carriage, "Are we all here now? Come along, Bloom." This is the first chapter where we see Bloom interacting with other Dubliners, and the theme of Bloom as an ill-treated outsider will continue throughout the book (experiencing something of a culmination in Chapter 12, Cyclops, when Bloom is chased out of Barney Kiernan's and the chapter ends with a reference to the prophet Elijah's ascent into Heaven.

The carriage begins at the house of the deceased (Paddy Dignam) and is headed to the cemetery on the outskirts of town. The opening street scene, with an old woman "nose whiteflattened against the pane," is visually rich and contains many cross-references to folk tales, mythology, Irish funeral traditions, and Bloom's past. Soon after the carriage departs, Bloom spots Stephen - the first time both main characters have appeared together. Simon seems more interested in trashing Malachi (Buck) Mulligan, whom we met in the first chapter (Telemachus), than his son. In an ironic display of Irish contradictions, Dedalus simultaneously talks about what a sordid reputation Mulligan has and how everyone in Dublin knows it, while also saying that he will reveal Mulligan's true character and "tickle his catastrophe."

Simon Dedalus introduces several Shakespearean references. The first reference is "the wise child that knows her own father" (implying that Mulligan is a bastard who doesn't know who his father is, further repeated when Simon refers to Mulligan's "aunt, or mother, or whatever she is"). It's actually a dual inversion of the Shakespearean version, from The Merchant of Venice: "It is a wise father that knows his own child." Doubly inverted, both in the sentence structure and in the gender.

The second Shakespearean reference is "I'll tickle his catastrophe," also from The Merchant of Venice. It means, "I'll tickle his butt." (.........?)

Dedalus uses a wonderful sequence of no less than three strong adjectives to describe Mulligan: "That Mulligan is a contaminated bloody doubledyed ruffian by all accounts. His name stinks all over Dublin."

This leads Bloom's train of thought toward sons, and his own son, Rudy, who died 11 days after his birth. This leads him to think about Rudy's conception, in a particular passage that is both key and controversial:

"Must have been that morning in Raymond terrace she was at the window watching the two dogs at it by the wall of the cease to do evil. And the sergeant grinning up. She had that cream gown on with the rip she never stitched. Give us a touch, Poldy. God, I'm dying for it. How life begins."

In this passage, Bloom is guessing at the day of Rudy's conception. The Raymond terrace (where the Blooms had previously resided, different from their residence on the date of the novel) is across the street from a fort that was previously a prison (or, maybe vice-versa). The wall has a motto that says, "Cease to do evil... the Lord is near." That Molly Bloom is watching two copulating dogs beneath this motto, and getting horny watching them, is deliciously ironic. It was also very controversial, as it was unheard of to specifically mention womens' sexual desires, let alone to imply that a woman might get excited by the sight of copulating animals. The key phrase here is, "Give us a touch, Poldy." (Slang for sexual intercourse.)

Joyce made several modifications to this passage for the second printing of Ulysses, indicated in parentheses below:

"Must have been that morning in Raymond terrace she was at the window watching the two dogs at it by the wall of the cease to do evil. And the sergeant (guard) grinning up. She had that cream gown on with the rip (tear) she never stitched. Give us a touch, Poldy. God, I'm dying for it. (That's) How life begins."

References

Modernism wiki (Yale): http://modernism.research.yale.edu/wiki/index.php/%22Hades%22

Sparknotes: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/ulysses/section6.rhtml