Parable of the Lotus Eaters in Ulysses

As part of my independent research with Professor Sexson, I have been reading Ulysses by James Joyce. This has to be one of the hardest books I have ever read in my entire life. But the mythological background and content of it is absolutely amazing. And not just the Greek mythology but I have found traces of Judaism and its own mythological stories.

As we were discussing this past week's reading assignment at our meeting, I was struck by something that resonated with what Dr. Sexson said at the beginning of the semester. He told us the story of Mary, Martha, and the needed thing. Fairly early on in Ulysses, the main character, Leopold Bloom, becomes pen pals with a woman named Martha. This woman seems to be of average or less than average intelligence and just basically average in most ways. However, the author, not particularly Martha, does allude to one thing that is way above average intellectually. As the postscript of her letter, Martha says "I want to know". As in the biblical story, Martha has once again chosen not to do the needed things in life but instead the things that she wants to do. She focuses more on the physically and carnal aspects of life instead of the more spiritual. On the opposite spectrum, Leopold spends most of his day thinking as he runs his errands. However, his thoughts seem to gravitate more towards the spiritual and emotional. He is embodying the spirit of Mary. He is choosing to base his life on things that cannot be taken away, like the memories of his son and his friends, instead of thinking about headaches and perfumes. 

It is goes to show that Joyce is indeed a brilliant man that this letter was found in the Lotus Eaters Chapter. All references in mythology to the Lotus Eaters show them to be beautiful women who try and lure men into forgetting about the rest of the world, including family, honor, and duty. They do this by drugging them with the lotus flower. In this section of the Leopold's life, Martha was trying to drag him down to a lower level of existence that is based solely on instant gratification. Even after Leopold pulls himself away from the letter, he has to fight for the rest of the chapter to not be dragged back into the Martha's web of the carnal. So through Joyce's Ulysses, we get to morals. 1) Do the needed thing, not the wanted thing. 2) Always be on the lookout for the Lotus Eaters and the Lotus Flower as both takes many many different forms and will tempt a person away from the needed thing. 

Lotus Flower