James Joyce's "Ulysses"

Leopold Bloom, Jewish-Irish, is the protagonist of James Joyce's "Ulysses." There are parallels and analogues between Odysseus of Homer's "Odyssey" and Ulysses (Latin equivalent of Odysseus) of "Ulysses." The contrasts between the two epics is great: The "Odyssey" has a duration of more than twenty years, while "Ulysses" has a duration of one day, June 16, 1904; the "Odyssey" is of a journey by Odysseus to a distant land, while in "Ulysses" Bloom simply wanders around Dublin for the day; Odysseus is a military hero, while Bloom (Ulysses) is an advertising salesman.
   
Declan Kiberd in an introduction to the Penguin Classics edition of James Joyce's "Ulysses" says:

"In this book, the very ordinariness of the modern Ulysses, Mr. Leopold Bloom, becomes a standing reproach to the myth of ancient military heroism.  Man's littleness is seen, finally, to be the inevitable condition of his greatness. What one man does in a single day is infinitesimal, but it is nonetheless infinitely important that he do it."  

Kiberd goes on to say:

"Leopold Bloom, on the other hand, never for a moment suspects his likeness to  Odysseus, but that very lack of pretension adds not only to the poignancy but also to the final likeness. Joyce implies that real heroism, like true saintliness, is never conscious of itself as such."

The "Odyssey" as a hero-journey is beyond the reach of the ordinary person even if it is imagined as a metaphorical journey. It is difficult for an ordinary person to identify oneself as a military hero in a battle in a far away land for a long period of time. Leopold Bloom as Ulysses (Odysseus) in James Joyce's "Ulysses" is a hero that the ordinary person can identify with, emulate and imitate. As the reader travels with Bloom around Dublin the reader cannot help but be taken by his acts of empathy, by his irrepressible curiosity, and by the authenticity with which he does so. Bloom is not free of flaws, but none of his flaws are grievous or unforgivable. The quest we each take every day should have as its basis a search for authentic meaning in a world grounded in mystery.