Notes on "Lotus Eaters"

Time:  10 a.m.

Technic:  "Narcissism" = ?

Homeric parallel:  "In the 'Odyssey' the followers of Ulysses are 
given the lotus to eat when they land among the lotus-eaters.  
The effect of the drug is to reduce men to inertia, to make them 
forgetful of their homes and desirous only of remaining where 
they are.  Ulysses has to drag them back aboard against their 
will till the effect of the fruit wears off" (Blamires 26).

In Joyce's version, Bloom is confronted with various seductive 
(mental) escapes from his diverse troubles.  The motif of lotus-
eating is very prominent:  

     58, 64, 65, 66, 69, 70.

Also:  the Bloom/Flower link and the secret correspondence -- a 
kind of emotional drug.  

Also:  the langour of sado-masochism and feminized Bloomian 
passivity.  Sexual reflections and avoidance of the central 
thought of adultery are scattered throughout.  Bloom hates 
it/likes it:

     61 ("Who's getting it up")'
     62 (male impersonator)
     67 (eunuchs)

Other matters of interest:  

     (70) the Throwaway misunderstanding with Bantam Lyons -- 
          Royal Ascot Cup race