Virgil and Joyce

James Joyces Ulysses is a modern version of Homers Odyssey, but Joycewho was a better scholar of Latin than of Greekalso was deeply influenced by the Aeneid, Virgils epic poem about the journey of Aeneas and the foundation of Rome. Joyce wrote Ulysses during the Irish War of Independence, when militants, politicians, and intellectuals were attempting to create a new Irish nation. Virgil wrote the Aeneid when, in the wake of decades of civil war, Augustus was founding what we now call the Roman Empire. Randall Pogorzelski applies modern theories of nationalism, intertextuality, and reception studies to illuminate how both writers confronted issues of nationalism, colonialism, political violence, and freedom during times of crisis.