“Szombathely, Vienna, Budapest”: Epic Geography and the Austro-Hungarian Dimension of James Joyce’s Ulysses

Abstract

It is well known that James Joyce’s Ulysses transfers the Greek epic of Odysseus to Ireland and the Jewish Diaspora, and that the link between these three cultures is provided by the Jewish Irishman Leopold Bloom, whose movement through Dublin follows the structural pattern of the Homeric Odyssey. In contrast to the scrupulous study of Bloom’s urban migrations within the Hibernian metropolis, however, scholars have turned a comparatively blind eye to a much longer journey represented within the scope of Ulysses. To shed light on this neglected journey, this article will examine the travels of Bloom and Odysseus in relation to those of the Virags—Bloom’s Jewish ancestors who emigrated from the Holy Land to Ireland. Whereas the Homeric Ulysses and Bloom move in a cyclical way and end their voyages where they begin them, the Virags proceed in a linear route from the southeast to the northwest of Europe. Their journey westwards leads them through the center of the European continent: They travel through the Austro-Hungarian cities of Szombathely, Vienna, and Budapest (U 17. 535) before making a detour through Milan and Florence in order to reach London and Dublin. The exact geographical information that we get about this voyage comes in the ‘‘Ithaca’’ episode: