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Seminar paper from the year 2023 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, , language: English, abstract: There are not many novels which mention and discuss as many topics and themes as James Joyce's "Ulysses" does. From the parallelism to Homer's "Odyssey" to Shakespeare, Christ, Aristotle and Plato, only to mention a few, all these figures find their place in the day of Bloom. Moreover, from the very beginning of the novel, the reader finds himself confronted with numerous topics relating to Christianity in a perhaps unexpected way. Catholic theology and Church history is mocked and accompanied by blasphemous remarks, culminating in Stephen's profound thoughts on specific early Church heresies.
It is the purpose of this paper to explore the first chapter of "Ulysses" in order to construe the significance of Stephen's list of heretics and their heterodox beliefs for himself. Before the relevant heresies for Stephen's own views are discussed, I will first explicate the mockery of Catholicism by pointing out theological nuances and implications behind the main remarks and actions by Mulligan in "Telemachus".
Subsequently, based on Stephen's mental list of heretics in this chapter, I will elaborate on the various characters of Church history and their teachings in relation to orthodox Christian belief. As two specific figures, Arius and Sabellius, reappear later in "Ulysses", their role will be discussed by examining the chapters "Proteus" and "Scaylla and Charybdis". Drawing from the heretical Christological theories that Arius and Sabellius put forward, Stephen links Christological theology about the divine Father and Son to the human father-son relationship. It will be argued that the ironic depiction of Christian practice and theology as well as the heresies not only function as a symbol of rebellion against the Catholic Church but that in particular the heresies named after Arius and Sabellius serve as connective tissue, which Stephen uses to expand upon his rumination on his relationship with his father and fatherhood in general.
