Oxen of the sun - 'Ulysses' - James Joyce
Time:
10pm - 11pm
Scene:
'The Hospital'
Persons:
Bloom - Ulysses
Stephen - Telemachus
Drunk students - The crew of Ulysses
Hospital -
Trinacria
Horne -
Helios
Nurses -
Lampetie,
Phaetusa
Symbol::
-- Womb
Art/Science: MEDICINE
The scene starts at the National Maternity Hospital on Holles Street
with a chant, repeated three times and a midwife cry when she cele-
brates the birth of a son with 'hoopsa boyaboy hoopsa'. What then
happens is Joyce's implementation of the birth of nonsensical and con-
fusing development of
language, starting from Latin to modern Eng-
lish.
Bloom drops in the hospital to check Mrs. Purefoy, who is in labor.
He is lead to a room with drunken students, is offered beer (which he
doesn't drinks) and meets Stephen and Mulligan. Amidst a stormy weather,
including thunder and lightning (scarying Stephen),
the drunk students
make jokes and fun of Stephen and Bloom.
After Mrs. Purefoy's succesfull childbirth, the group leaves for Burkes,
a pub. Bloom stays behind for a minute to congratulate the new mother.
In 'Oxen of the Sun', Odysseus warns his crew not to touch the cattle
of Helios. They disobey and when the ship sets sail, Helios sents a
lightening bolt that destroys Odysseus's ship.