The following version of this poem was used to create this guide: Tennyson, Lord Alfred. “Ulysses.” Poetry Foundation. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45392/ulysses.

Note that all parenthetical citations with the guide refer to the line number from which the quotation is taken.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson was born in 1809 in Lincolnshire, England, the son of a middle-class family. He became a poet early in life, and attended Cambridge, where his work was recognized both by the college and by some of the most celebrated writers of his day. In the 1830s, he experienced a series of tragedies: his father died unexpectedly, forcing him to leave Cambridge. His brother was institutionalized at an asylum, his book of poetry met heavy criticism, and his dearest friend died. It was in this difficult period that he wrote "Ulysses." When it was published at last, Tennyson was propelled back to fame and named Poet Laureate. He is one of the most widely quoted poets in the English language.

"Ulysses" is based on Homer's Odyssey, the famous epic poem composed during the height of Ancient Greek civilization. Ulysses, the Roman name of the character known as Odysseus, has been reimagined in a variety of celebrated works of literature across the centuries, including Virgil's Aeneid and Dante's Inferno. The Odyssey, along with its prequel, the Iliad, were the major texts in English education for centuries, and both these stories and their interpretations would have been familiar to Tennyson and his readers from childhood onward. The Odyssey tells the story of the legendary Greek king Odysseus. After the Trojan War, Odysseus must make the long journey home to Ithaca where his wife Penelope and son Telemachus have been waiting for him. Punished for his role in the fall of Troy (Odysseus was the inventor of the famous Trojan Horse), Odysseus's journey home takes ten years. During this time, he faces constant peril and overcomes many dangers to return home to his family at last.

Tennyson's poem reinterprets this story of homecoming. His Ulysses struggles with his role as the king of Ithaca and feels disconnected from his family. He longs for a return to adventure and danger, which he seeks at the end of the poem.