Ulysses Episode II: Nestor

Continuing on from the previous episode's theme of identity, here Stephen Daedalus is teaching a history class at a boy's school in Dalkey, one mile from the Martello tower. The chapter opens with a Joycean dialogue between teacher and pupil accompanied by a transient narrative. Along with characteristic wordplay such as 'Pyrrhus' being Latin for 'pier', there is an underlying theme of cultural identity. The pupils do not know many of the answers to Stephen's questions about ancient history yet they are 'welloff people' (p.24.) This is emphasised by Stephen's monologue:

'For them history was a tale like any other too often heard, their land a pawnshop.' (p.25.)

Stephen is then asked to tell a ghost story. A pupil begins reading from a book, Stephen's thoughts are transcribed, then he asks the class a riddle and they are sent to play.hockey. After they return to class, Stephen helps one boy with a maths problem. The boy is then called by another teacher, M.r Deasy.

Stephen is then paid for his teaching by M.r Deasy and they discuss political and ethical matters, wherein Stephen declares: 'I fear those big words which make us so unhappy.' (p.31). Also during this discussion, Stephen utters the famous line: 'history is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.' (p.34) This witty one-liner lays down the fundamental issue of the novel. Just like in a Portrait of the Artist, Stephen is trying to come to terms with his identity, although here in Ulysses he is older and able to look back on history. The chapter concludes with M.r Deasy making a crude joke about Ireland's lack of anti-Semitism.