This chapter sees the introduction of the novel's second protagonist, Leopold Bloom. At the Bloom's residence, Number 7 Eccles Street, Leopold is having breakfast at 8am. The opening line of the chapter describes how Bloom 'ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls.' (p.53), this is typical imagery of Joyce's corporeal characterisation as opposed to the mental portrayal of Stephen Daedalus.
Calypso, (the name; like all other chapter titles is taken from Homer's Odyssey) bears a subtle resemblance to the opening episode, Telemachus. The explanatory notes of the Oxford Edition of Ulysses state: 'Bloom is the height of a tower to the cat which has eyes like green gems and laps milk brought by Hanlon's milkman' (p.793). This pertains to the Martello tower, the green gems and the milk woman which all feature in Telemachus. Joyce expertly introduces Leopold Bloom by playing on the reader's concept of familiarity.
As Bloom feeds his cat, questioning whether it can understand him, he eats breakfast. He then goes to see his wife, Marion Bloom, who is in bed. She has received a letter from Blazes Boylan, a music hall arranger who has requested her to sing at an upcoming concert. Leopold reads a letter from his daughter, Milly. Then, whilst explaining to his wife the origins of the word 'metempsychosis', Bloom realizes the kidney he put on the
stove is starting to burn. He runs into the kitchen and eats the burnt kidney.
Towards the end of the chapter, Bloom thinks about the upcoming funeral of his late friend, Paddy Dignam and in a crude sense of irony he goes to the outhouse to defecate. The chapter is composed of three elements; the ingestion of food, the digestion of news and letters and the excretion of thought, the death of Paddy Dignam and in the vulgar sense, waste. However, there is also a vital insight into the relationship of the Blooms, particularly in the revelation that they 'dislike dressing together' (p.67) this will prove significant as the story develops.
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