Women in Homer's Odyssey, Joyce's Ulysses and Walcott's HomerThis essay explores the role of women in Homer's Odyssey, in James Joyce's Ulysses (1922) and in Derrick Walcott's Homer (1990), epic poems written in very different historical periods. Common to all three epics are women as a transformative figure in a man's life, whether as a prostitute or as a wife. In Homer's Odyssey, Kirke represents the catalyst that encourages the transformation of Odysseus into a mature man. Homer uses Kirke, a devoted nymph who displays divine powers, to portray the prostitute. After setting sail from the Laistrioni, Ulysses and his crew land in Aiaia. They disembark and search the island for food, but instead find the nymph in her palace. Authorized by the gods to bewitch the crew, Kirke turns Odysseus' men into pigs. Homer uses the word swine to describe the soldier's subconscious state of mind after years of war involving the rape of women and the pillaging of cities. “For ten years, [they] had been in Troy, fighting a war in a man's world, where no dialogue took place between men and women…” (Campbell 54). Both divine and mortal, the gods immunize Odysseus by sending the messenger, Hermes, with the black root and the milky white substance to neutralize Kirke's power. “Lady Kirke mixed me a golden cup of honey wine, malice adding her unholy drug” (Homer 175). Casting his spell and thinking it was needed, Kirke sends Odysseus to lie with his crew in the pigsty. "Down in the pigsty and snoring among the others!" (Homer 175). As Kirke's beer fails, Odysseus draws his sharp sword and with a leap places it against his throat. Kirke asserts his power and Odysseus subverts it, a rendezvous the gods deploy to free Odysseus from his scoundrel and... middle of paper....little ones. Smelling her aroma, feeling the air move as she passed, mesmerized by the serpentine grace of her body, he couldn't help but recognize her power. When Maud dies, Major Plunkett takes up residence on the island where he commemorates the life of the woman he loves, Helen. Works Cited Campbell, Joseph Mythic Worlds, Modern: On the Art of James Joyce New York: Harper Collins, 1993. Mamner, Robert D. The Epic of the Underdog: Derek Walcott's Omeros Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1997. Hexter, Ralph. A Guide to the Odyssey: A Commentary on Robert Fitzgerald's English Translation. New York: Random House, 1993. Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Random House, 1990. Joyce, James. Ulysses. New York: Random House, 1986. Walcott, Derek. Homer. New York: HarperCollins, 1990.