THE ADVENTURES OF ULYSSES

BY

CHARLES LAMB




PREFACE


This work is designed as a supplement to the Adventures of Telemachus. It
treats of the conduct and sufferings of Ulysses, the father of Telemachus.
The picture which it exhibits is that of a brave man struggling with
adversity; by a wise use of events, and with an inimitable presence of
mind under difficulties, forcing out a way for himself through the
severest trials to which human life can be exposed; with enemies natural
and preternatural surrounding him on all sides. The agents in this tale,
besides men and women, are giants, enchanters, sirens: things which denote
external force or internal temptations, the twofold danger which a wise
fortitude must expect to encounter in its course through this world. The
fictions contained in it will be found to comprehend some of the most
admired inventions of Grecian mythology.

The groundwork of the story is as old as the Odyssey, but the moral and
the coloring are comparatively modern. By avoiding the prolixity which
marks the speeches and the descriptions in Homer, I have gained a rapidity
to the narration which I hope will make it more attractive and give it
more the air of a romance to young readers, though I am sensible that by