Teaching Tennyson's Ulysses

Alfred Tennyson's “Ulysses” is a complex poem about Ulysses/Odysseus' return from his adventures. There are a few different reasons why I think Ulysses might be difficult to teach. One reason I think that it might be difficult is that it requires the reader have some prerequisite knowledge of the Odyssey. While pop culture is flooded with references to homeric works, I think these references are often missed, and a large percentage of the students will be unaware of the knowledge that Tennyson presumes that the reader has.

As such, if one simply read the work without background information, many students will get tripped up by the references. Who is Achilles? Who is Telemachus? Who is Hyades? What is Troy? Because of this, I think as a teacher, one would have to give a brief overview of the Odyssey, simply so that the students would have a starting point. This makes things a bit more difficult, because you have to balance what amount of time you want to spend on the poem and what amount of time you want to spend on background information. Depending on the age level, this could be partially solved by teaching the Odyssey.

Another problem I think one could face is a problem with language. I'm not sure how many students know what a “crag” is or what a “hearth” is, and that is just in the second line. So you would have to explain the terminology, so that students can more properly understand the poem. Only once this is done, can you turn to the more literary elements contained within the poem, such as carpe diem and the possible use of irony.