Ulysse from Bagdad
Rewriting the mythical figure of Ulysses in Ulysses from Bagdad by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt
In Ulysses from Bagdad, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt consciously calls upon the myth: he takes the risk of ennobling his character, the illegal Iraqian immigrant, Saad Saad, by plunging him into a voyage comparable to that of Ulysses in the Odyssey. Ulysses’ journey, however, is a return trip, whereas Saad’s journey is a departure like others. This is not the only liberty the contemporary author takes with the matrix text. By analyzing this original rewriting of the famous myth, we observe that through the novel’s tone of parody, Schmitt is also the inheritor of Giraudoux. We conclude that Schmitt’s humour, his storytelling verve and his recourse to the great Homeric epic do not distract us from the serious nature of Saad Saad’s condition, but allow us, paradoxically, to measure its