Publisher's Synopsis
English summary: In the classical tradition, Ulysses is an independent and inventive character, an ideal of humanity, entirely resolved to achieve his mission and self-perfection. In this light, the trials he endures are merely the instruments of an enlightening philosophical message. But this classical reading leaves in the shade all the anthropological material which the Odyssey turns into an epic, namely, the ambivalent relationship of human beings to pleasure. For the Odyssey is indeed an epic of pleasures. Ulysses' accomplishment is not based on rational choices guided by self-control and mastering of others. Complex and elusive, Ulysses achieves his ends because he relies on the effects of his narratives. He is efficient because he has charisma and takes an immoderate pleasure in using it. With its cultural richness, the Odyssey contradicts the idea, deeply rooted in Western thought, according to which pleasure can only be assimilated to self-concern. In the Odyssey, pleasure can come from the dangerous carelessness provided by oblivion (the Sirens), from listening to advice and following them (Circe), from surrendering to a trial (Penelope's acknowledgments), from physical and intellectual confusion. This disorientation caused by pleasure can be destructive. For Ulysses, it is also the possibility to increase his intelligence by meeting beings and exploring places he cannot control. With its huge anthropological signifiance, this essay questions the concept efficiency in a changing and unpredictable universe. It highlights different aspects of classical thought neglected by Humanities scholars, such as the link between intelligence and pleasure, the relation to alterity, or the desire for each of us to feed our existence with words, narratives, and fiction. French description: Autonome, inventif, perseverant, la tradition classique fait d'Ulysse un ideal d'humanite tourne tout entier vers l'accomplissement de sa mission et la perfection de soi. Mais cette lecture laisse dans l'ombre toute la matiere anthropologique que l'Odyssee transforme en recit epique, a savoir l'attachement ambivalent de l'homme au plaisir. Car l'Odyssee est bien l'epopee des plaisirs. La reussite d'Ulysse ne repose pas sur des choix rationnels guides par la maitrise de soi et des autres. Ulysse polutropos, complexe, insaisissable, parvient a ses fins parce qu'il s'appuie sur les effets que produisent ses recits; il est efficace car il plait et prend un plaisir immodere a plaire. Culturellement exceptionnelle, l'Odyssee contredit l'idee profondement ancree dans la pensee occidentale selon laquelle le plaisir serait assimile au seul souci de soi. Dans l'Odyssee, le plaisir peut provenir de l'insouciance dangereuse de l'oubli (les Sirenes), de l'obeissance aux recommandations (Circe), de la soumission a une epreuve (signes de reconnaissance de Penelope), de la confusion physique et intellectuelle. Cette desorientation causee par le plaisir est potentiellement destructrice. Elle est aussi, pour Ulysse, la possibilite d'une intelligence augmentee, acquise dans la frequentation d'etres et de lieux qu'il ne maitrise pas. Anthropologiquement fecond, cet essai interroge le sens de l'efficacite dans un univers changeant et imprevisible. Il met en lumiere differents aspects de la pensee classique delaisses par la tradition des Humanites, comme le lien entre intelligence et plaisir, le rapport a l'alterite, ou encore le desir de chacun de nous de ponctuer son existence de mots, de recits et de fiction.
