Heroes The name Ulysses instantly conjures up images of heroism and adventure. Even modern readers who are less versed in classical literature recognize the larger-than-life character, if not the specific details of this legend. It is with these associations in mind that one approaches the poetic monologue “Ulysses” by Alfred Lord Tennyson. Tennyson, hwoever, presents the reader with a man rather than a hero. The Ulysses of his imagination is restless rather than self-satisfied and irresponsible and selfish rather than altruistic. Th ....