Ulysses Modern Design

Part of who you are is rooted in those experiences you’ve had.

The German poet Rainer Maria Rilke writes “The only journey is the journey within,” and by this he points to the reality that each of us—regardless of race, place, or time—embarks on our own personal journey called life.

A frequent metaphor of life’s journey is Homer’s Odyssey. From the story’s inception, it has served as a paradeigma in the fullest sense, which is, as scholar Werner Jaeger insists, an “example for imitation, as a fundamental category in life and thought” (Paedeia, vol. 1, 34). It is a story of adventure, tragedy, and resilience that is still relevant, issuing strength to people finding themselves on adventures filled with hardship and tragedy. But as a paradeigma, it invites us to imitate its protagonist, Odysseus, by pressing on against the odds and trusting that in the end we will find our way home from our wanderings and all things will be put to right.

The name “Ulysses”

Clara Quinn is co-owner of Ulysses Modern Design, a mid-century modern furnishings and apparel store located in Iowa City, IA. She quit her job as a nurse during the pandemic to open Ulysses Modern with her husband and co-owner, Ryan. Theirs is a story of heartbreak and hope, trial and resilience, yet she speaks with a deep generosity of spirit that echoes into the deep heart of the human experience.

She recently spoke with me via Zoom, and we started our conversation by discussing what initially drew me to interview her—the name “Ulysses,” which is the Latin form of Odysseus.

Furniture design — Photo courtesy of Clara Quinn

Bernard M. W. Knox writes, “The modern concept of tragic drama takes for granted the existence of a single central character, whose action and suffering are the focal point of the play–what we call ‘the tragic hero'” (1). Action and suffering. These two are inseparable: the hero must act because he is suffering, and his suffering is often because of certain actions that are unavoidable, inescapable. The second part of the name “Ulysses” as Clara relates, carries a very real sense of suffering, the death of their child.

I’m not sure if Clara or Ryan want to be regarded as heroes in the ancient, tragic sense of the word. But it’s hard not to see their resilience and hope in the face of such emotional pain—the pain of losing a child—as anything but heroic. Their story inspires—it inspires me to see that the deepest pain of the human experience does not mean the end of the story. In some ways, it points to a beginning that may or may not be seen until you’ve come through those initial, most painful moments of grief. Clara’s story fill my soul’s sails with hopeful winds.

The Odyssey as a homecoming

The Odyssey is not only an epic, it’s also a homecoming of a Greek hero, one of the many nostoi that the Greeks were consumed with preserving about the aftermath Troy. It’s a story that celebrates, as Jaeger points out, “fertile practical insight which saves his life and wins his return to his home through lurking dangers and powerful enemies” (22). But it’s not just that he gets home that is an achievement. Jeffrey Barnouw writes that Odysseus “subordinates short-term desires to long-term ones” (3) and to this we can add that he also subordinates his current suffering to future rest.

For Clara and her husband Ryan, Ulysses Modern has been type of homecoming, too, that has required sacrifice and suffering. In this way they are not unlike the Homeric hero. I asked Clara if she could expound on this sense of coming home, of overcoming hardships, and the day-to-day processes of running their business.

In conclusion, the story of Ulysses inspires people today to adventure, to press on even though the storms of life shipwreck our boats and toss the things most precious to us into a sea that’s unforgiving and cruel. It’s hard for me not to regard Clara and people like her as heroes, people who—sure, had no choice in the cruelties they were dealt but nevertheless found the grit to press on in spite of the pain, to dream in spite of the discouragement, and to go about doing what is good when what makes life beautiful ranges from the difficult to even the impossible to see. They are among those who achieve their greatness, as Knox writes, “through [their] loyalty to [their] nature in trial, suffering, and death” (27). Where their greatness comes from is important to see. One of the things that Clara says so eloquently is that experiencing tragedy makes you realize that “part of who you are is rooted in those experiences you’ve had.” The experiences make the person to a degree, and therein lies the fulcrum upon which experiences can make or break the person. Thus, what you experience is second to your view of that experience and of what, as Clara insists, you learn along the way.

Works Cited

Barnouw, J., 2004. Odysseus, Hero of Practical Intelligence: Deliberation and Signs in Homer’s Odyssey. University Press of America.

Jaeger, W., 1986. Paideia: The Ideals of Greek Culture: Volume I. Archaic Greece: The Mind of Athens (Vol. 1). Oxford University Press.

Knox, B., 1964. The heroic temper: studies in Sophoclean tragedy (No. 35). Univ of California Press.