Episode 5 of Ulysses–Lotus Eaters–corresponds to Books 7 and 8 of the Odyssey, in which Odysseus and his men eat lotus flowers, and become lethargically intoxicated. This feeling of lethargy pervades much of Episode 5, as Bloom associates narcotics, the East, and flowers in many of his thoughts, but I’m interested in how flowers subtly become tied to sexuality in Bloom’s thoughts. This connection became most apparent in the final sentence of Episode 5, when Bloom foresees his naked body floating and imagines his penis as a “languid floating flower” (Joyce 5.571). Somewhat of an odd comparison, but more of these associations appear throughout the episode; at the very beginning of the episode, Bloom thinks, “Flowers of idleness. The air feeds most. Azotes. Hothouse in Botanic gardens. Sensitive plants. Waterlillies. Petals too tired to. Sleeping sickness in the air. Walk on roseleaves” (Joyce 5.34-36). Following these thoughts on flowers, Bloom has two more sexual thoughts: Again he thinks of the woman in front of him at the butcher and how she walked, and then receives an erotic letter to his pen name alias, Henry Flower. After reading the letter and putting a scentless flower into his breast pocket, Bloom thinks, “Angry tulips with you darling manflower punish your cactus if you don’t please poor forgetmenot how I long violets to dear roses” (Joyce 5. 264-5). This line does not have an obviously clear meaning, but it does associate flowers with ideas of punishment and sexuality, and the line “manflower punish your cactus” both suggests masturbation and links to the scene at the end where Bloom imagines his male genitalia as a flower. I understood all of these linkages between Bloom’s thoughts of flowers and sexuality as a way to deal with the threats to his masculinity, which is challenged both by his fears of Molly having an affair and his inability to control his daughter’s burgeoning sexuality. By associating his genitalia and sexuality with flowers, which are fecund, a symbol of life, and have hundreds of pollen grains, Bloom seems able to alleviate some of his fear toward these threats.