Locus Amoenus: All By My Shelf

I love the emphasis on storytelling: why stories are told over and over, and why/how they evolve with each retelling. And in that sense, the classical stories that Ulises reads and teaches are no different from the ones told by the sailors in the tavern. In fact, at one point it's mentioned that Ulises is starting to prefer the fishermen's stories, while Martina is becoming more interested in the mythological tales.