The character of Ulysses ( in Greek , Odysseus ) have been explored widely in literature . The adventures of Odysseus was first recorded in Homer 's Iliad and Odyssey ( c . 800 – 700 BC ) , and Tennyson draw on Homer 's narrative in the poem . Most critics , however , find that Tennyson 's Ulysses recall Dante 's Ulisse in his Inferno ( c . 1320 ) . In Dante 's re @-@ telling , Ulisse is condemned to hell among the false counsellors , both for his pursuit of knowledge beyond human bounds and for his adventures in disregard of his family .