 Tennyson adopts aspects of the Ulysses character and narrative from many sources ; his treatment of Ulysses is the first modern account . The ancient Greek poet Homer introduced Ulysses ( Odysseus in Greek ) , and many later poets took up the character , including <unk> , Horace , Dante , William Shakespeare , and Alexander Pope . Homer 's Odyssey provides the poem 's narrative background : in its eleventh book the prophet <unk> <unk> that Ulysses will return to Ithaca after a difficult voyage , then begin a new , mysterious voyage , and later die a peaceful , " <unk> " death that comes vaguely " from the sea " . At the conclusion of Tennyson 's poem , his Ulysses is contemplating undertaking this new voyage . 
