Mare Nostrum

Mare Nostrum (1918) is one of Vicente Blasco Ibáñez’s best-known novels. It takes place mainly in the Mediterranean during the First World War. Captain Ulises Ferragut, born in Valencia, is the son of a notary. His father wants him to be a lawyer, but his godfather teaches him a taste for art. Ulysses is a dreamy boy, in love with the Greek Empress Dona Constance, daughter of Frederick II of Swabia and visits her tomb in the Church of the Hospital of Valencia during mass.
Later Ulysses, studies Law by imposition of his father, but after the death of this obtains the title of Naval Pilot. He sails the world as a pilot, and then as a captain. He is shipwrecked and rests in Barcelona, with his mother and her niece whom he marries. After the wedding, Ulysses buys a merchant ship which he names: Mare Nostrum.
At first he has a hard time finding cargo. When the First World War broke out, everything changed, the war demanded supplies of goods and the Mare Nostrum always sailed loaded.
The plot continues with numerous adventures: Ulysses falls in love with a mysterious woman in Naples, travels the Mediterranean in the middle of the war and meets veterans of the battle of Thessaloniki. Marseille, Barcelona are also the backdrop to his adventures.