Simon Dedalus is a fictional character in two works by James Joyce - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Ulysses. He is the father of Stephen Dedalus, a principal character in both books, and a friend of Leopold Bloom, the hero of Ulysses. Dedalus is a passionate Irish nationalist and follower of Parnell, and a fine drinking companion, but proves a poor pater familias, unable to care for his large family, and is seen as an inadequate father to Stephen, who, in Ulysses, must seek out Bloom as a surrogate father figure, despite Simon's frequent presence throughout the book. Dedalus was largely based on Joyce's own father, John Stanislaus Joyce.