Seems like a mash-up of Don Quixote with Ulysses

The main character seems to be modeled on Don Quixote with his noble, yet mad, crusade across a desert landscape filled with invisible enemies (bacteria in this case). His separation from his wife and the incident with the witch who seduces him from his quest seemed more reminicent of "The Odyssey," however. (Though it's been a long time since I read Don Quixote.)