The story of Odysseus would not exist if not for the strong female characters that all become a part of his journey. One of the women is the nymph, Calypso, who is forever banished to the island of Ogygia for her father’s wrongdoings. Odysseus ends up stranded on the island with her for seven years after being shipwrecked and lost at sea by Poseidon. Calypso ultimately acts a temptress to Odysseus, and serves as a constant reminder of everything he longs for back at home. Calypso means “to cloak”, which is basically what she is doing by hiding Odysseus away from the rest of world. It’s ironic because she herself is also isolated from any sort of connection, so when Odysseus shows up, it’s understandable why she wants to keep him there as long as possible. The island itself is described as a magical paradise. The Odyssey states that “even a deathless god/ who came upon that place would gaze in wonder,/ heart entranced with pleasure” (5. ll. 82-83). That, in addition to Calypso being a beautiful goddess who is offering Odysseus immortality, makes the prospect of remaining on the island more than bearable. Odysseus is a warrior who has been through struggle after struggle, so the idea of a having an easy-out, a life of complete relaxation, is extremely tempting. Calypso is the cage that is trapping …show more content…
Calypso’s island has a cave, which makes the place like a pit stop for Odysseus. Characters’ stays in caves aren’t permanent. Meaning, that no matter how tempting Calypso might be, she is temporary in the long run. She is a significant part of Odysseus’ journey though, because she prepares him for the troubles that are still yet to come. Calypso makes sure he’s back to full strength, while also causing a deep desire for home to grow within him. When it is time for Odysseus to leave, he does so ready and willing to face whatever future troubles that are yet to come. She serves as his protector when he needs it
Odysseus finally meets the most formidable opponent to his desire for nostos in the goddess Kalypso, who offers him the unparalleled luxury and security of kalupto on the hidden island of Ogygia. Ogygia tempts Odysseus as the ultimate paradise, as “even a god who found this place would gaze, and feel his heart beat with delight” (5.79-80), and Kalypso, “a nymph, immortal and most beautiful, who craved him for her own” offers him love, care, and sexual pleasure for a decade (1.21-23). Kalypso and her island embody the idea of kalupto in its most enticing form yet, providing Odysseus with a lifestyle that even his hard-sought nostos cannot give. Ogygia’s kalupto is Odysseus’s most challenging test in proving his determination to come home, as he is given a choice to remain peacefully on the prosperous island or continue his perilous travels.
Calypso and Odysseus in the beginning do not like each other, Odysseus’ men went onto her island and she turned them into pigs. Odysseus made a wonderful choice to stay behind in case something happened, so after his men were turned into pigs he persuaded her to turn them back and help them. Odysseus’ background is not told to the reader. To figure out why he went to Troy the reader would have had to read previous mythology stories.
While on the island he had many affairs with Calypso, and became unfaithful to Penelope, but he longed for home each night. Showing that he was not strong enough to leave the island, he became as useless as a ragdoll, and relied on the gods to set him free. Athena was on his side so she used her power, and persuaded Zeus to order Calypso to let him go. With out the help from the gods and doing what Athena wanted, which was for him to leave Calypso's island, and return to Ithaca, we would have stayed on the island with Calypso for eternity. This event is a clear example of How Odysseus was a puppet of the gods, and could not control his
Calypso being visited by Hermes, was instructed by Zeus to release Odysseus from her possession. Although Odysseus had no men to row him across the sea, Calypso instructed Odysseus to cut long timbers and make himself a raft that was fitted with top decks to get across the sea (pg. 389). Being able to build his own raft was a courageous act of his own in the attempt to make his way back home. “Blasphemous, that’s what you are- but nobody’s fool” is what Calypso said to Odysseus before she saw him off.
The first instance that a grand event affects Odysseus includes Calypso holding him hostage on her island for seven years. Starting on page 187, Calypso holds Odysseus captive as a slave for seven years. This affects Odysseus because after Zeus convinces her to let him go, he has to build his own ship and swim for two days and two nights. Last of all, Odysseus’ whole journey back to Ithaca affects him. Most of his struggles come from when he says that no one helped him in the Trojan War and that he did everything himself.
Calypso was a Goddess-nymph who lived on the mythical island of Ogygia. When Odysseus shipwrecked onto her island, she fell in love with him, she wanted him to stay with her forever. Odysseus says that she ¨loved me excessively and cared for me, and she promised to make me an immortal and all my days to be ageless, but never so could she win over the heart within me.¨ So, after getting rejected by Odysseus multiple times, she granted him immortality and eternal youth.
When Odysseus must choose between passing Scylla, a man eating monster, or Charybdis, a vicious whirlpool, he chooses Scylla because the least amount of men will be lost. His men are very important to him so he tries hard to make the necessary sacrifices to ensure the best outcomes. After they escape Scylla, a terrible storm destroys the ship and the rest of the men. Odysseus is left alone as he makes his way to Calypso’s island. A while later, Calypso releases Odysseus under Zeus’ commands.
The natives there gave Odysseus and his men an intoxicating fruit of the lotus. After Odysseus and his men eat the fruit, they forget all of their thoughts about home and decide to eat more of the fruit. The only way that Odysseus can get him and his men back home is by dragging his men back to the ship and lock them up, Odysseus decides to go along with it. When Odysseus went back to Ithaca, He made the wise choice to go and see his wife Penelope. Odysseus was so brave to go see his wife because he didn’t know if she was going to recognize him at all or want to be with him for the rest of her life.
Odysseus was trapped in Calypso Island for ten years and this made his son Telemachus to embark on a journey to find him after he learnt that he was not dead. The story is filled with mysterious and supernatural forces and happenings, but they still keep the characters going on in their expeditions. The Odyssey is an epic whereby the characters are developed
It was through Athena’s persuasion that convinced Zeus to have Calypso to let Odysseus leave her island. In response to Athena, Zeus said, “You conceived it yourself: Odysseus shall return and pay the traitors back” (Homer, Odyssey, V.26-27). The only reason Odysseus was free and performed the actions that he did after leaving Calypso’s island was all attributed to Athena. Whenever Odysseus appeared to be in a perilous situation, it was Athena who always aided him. “But Zeus’s daughter Athena countered him at once.
Everybody has temptations and more often than not, great war heroes choose to give into them. Odysseus has time and time again, continuously continued to do so. As the evidence states, “...detained long by Calypso, loveliest among goddesses, who held me in her smooth caves…”, he
As Odysseus arrives to the island-home of Calypso, the beautiful nymph, he is quickly held prisoner. Although it may seem that Odysseus felt that he was truly a prisoner, he, at one point in his stay, enjoyed Calypso’s presence and was willingly seduced by her. It is clear that over the seven-year stay, Calypso had fallen in love with Odysseus and he had let his vulnerability to women become his harshest weakness. Her female dominance was even shown at times of manipulation through her ability to hold a man prisoner and prevent him from carrying on with his travels home. Although, when it came upon Athena that Odysseus was eager to arrive home to Ithaca, Zeus sent Hermes to have Calypso free Odysseus.
The responsibility for this suffering is caused by a mixture of both human actions, along with the intervention of the gods. The plotline depends heavily upon the idea of suffering, due to the separation between characters. The suffering through separation throughout the story plays a critical role in the development of the characters, and for the advancement of the storyline. Between Odysseus and Penelope and Calypso and Odysseus, the pressure of each character’s situation tests their mental strength, while highlighting their intense sorrow felt while being separated from one another. After Odysseus had defeated Troy, he ended up on an island with the beautiful goddess Calypso.
”(5.91-96). which Calypso is the cause of. This quote supports the reason because it shows that Odysseus does not like being trapped on Ogygia, especially with a woman he did not like. If he truly liked Calypso, he would have decided to stay with her forever, and forget his wife. But, he did not which proves his true loyalty to his wife Penelope.
Throughout the Odyssey Calypso is depicted as a selfish goddess who is keeping Odysseus in her Island by force. Odysseus was always painted as the victim, always weeping and said to be an "unwilling lover alongside lover all too willing...". She's painted in a darker light when Hermes comes and delivers Zeus's commands. When Zeus tells her to release Odysseus from her island and to let him sail back to Ithaca, she lashes out, claiming that the gods are "scandalized when goddesses sleep with mortals". When the gods ask her to release Odysseus she assumes that the gods are upset at her and are concerned about the nature of her relationship.