Thank-you so much! Good info. Lots of info and very descriptive. Thank you. This summary really helps me to put her song in context. For my citations, it is required that I need the author for this info and when you electronically published this paper. This info has just gotten me an easy a on my 4 paged essay i had to do in just two hours! This was very helpful thanks! Thanks a lot i was reading percy jackson so i wanted to find out more about calypso i was sad when percy left her but in the end she was free so its ok.
This was very helpful — especially for m research paper for the Odyssey! Great information! I appreciate the last paragraph. It make so much sense, this is exactly what I needed.
You really captured her essence. Thank you for not portraying her in the wrong manner as so many others do. I think she is a positive, not a negative one. She showed him where the best trees were on the island and gave him bronze tools to work with. While he cut the logs he needed she began fashioning a sail. It took four days for the work to be completed. On the fifth morning the nymph filled the raft with food, water, and wine and presented Odysseus with fine new clothing.
The hero was now under divine protection, however, and the sea nymph Ino came to his rescue. He reached the land of the friendly Phaeacians.
When he tells his tale they agree to help him return to Ithaca. Homer does not mention Calypso again. Many centuries later, a Roman poet would imagine her distress after Odysseus sailed away, saying that she sat by the sea and wept every time she remembered the happiness she had once shared with him. While most stories of love affairs in Greek mythology end with the birth of a child, or many children, Homer does not mention any children that Calypso may have had with Odysseus.
Any other children he may have fathered along the way would add an unnecessary complication to his story. Like many of the minor characters in Greek mythology , the identities of the possible children of Calypso vary from source to source.
Lacking documentation from Homer, later writers sometimes embellished or changed parentage when they recounted the tale. Circe is usually claimed to have given birth to at least three sons, although Odysseus only spent one year with her.
The discrepancies in the number of children each of his mistresses bore could be a commentary on how valid and ideal their relationships seemed to the writers. A few accounts, however, do name children born to Calypso during the seven years Odysseus spent with her.
While Odysseus worked hard, even in defiance of the gods and Fate, to get home to his son Telemachus, his other children are rarely mentioned again. Latinus had differing and often contradictory legends in Rome, and the only story of Telgonus is lost.
Telemachus was a driving force in the Odyssey , but the other children Odysseus fathered along the way remained little more than footnotes in the story. Calypso comes across as a difficult figure in the Odyssey. She held Odysseus on her island despite his growing unhappiness and only released him when commanded to.
The reader realizes that she could have helped him build his raft at any time. She produces the tools and shows Odysseus where to find the materials he needs only after she is left with no choice.
She also lies about her motivations for helping him leave her island. She does not tell him that Athena has petitioned Zeus on his behalf, but rather tries to paint the idea of his freedom as her idea.
When he returns to Ithaca, he is still uncertain whether Calypso had let him go willingly, as she tried to claim, or if the gods had intervened to force her. In the Odyssey , then, Calypso is generally interpreted as an egocentric and obsessive character. She may truly love Odysseus, but that love is made selfish by her lack of concern for his wants and happiness. Because Homer did not specify what happened to Calypso after she released Odysseus, later writers and artists had the freedom to portray her as they saw fit.
The fact that Calypso was entirely powerless to defy him painted her as the most tragic figure in the legend. Homer made it clear that Calypso felt more than just duty or lust toward Odysseus. She acted as his wife, creating an environment of domestic bliss even if he did not share her joy.
Despite this, her life and love were completely at the whims of a far-off ruler. A few went so far as to say she committed suicide in her grief, a rare event among the immortal gods. Calypso became symbolic of every lonely woman who felt little control over her own destiny. Calypso became a figure of loneliness, heartbreak, and the inability to fight back against the cruelties of fate.
She was often depicted in later works of art as a tragically melancholy character. Painters often showed her sitting on the rocks staring wistfully across the ocean. Calypso is thus a figure that is open to interpretation. Whether she is a domineering and selfish seductress or a loving victim of circumstance depends entirely on how the reader views her words and actions as Odysseus prepares to sail away.
Penelope is often held as the ideal wife in Greek society. Even when her husband is assumed to be dead, she remains loyal to him. As a wealthy widow, she attracted many suitors when her husband failed to return home. For many years, though, she avoided a second marriage. This ideal of a faithful and obedient wife stands in stark contrast to Calypso and the other lover Odysseus took on his travels, Circe.
Hermes advised Odysseus on how to avoid falling under her spell, part of which involved going to bed with her. When Odysseus did not fall to her shape shifting magic, Circe softened to him. She returned the men to their human forms and even advised Odysseus on how to reach the underworld so that he could continue on his journey.
Circe did not hold Odysseus captive, but he remained with her for a year. After that time his men still had to plead and argue with him to convince him to leave. The relationships started off much differently — Circe threatened Odysseus while Calypso saved him — but they had very different conclusions. The threatening Circe softened and became helpful while Calypso grew possessive. Odysseus stayed with Circe willingly, while he had no choice with Calypso. While Calypso lied about being ordered to let him go, Circe obliged the moment Odysseus told her he wanted to be off.
While Penelope is subservient, Circe treats Odysseus as an equal, and Calypso dominates the relationship. While our modern ideals are different, to the Greeks Penelope was the perfect mate. Cookie Settings Accept All. Manage consent. Close Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website.
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