Who She Is
Calypso is the nymph who lives on the island of Ogygia, in a cave surrounded by woods, vines, and four springs, where she sings while she weaves with a golden shuttle. It is there that the poem finds Odysseus at the start of the story: held for years, without ships or companions, far from Ithaca. She wants him as her husband and offers him what a mortal does not have, a life without old age and without death. The poem does not show her only as an obstacle, because it is she who, in the end, gives the hero the axe, the sail, the provisions, the wind, and the guidance by the stars.
Trajectory
In Book I, Calypso does not yet appear on stage, and the one who speaks of her is Athena, in the council of the gods: Odysseus is held on the nymph's island, and she enchants him with sweet words so that he forgets Ithaca. He does not forget, and his wish is modest: to see at least the smoke of his own land.
αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεύς, / ἱέμενος καὶ καπνὸν ἀποθρῴσκοντα νοῆσαι / ἧς γαίης, θανέειν ἱμείρεται.(1.57-59), but Odysseus, longing to see at least the smoke rising from his own land, yearns to die.
In Book IV, Menelaus repeats to Telemachus what the old man of the sea told him: Odysseus is on an island, weeping, held by force by the nymph, without oared ships and without companions. For Telemachus it is the first sure news that his father is alive.
τὸν δʼ ἴδον ἐν νήσῳ θαλερὸν κατὰ δάκρυ χέοντα, / νύμφης ἐν μεγάροισι Καλυψοῦς, ἥ μιν ἀνάγκῃ / ἴσχει· ὁ δʼ οὐ δύναται ἣν πατρίδα γαῖαν ἱκέσθαι(4.556-558), I saw him on an island, shedding abundant tears, in the halls of the nymph Calypso, who holds him by force; and he cannot reach his native land.
The Book V is her book. Zeus sends Hermes to say that Odysseus will leave without escort of gods or men, on a raft. Calypso reacts with a complaint against the gods, who cannot bear a goddess sleeping openly with a mortal, and she gives as precedents Dawn and Orion, Demeter and Iasion, who were killed for it. She recalls that she saved Odysseus when Zeus broke his ship with a thunderbolt, and admits that she cannot go against the order.
σχέτλιοί ἐστε, θεοί, ζηλήμονες ἔξοχον ἄλλων, / οἵ τε θεαῖς ἀγάασθε παρʼ ἀνδράσιν εὐνάζεσθαι / ἀμφαδίην, ἤν τίς τε φίλον ποιήσετʼ ἀκοίτην(5.118-120), you gods are cruel, most envious of all, you who resent goddesses sleeping openly with men, if one of them makes a man her beloved husband.
On the beach, she tells Odysseus to stop weeping and build a raft. He is suspicious, and accepts only if she swears she will not do him any other harm. Calypso smiles, calls him crafty, and swears by the water of the Styx, saying of herself that she has a just mind and a compassionate heart. But the poem also records Odysseus's side: at night he slept in the caves because he was constrained, against his will, beside one who wanted him.
ἀλλʼ ἦ τοι νύκτας μὲν ἰαύεσκεν καὶ ἀνάγκῃ / ἐν σπέσσι γλαφυροῖσι παρʼ οὐκ ἐθέλων ἐθελούσῃ(5.154-155), but at night he would sleep, by constraint, in the hollow caves, unwillingly, beside her, who was willing.
καὶ γὰρ ἐμοὶ νόος ἐστὶν ἐναίσιμος, οὐδέ μοι αὐτῇ / θυμὸς ἐνὶ στήθεσσι σιδήρεος, ἀλλʼ ἐλεήμων(5.190-191), I too have a just mind, and in my breast my heart is not of iron, but compassionate.
At the table, she makes the decisive offer. If he knew the sufferings that fate holds for him before he arrives, he would stay with her and be immortal. Odysseus grants the whole premise, that Penelope is mortal and inferior to her in appearance, and still keeps wanting to return every day.
εἴ γε μὲν εἰδείης σῇσι φρεσὶν ὅσσα τοι αἶσα / κήδεʼ ἀναπλῆσαι, πρὶν πατρίδα γαῖαν ἱκέσθαι, / ἐνθάδε κʼ αὖθι μένων σὺν ἐμοὶ τόδε δῶμα φυλάσσοις / ἀθάνατός τʼ εἴης(5.206-209), if you knew in your heart how many sufferings fate ordains for you to fulfill before you reach your native land, you would stay here with me, guarding this house, and you would be immortal.
πότνα θεά, μή μοι τόδε χώεο· οἶδα καὶ αὐτὸς / πάντα μάλʼ, οὕνεκα σεῖο περίφρων Πηνελόπεια / εἶδος ἀκιδνοτέρη μέγεθός τʼ εἰσάντα ἰδέσθαι· / ἡ μὲν γὰρ βροτός ἐστι, σὺ δʼ ἀθάνατος καὶ ἀγήρως. / ἀλλὰ καὶ ὣς ἐθέλω καὶ ἐέλδομαι ἤματα πάντα / οἴκαδέ τʼ ἐλθέμεναι καὶ νόστιμον ἦμαρ ἰδέσθαι(5.215-220), revered goddess, do not be angry with me over this. I know it all very well myself: that prudent Penelope is inferior to you in appearance and in stature, to anyone who looks at you face to face. For she is mortal, and you are immortal and ageless. Yet even so I want and long every day to go home and see the day of my return.
After this conversation, Calypso keeps her promise: she gives the axe and the adze, the cloth for the sail, wine and water, sends a gentle wind, and teaches him to navigate by the Pleiades, Boötes, and the Bear, which he keeps on his left.
In Book VII, Odysseus tells Alcinous and the queen how she received him, fed him, and promised to make him immortal without persuading his heart, and how he spent seven years there, bathing with tears the clothes she gave him. In Book VIII, the hot bath the Phaeacians offer him is the first since he left the nymph. In Book IX, he tells that she and Circe wanted to keep him as a husband without persuading his heart.
τρηχεῖʼ, ἀλλʼ ἀγαθὴ κουροτρόφος· οὔ τοι ἐγώ γε / ἧς γαίης δύναμαι γλυκερώτερον ἄλλο ἰδέσθαι.(9.27-28), rough, but a good nurse of young men; I, for my part, cannot see any other land sweeter than hers.
In Book XII, Odysseus's narrative cites Calypso as the source of a piece of news: it was she who told him, through Hermes, of the Sun's wrath and of Zeus's decision to destroy the ship. The account ends with the arrival at her island. In Book XXIII, when he tells Penelope the whole night, he includes Calypso, who held him wanting him as a husband and promising to make him immortal, and did not persuade him.
Themes Embodied
Calypso embodies the attractive side of Home, exile, and return: the exile that does not look like a prison, because it offers shelter, song, food, and eternal life. Thus she puts to the test the core of Odysseus's Identity, which is mortal and wants to return to a house where he will grow old.
Calypso is not a jailer. The poem shows her yielding to Zeus's order, swearing, teaching the way, and giving provisions, and at the same time records that Odysseus sleeps with her only out of constraint. The two things stand side by side: she is generous, and his will counts for nothing in this arrangement. His refusal of immortality is worth more because it is made in the presence of someone who is, in fact, good.
Relationships
- Odysseus: the man she holds, loves, and in the end helps to leave.
- Zeus: the god whose order, carried by Hermes, she cannot oppose.
- Athena: who brings her case to the council in Book I and wants Odysseus's return.
- Penelope: the mortal rival, whom Calypso surpasses in appearance and whom Odysseus prefers all the same.
- Circe: the other goddess who wanted to keep him as a husband, and later helped him on his way.