How Odysseus landed in Ogygia

When returning from Troy, Odysseus' ship came for the second time between Scylla ₁ and Charybdis, the feared monsters that were at each side of the strait separating Italy and the island of Sicily. It was then that Zeus, in order to placate Helius, who was angry against Odysseus' comrades because they had being insolent enough to kill his immortal cattle when they were in the Island of the Sun, thundered and struck the vessel by lightning. This was the end of the remainder of Odysseus' army; for here all his comrades drowned once the ship was destroyed. But Odysseus himself, after having lashed the broken keel and the mast together as a raft, managed to stay afloat and escape Charybdis' whirlpool. For when the monster sucked the water down, and with it the raft, Odysseus clinged to a branch of a fig tree until Charybdis spewed up the mast and the keel, which the monster did several hours later. Then he dropped into the water and, bestriding the raft, he rowed away with his hands. After having drifted for nine days, Odysseus was washed up, in the night of the tenth, on the remote Island of Ogygia, the exact location of which, in the western Mediterranean Sea, has been forgotten.

Calypso ₃ receives him kindly

The goddess Calypso ₃, who lived in a cave sheltered by alders, aspens and cypresses, received him kindly and looked after him. And having fallen in love with him and wishing him to stay with her forever, she offered to make him immortal and ageless. But Odysseus refused the beautiful goddess' splendid offer. And instead of living the sorrowless life of an immortal, being cherished by a lovely goddess, he chose to languish in misery in this golden prison, longing for Ithaca and Penelope. Such was the nature of the love he felt for his wife and the island realm that he had left years ago against his will, when King Agamemnon's agent Palamedes outwitted him, and thereby forced him to join the alliance that sailed against Troy in order to obtain, by force or by persuasion, the restoration of Helen and the property that had been stolen by the seducer Paris when he visited Sparta.

During the day the inconsolable Odysseus sat on the Ogygian shore, giving himself to tears and heartache as he looked across the sea, and by night the cold lover Odysseus slept with the still ardent Calypso ₃ in her cavern, a lovely place with many trees and birds and a garden vine with great bunches of grapes trailing round the entrance, and surrounded by four rivulets running in every direction, and meadows where the iris and the parsley flourished. Everything, they say, was so delightful that even an immortal visitor would have gazed in wonder at the goddess' home. However, for Odysseus this island was the prison that kept him away from home for seven years, or perhaps five, or as others say, for only one. But Athena, who never desert her favorites, as long as they stay civilized, intelligent and self-possessed, presented Odysseus' case to Zeus, and the god ordered the heavenly envoy Hermes to convey the final decision to Calypso ₃, which was to let Odysseus go.

Hermes pays a visit to Calypso ₃

Now, all immortals know each other, even though they may live apart, and that is why no one had to introduce Hermes when he appeared in Calypso ₃'s cave after his long journey across the sea. The god refreshed himself with the ambrosia that Calypso ₃ put on the table, drinking a cup of red nectar to it. However, despite the kind reception, Hermes would have preferred to be elsewhere, for as he himself said, between Olympus and Ogygia, there was nothing except the vast expanse of the sea, and even a god likes to find a city on the way. But as neither mortals nor immortals can evade Zeus' will, he traveled to this otherwise lovely place, and delivered to the dainty goddess the final decision about this case:

"... Now Zeus bids you to send Odysseus off without delay. He is not doomed to end his days on this island, away from all his friends. On the contrary, he is destined to see them yet, to reach his native land, and to step beneath the high roof of his house." (Hermes to Calypso ₃. Homer, Odyssey 5.112).

These were no good news for Calypso ₃, and that is why she replied thus:

"Cruel folk you are, unmatched for jealousy, you gods who cannot bear to let a goddess sleep with a man, even if it is done without concealment and she has chosen him as her lawful consort." (Calypso ₃ to Hermes. Homer, Odyssey 5.120).

And recalling how Orion had been shot by Artemis because Eos loved him, and how Zeus struck Iasion dead with his thunderbolt because he was loved by Demeter, she thought that now her own turn had come. This was most unfair, she reasoned, for after all she had rescued Odysseus from death as he drifted astride the keel of the same ship that Zeus had shattered with his lightning. But nevertheless, the gods of the sky being more powerful than her, she had to comply, and that is why she, when Hermes had left, told her guest:

"My unhappy friend ... as far as I am concerned there is no need for you to prolong your miseries or waste any more of your life on this island. For I am ready with all my heart to help you leave it." (Calypso ₃ to Odysseus. Homer, Odyssey 5.160).

Calypso ₃ then gave him leave to make a boat, and promised to stock it herself with bread, water and wine, and send a following wind so that he may reach Ithaca without difficulties. And as Odysseus could not believe what he was hearing, and instead suspected some mischief, she gave him the greatest and most solemn oath that the gods can take:

"Now let Earth be my witness, with the broad Sky above, and the falling waters of the Styx ... that I harbour no secret plans against you ..." (Calypso ₃ to Odysseus. Homer, Odyssey 5.184).

Straight away after this oath, Calypso ₃, disregarding the fact that just a little while ago she had protested against Zeus' decision, told Odysseus that she did this because after all she had a righteous mind and a heart that, not being indeed of iron, had compassion.

Persuasion takes over

0421: Odysseus and Calypso. Hendrik van Balen, Jan Brueghel the Elder and Joos de Momper the Elder. Gemäldegalerie der Akademie der bildende Künste, Wien.

Now, at times, when Persuasion can no longer act, Force comes to perform the task; but at other times, when Force is exhausted, then Persuasion takes over. That is why Calypso ₃, who, after heaven's decision, saw her force ebb away, now resorted to persuasion, while she and Odysseus helped themselves to the delicacies that the goddess' maids had spread before them, saying that indeed Odysseus had no idea about the full measure of misery that he would have to endure before reaching Ithaca, declaring that if he did he would never leave Ogygia. She also invited him to become immortal and share her lovely home, claiming that she herself could not be inferior to Penelope, who was a mortal woman, and therefore unable to compete with the elegance and looks of a goddess.

Odysseus' final answer And Odysseus had to reply:

"Mighty goddess, be not wroth with me for this. I know full well of myself that wise Penelope is meaner to look upon than you in comeliness and in stature, for she is a mortal, while you are immortal and ageless. But even so I wish and long day by day to reach my home, and to see the day of my return." (Odysseus to Calypso ₃. Homer Odyssey 5.220).

Calypso ₃ sees him off

When also persuasion failed, Calypso ₃, obeying the gods and keeping her oath, gave him tools and led him to the farthest part of the island, where Odysseus cut the timber down. She also brought him cloth to make the sail, and on the fifth day Odysseus left the island in the new built boat, which the goddess filled with provisions, such as wine, water, corn, and meats. Some have said that Calypso ₃, not being able to find consolation when Odysseus left, committed suicide, but immortals are not likely to perform this kind of deed.

Others with identical name: Calypso ₁ is counted among the NEREIDS, and Calypso ₂ is one of the OCEANIDS.