CantaClassics

Epithets used to describe Calypso:

· Powerful

· Goddess of the flashing eyes

· The nymph with the plaited tresses

· Divine

· Gracious

Calypso is fairly vain, beautiful, and proud. This daughter of Atlas rescued the wise Odysseus from the brink of death as he drifted alone in the seas. Each night she sleeps with Odysseus and offers him the chance to marry her and become immortal. She cannot understand why he would chose his mortal wife Penelope, who’s looks are inferior to hers, and has not been blessed by immortality and eternal youth. She does not want to let Odysseus leave her, but her fear for Zeus is greater than her will to keep Odysseus. She is very cheerful and happy, skilled on the loom and carefree. She is jealous of Odysseus’ love for Penelope. She has a beautiful singing voice, and she is merrily singing and weaving when Hermes arrives to deliver the news of Odysseus’ return to Ithaca. She is wary of the hospitality required by the gods and when Hermes visits she pulls him a polished chair, greets him with “you are an honoured and welcome guest”, and offers him ambrosia and pours him a cup of red nectar. She is convinced that the gods are removing Odysseus through jealousy, and she fights back against Zeus’ decision, although she knows that she cannot possibly sway him. She launches a verbal attack on the gods, talking about how they rejected “rosy fingered dawn when she fell in love with (mortal) Orion”, and they snubbed Demeter when she fell in love with Iasion. Calypso is also described as being a “cold lover, ardent lady” when in bed with Odysseus. Her willpower is great, and she fights for Odysseus for the entirety of her life with him. Even as he prepares to leave she tries to convince him that Penelope is not the one, and that if he was to stay with her he would have a pleasant immortal life

By Lucy