Calypso (mythology)
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| Calypso | |
 "Now he's left to pine on an island, wracked with grief" (Odyssey V): Calypso and Odysseus, by Arnold Böcklin, 1883. |
|
| Abode | Ogygia |
|---|---|
| Parents | Atlas and Tethys |
| Children | Nausithous and Nausinous |
Calypso (Καλυψώ) was a sea nymph in Greek mythology and the daughter of the Titan god Atlas; her mother was probably Tethys.[1] Calypso was imprisoned on an island for supporting her father, a titan during the war between the Olympians and Titans. She is remembered for her imprisonment of the fabled Greek hero Odysseus (also credited as Ulysses) on her island, Ogygia (believed to be the modern day Gozo), in Homer's Odyssey. She desired to make him her immortal husband. Athena asked Zeus to spare Odysseus of his torment on the island, as he wanted to go to his homeland and see his beloved wife. Zeus sent Hermes, the messenger of the gods, to tell Calypso to release Odysseus. As Zeus was the Lord of the gods, she was unable to refuse him, although she did not wish to let him go. Odysseus eventually returned to his homeland of Ithaca, to be with his beloved wife Penelope who had been waiting for him for twenty years. After Odysseus left, Calypso was said to commit suicide, but being immortal, she just went through horrible pain.
According to Hesiod, Calypso bore Odysseus two children: Nausithous and Nausinous. The island of Gozo, part of the Maltese archipelago, has a long tradition that links it with the mythical figure of Calypso.
[edit] References
- ^ Turner, Patricia; Charles Russell Coulter (2001). Dictionary of Ancient Deities. Oxford University Press US. pp. 114. ISBN 0195145046.
