In this section of the story the reader discovers Odysseus on the island of Calypso, a sweet nymph who has desired and detained Odysseus on her island for seven long years. However, Zeus believes it is time for Odysseus to head homeward and sends Hermes to release Odysseus from Calypso. Calypso agrees to let Odysseus escape after one last dinner where Calypso offers to make Odysseus immortal. Odysseus denies the temptation explaining he longs for his home and his wife, Penelope. Therefore, Odysseus constructs a raft which Hermes gave him and sails to the island Scheria; there he conceals himself under a pile of leaves and falls into a deep sleep.
The theme of resisting temptation offers the readers the first glimpse of Odysseus’s
Odysseus states, “The dangerous nymph Calypso lives and sings there, in her beauty and she received me, loved me”(ll.991-993). Calypso loves Odysseus because of his looks and his wisdom, and so do the other women on her island, especially since they have never seen a man before. When Odysseus explains the reasons of why he can not stay on Ogygia, Calypso tells him that Ogygia is his home from now on. Within hearing this, Odysseus loses all hope of ever getting back home to his sweet wife, Penelope and his dear son, Telemachus. The god Hermes tells Calypso to free Odysseus or Zeus will punish her, she frees Odysseus, and he returns to the sea, with all hopes restored to returning
After assisting Telemachus, Athena ventures to the Island where Calypso lives to free Odysseus. Odysseus is then given a boat by Calypso to return to home. On the way home, he lands on a strange place which is unknown to him. Athena, cognizant of Odysseus' arrival, travels to the palace of Alcinous disguised as one of Nausicaa's friends. Athena enters the palace and gives Nausicaa advice to venture to river so she would clean herself up to make her presentable to men. In doing this, Athena has sent Nausicaa to meet up with Odysseus at the river. It was then Odysseus' turn to be disguised.
Who we are depends on how we react to major events in our lives. Our character traits build off of these experiences, too. In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus shows many traits while he travels on this adventure. Some of these include cleverness, leadership, and self-restraint.
While Odyesseus was gone his son Telemachus has grown into a man and his wife Penelope is overwhelmed by suitors who think Odysseus is dead. These suitors have been living in Odysseus’ home eating his food trying to overrun his palace. While Poseidon is away from Olympus, Penelope convinces the other gods to help Odysseus return home. In disguise in Ithaca, she convinces Telemachus to look for his father. Telemachus goes to Pylos and finds out that Odysseus is being held prisoner by Calypso. Zeus orders that Odysseus be allowed to go home so he leaves on a raft.
As he is sailing he is greeted by a goddess, Athena, and she becomes his guardian. He then sails to an island and is trapped by the goddess Calypso for seven years until Hermes comes to the island and tells her to let him go. He ends up going to another island and is trapped in a Cyclop’s cave. He pokes the Cyclop’s eye out and escapes the island. He ends up sailing away with his men and ends up on the island of Circe, a powerful witch, she turns all of his men into animals. Odysseus is given a flower so that he cannot be turned into an animal. He is told that he must go to the land of the dead and offer many things. He does what he is told then he is left to set sail again. They get back into the open sea and are attacked by Sirens, and murdered by the Scylla and Charybdis. He finally makes it home to Ithaca and he sees his son, his son helps him get into the castle. They suitors for Penelope are given a task to shoot an arrow through 12 ax holes. He then reveals himself as Odysseus and eliminates all of the suitors. He then goes to Penelope and reveals himself to her.As we go through life we are determined and always want to go back home to people we love. No matter how long it takes you, you will always want to go back to your loved
5. 157). This shows how Odysseus is being detained in a cave with Calypso, his “willing” lover and also how Odysseus is disinclined and hesitant to her temptation but his opposition was not enough to resist her lust. Odysseus is furthermore sadden because he is very Homesick shown as he is described, “wrenching his heart with sobs and groans and anguish gazing out over the barren sea through barren sea through, blinding tears” (5. 157). Odysseus is longing for his home wanting to return were he belongs. He has been with nymphs for eight out of his ten year journey, so they are definitely factors to his long journey home.
Odysseus: a hero in every way. He is a real man, skilled in the sports, handy with a sword and spear, and a master of war strategy. Most of the challenges and adventures in his return voyage from Troy show us this even if we had no idea of his great heroic stature and accomplishments in the Trojan war. I found in my reading of the Odyssey that most of the trials the gods place upon him are readily faced with heroic means. These challenges are not
Calypso lives in a “wide cave”, like open arms, symbolizes the welcoming of guests but a cave can be associated with dungeon or jail chamber implying that Calypso has other intentions for her guests. She has a beautiful island with “clear” springs, but like her personality, they are “shallow”. The island at first glance seems positive but under scrutiny, there is something “hidden” about it foreshadowing her plans with Odysseus. The “ornate birds”, the “horned owls”(58) and all the other birds are beauties of the mystical island. However, under examination they are all birds of prey. It foretells an omen of something more bad about calypso, the one who “conceals”. This is a forewarning that she will never want to let Odysseus leave the island as she holds him captive. In addition, Calypso has a “smooth walled cave”(74) but there is a “ crooking vine”(50). A vine entangles a tree and uses the tree to benefit itself, foreshadowing what Calypso does with Odysseus. The spring, birds, and cave represent the hidden traits of traits of Calypso. They appear good on the outside but with a deeper look, it reveals hidden traits. These clues portray Calypso as seductive and one who promotes inactivity so Odysseus cannot return to Ithaca and she can be with him. She is selfish and self-centered, she recognizes that Odysseus has a destiny to fulfill, he needs to be a
The final strange and difficult situation Odysseus finds himself in is Ogygia where the goddess Calypso lives. Odysseus drifted there after nine days on a piece of his ship. Zeus had struck the ship with a bolt of lightning because Odysseus' men had eaten the sacred cattle of Helios. Calypso "Loved me and cared for me," but Odysseus didn't want to marry her and become immortal because he wanted to go back to his wife and son (147). After several years of living with calypso, the gods finally decide to help Odysseus escape.
Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus can be seen making quite risky decisions that put his men in danger. Nonetheless, Odysseus still has redeeming qualities because he tries to bring all of his men home. In Homer’s, The Odyssey, Odysseus' bad qualities, or his arrogance, pride and being self-centered hurt his men throughout the epic poem.
Odysseus: a hero in every way. He is a real man, skilled in the sports, handy with a sword and spear, and a master of war strategy. Most of the challenges and adventures in his return voyage from Troy show us this even if we had no idea of his great heroic stature and accomplishments in the Trojan war. I found in my reading of the Odyssey that most of the trials the gods place upon him are readily faced with heroic means. These challenges are not
Calypso lusts for Odysseus so much that she holds him captive for many years. Odysseus, however, does not feel this lust for her. At this point in the epic, he wants nothing more than to reach his home and his wife, whom he loves very much. Finally, the gods tell Calypso that is time to release Odysseus, and she obeys.
Odysseus arrives on Calypso’s island alone, after the loss of his men and ship. Calypso rescues him and loves and cares for him in her cave. At first, it seems like Odysseus doesn’t seem much to mind her taking care of him, but over time it is plainly evident that he is unhappy with her. When Hermes arrives on Calypso’s island to give her the message from Zeus to release Odysseus, he is bawling on the beach a day-long activity for him. Calypso is holding him with her by force; she has no companions to help him back to Ithaka, nor has she a ship to send him in. Athena pleads with Zeus to give Odysseus good fortune, saying that "he lies away on an island suffering strong pains in the palace of the nymph Kalypso, and she detains him by constraint, and he cannot make his way to his country, for he has not any ships by him, nor any companions who can convey him back
Odysseus’s strong desire to return to his family inspires foreign rulers to assist Odysseus in returning home. Odysseus states, “Nevertheless I long—I pine, all my days— / to travel home and see the dawn of my return” to Calypso (5.242-234). Odysseus stayed with the goddess Calypso as her “unwilling lover” until he leaves on a raft (5.172; 179-187). Calypso grants Odysseus leave from her island because he is in grieving over being separated from his family. Odysseus lands in Phaeacia after leaving Calypso’s island. While begging for passage home, Odysseus says, “How far away I’ve been / from all my loved ones—how long I have suffered” (7.180-181). King Alcinous
As Telemachus tracks Odysseus' trail through stories from his old Comrades- in- arm, Athena arranges for the release of Odysseus from the Island of the beautiful goddess Calypso, whose prisoner and lover he has been for the last seven years. Odysseus sets sail on a makeshift raft, but the sea god Poseidon, whose wrath Odysseus incurred earlier in his adventure by blinding Poseidon's son, the Cyclops Polyphemus, conjures up a storm. With Athena's help Odysseus reaches the Phaeacians. Their princess, Nausicaa, who has a crush on the handsome warrior, opens the palace to the stranger. Odysseus withholds his identity for as long as he can until finally, at the Phaeacians' request, he tells the story of his adventures.