The Odyssey (essay) Kalypso's Island

The Odyssey – Kalypso’s Island

In Homer’s epic “The Odyssey”—on pages 89-91, from lines 50-104, translated by Richmond Lattimore, Hermes travels to Ogygia, an island ruled by a Goddess named Kalypso who fell in love with Odysseus, the story’s main protagonist for seven years. His encountering with the Goddess in this small passage tells us that Hermes, the messenger of the Gods, is arguably the most adaptable character in the Odyssey, and his importance here in particular, differentiates an adaptable character from a single-minded one. Lattimore’s description of the island from Hermes’ point of view gives a magnificent effect on the reader when Hermes has a conversation with Kalypso which helped Odysseus continue on his journey home to Ithaca.

Ten years before “The Odyssey,” Odysseus was a loyal warrior who fought alongside the Acheans, during the Trojan War. After the war was finally over, Menelaus and Helen both reside in Sparta, and Odysseus’s son Telemachus and wife Penelope reside in Ithaca, awaiting Odysseus’s homecoming. As Odysseus and his men travel home, they arrive at Thrinaccia, the island of the Sun. Odysseus and his men are warned to kill the sacred cattle that inhabit the island but while Odysseus is asleep, his men disobey Odysseus’s orders and end up killing them. Hellos, a guardian of the island, complains to Zeus what happened. Zeus is then furious by what he hears and creates a thunderstorm that ends up destroying their ship and Odysseus’s men.

Now, where “The Odyssey” begins, Odysseus has fallen in love with the Goddess Kalypso for seven years on her island. Zeus, God of thunder, and Athena, Goddess of Wisdom discuss Odysseus’s fate; together, alongside many other Gods, agree that, after seven years, Odysseus should be allowed to leave Kalypso’s island. Athena was somewhat inspired by Odysseus’s strong will and courage during the war that she supports him all through “The Odyssey.” She therefore, wants Odysseus to leave the island and live in prosperity since; he is strong and reflects who she is as a Goddess.

Zeus, as a result, sends Hermes to remind Kalypso that Odysseus at long last, must be allowed to leave and continue his journey home to Ithaca. A comparison can be made between Hermes’s message to Kalypso and Hermes’s message to Hades in the Greek myth of Persephone—Hades, God of the Underworld, abducts Persephone, daughter of Demeter, Goddess of harvest, and Zeus, God of Thunder. Zeus calls upon Hermes to demand Persephone back to the world of the living at once. A few themes that Hades had in this myth were lust and possessiveness and the same thing can be said for the Goddess Kalypso and her time spent with Odysseus for seven years.

This is where my chosen passage begins (p. 89-91, from lines 50-104). In the eighth year of Odysseus’s stay on the island, Hermes flew across the sea, and arriving at his destination point, walked through the scenic portraiture of Ogygia before encountering Kalypso in her cavern. Homer’s description of this moment was quite beautiful, using 4 of the 5 senses: sight, sound, smell, and taste.
“There was a great fire blazing on the hearth, and the smell of cedar split in billets, and sweetwood burning, spread all over the island… There were four fountains, and each of them ran shining water… meadows growing soft with parsley and violets, and even a God who came into that place would have admired what he saw…” (p. 89-90) This gives us a visual that what Hermes experienced was unimaginable beauty. Using the word ‘God’ gives us a sense of power and immortality and therefore, it grabs our attention the most.

Homer also mentions the sight of different birds that inhabited this island. “There were birds with spreading wings… little owls, and hawks, and birds of the sea with long beaks who are like ravens…” (p. 90) He uses the simile ‘like ravens’ to create depth and a better understanding. What’s interesting about this was that in other literary masterpieces such as, the Book of Genesis and Gilgamesh, used metaphors to describe particular objects. The Odyssey is more varied with similes, and adjectives, which is also why this particular setting that Lattimore has painted with his words, strikes me as the most powerful and memorable one in the story.

Hermes then finds Odysseus sitting out on the beach crying with lamentation. He approaches Kalypso and sits in a chair which she has offered him. His conversation with her begins. Kalypso asks him, “How is it, Hermes of the golden staff, you have to me?” (p.90) Kalypso sets a table filled with food which Hermes ate and drank (this is taste—the fourth and last sense Lattimore uses to describe Hermes’s point of view in this passage). Hermes says that he has come to Ogygia to announce that it is time for Odysseus’s release. At first, Kalypso doesn’t like that Hermes has come here nor is she happy to hear about the decision made by the Gods. Hermes says that he is doing this only by Zeus’s orders. Kalypso accepts his message and thus, helps build a raft for Odysseus to sail away in book 6, and continue forth on his journey towards Ithaca.

What’s most interesting about analyzing both Hermes and Kalypso in this scene is the fact that one is single-minded and the other is more adaptable. Hermes, on one hand, is the messenger God, who travels across the world and delivers messages to Greek heroes, and Kalypso on the other hand, is a Goddess who is trapped on an island and her only true desire is loving Odysseus. He sheds some light on these major characters by doing different things and going to different places, instead of having one particular way to live. Kalypso, however, can teach us to focus our attention on one particular person which, in this case is Odysseus.

This section was also affected by other passages in the book. After line 104 on page 91, Hermes tells Kalypso that Zeus describes Odysseus as being ‘wretched’ during the Trojan War. This affected the passage I chose because it was Zeus who sent Hermes to the island. I believe Hermes did this to overwhelm Kalypso with negative aspects of Odysseus’s character so, she could be afraid of being outnumbered by Zeus and the power of the Gods.

Richmond Lattimore’s translation of this particular passage on pages 89-91 from lines 50-104, is excellent since, he used certain words and literary techniques to paint this beautiful picture that is arguably the most visually intriguing section of the book. Hermes’ encounter with Kalypso here is immensely important since, it caused Kalypso to help build a raft for Odysseus in his journey. This section was a part of Odysseus’s obstacle to leave the island and continue on his journey to Ithaca.
(The Odyssey of Homer, Richmond Lattimore)