Why Was Calypso On The Island In The Odyssey?
Played by Charlize Theron, Calypso is a central character in The Odyssey, but is one shrouded in mystery.
The enchanting nymph is known in the original myth for essentially trapping Odysseus on her island, Ogygia, for seven years. To hammer this point home further, her name literally means “to hide” or “to conceal” — so, there’s no room for second-guessing her intentions.
That being said, we don’t learn a lot about Calypso in the The Odyssey. We know that she loves Odysseus, has been feeding him lotus flowers for seven years so he can forget his past, and is desperate to keep him around. But, apart from that, information about her is pretty limited. So, to learn more about the character of Calypso — including why she was on the island in the first place — it’s time to return to the original myth.
Who Is Calypso And Why Is She On The Island?
As previously mentioned, Calypso is a nymph. This means that she essentially functions as a mini-god — the Diet Coke of gods, if you will. While little is known about her mother, we know that her father is Atlas. Atlas is a Titan, originating from a family of gods who ruled before Zeus and the Olympians came along.
As part of this power struggle, there was a war between the Titans and the Olympians called the Titanomachy. Calypso assisted the Titans in this war, but when they lost, she was exiled to the island of Ogygia. She lived there ever since, and we can only assume that, by the time Odysseus arrived on her island, she was getting a little stir-crazy.
What Happened On The Island?
When Odysseus arrived on the island, Calypso quickly fell in love with him. In the original story by Homer, she enchants him with her singing as she weaves on his loom. This is broadly similar to what happens in the movie, but instead, she plies him with lotus flowers. In both myth and the movie, lotus flowers are essentially a kind of narcotic that helps those who eat them forget all their pain and trauma. In both cases, Calypso keeps Odysseus on her island for seven years.
In the myth, Calypso is pretty keen to hang on to her man. After Athena expresses concern over how she’s holding Odysseus captive, Zeus sends Hermes, another god, to tell Calypso to let him go. He says that Odysseus’ fate is not to die there, but to return to his family instead. After she rips into Hermes for the double standards about female gods sleeping with mortals, she reluctantly agrees.
We don’t see this divine intervention in the movie, but what happens next is consistent in both the original epic poem and the film. Odysseus remembers his family and yearns for them, so Calypso has Odysseus build a raft in order to return back to Ithaca.
In any case, Calypso is portrayed as a cunning temptress with a deep love for Odysseus — but the thing is, he was never hers in the first place. Not a lot is said about her fate after Odysseus leaves in either the poem or the movie. While some accounts suggest she bore two children with Odysseus, it is more widely assumed that she actually just remains alone on her island, grieving for Odysseus for all eternity.
