Calypso's Loneliness In The Odyssey

Greek mythology influences much of today’s art. Among the many myths, one of the most acclaimed is The Odyssey written by the blind poet Homer. The Odyssey highlights the hero Odysseus and his journey home from The Trojan war. On his way back home, Odysseus encounters an exiled enchantress Calypso, who seduces him to remain on the island with her. On the contrary, Modern day songwriter Susane Vega, depicts Calypso as more empathetic. While both Homer’s and Vega’s portrayals of Calypso describe her loneliness, they are different because Homer paints Calypso as seductive and selfish while Vega envisions her as lonely and somewhat sympathetic.

Calypso’s loneliness was exposed even through Odysseus' words and actions “each day I long for home,

She watched him leave, and that was her final moment she let go of him. In The Odyssey, Calypso is perceived as very seductive and snake-like because of her tricks whereas, in Calypso’s song she’s very sympathetic towards Odysseus “The sand will sting my feet and the sky will burn, it’s a lonely time ahead and I do not ask him to return.” Calypso knows that she has trapped him on her island for too long, so long that he eventually gave up on asking to go home, and that’s when she knew she had to let him go back to his wife. Though it hurt her a lot that he didn’t choose to stay with her, she knew somewhere in her heart that it was the right thing to do. Hence, the regret and hurt she felt when Odysseus did leave “After one last night, I let him go.” Calypso regrets telling him he was free to go, even if it’s the smallest bit it’s clear that she hoped with all her heart that Odysseus would stay with her and pick her over Penelope. So, The hurt and regret hit her all at once instead of