Source Verification: Calypso
Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.
What the Sources Attest
How long did Odysseus stay with Calypso?
Seven years, in Homer's Odyssey. Odysseus tells the Phaeacian queen Arete that he stayed on Ogygia for seven years, wetting with tears the immortal clothes Calypso gave him. She sent him away when the eighth year came round. Later sources shorten the stay. Apollodorus's Epitome says five years. Hyginus's Fabulae says one year, until Mercury, at Jupiter's command, told her to release him.
Source: Homer, Odyssey 7.253-261
Why did Calypso let Odysseus leave?
Because Zeus ordered it. Athena pleaded for Odysseus, and Zeus sent Hermes to tell Calypso that it was his fixed will. Calypso protested that the gods begrudge goddesses their mortal lovers, then admitted that no god can evade the will of Zeus. When she told Odysseus to build a raft, she did not mention Hermes and spoke of her own compassion. Odysseus himself was never sure. He told Arete she sent him off either because of a message from Zeus or because her own mind had changed.
Source: Homer, Odyssey 5.116-144
Why couldn't Odysseus leave Calypso?
He had no way to cross the sea. Athena tells the gods that Calypso keeps him on her island by force. He has no ships with oars and no comrades to carry him home. His last crew had drowned when Zeus struck their ship. Calypso gives the same reason to Hermes: she has no ships and no men to send him with. Only once Zeus orders his release does she supply tools and timber for a raft.
Source: Homer, Odyssey 5.13-17
Why does Odysseus reject Calypso's offer?
Because he wants to go home more than he wants to live forever. At their last meal Calypso says that if he knew the suffering ahead, he would stay and be immortal. She adds that she is no less beautiful than his wife. Odysseus agrees that Penelope is a mortal who cannot match her. He still wishes, he says, every day to reach home, and he will endure whatever a god sends him at sea.
Source: Homer, Odyssey 5.203-224
Does Odysseus have kids with Calypso?
Not in Homer, whose Odyssey never mentions a child. Other sources disagree about how many there were. The closing lines of Hesiod's Theogony say that Calypso, "bright goddess", joined with Odysseus in love and bore him two sons, Nausithous and Nausinous. Apollodorus's Epitome gives her a single son by him, named Latinus. So the answer depends on which ancient author you follow, and no source gives any story about these children.
Source: Hesiod, Theogony 1017-1018
Who was the father of Calypso?
In Homer, the Titan Atlas. Athena calls her the daughter of Atlas, who knows the depths of every sea and holds the pillars that keep earth and heaven apart. Odysseus repeats the parentage later in the poem. Hyginus's Fabulae agrees and names Pleione as her mother. Hesiod's Theogony, however, lists a Calypso among the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys, and Apollodorus lists one among the Nereids, daughters of Nereus.
Source: Homer, Odyssey 7.244-246
What happened to Calypso after Odysseus left?
Homer does not say. Once she sends him off with a gentle wind, the Odyssey never returns to Ogygia, and Calypso appears again only when the voyage is recalled. The one ancient account of her end is in Hyginus's Fabulae. It lists Calypso, daughter of Atlas, among women who killed themselves, and says she did so out of love for Ulysses. No other ancient source supports it.
Source: Hyginus, Fabulae 243
Where Accounts Differ
- who Calypso's parents were
- how long Odysseus stayed on her island
- whether Calypso had children by Odysseus
- where Calypso's island lay
- whether Calypso died after Odysseus left
- Calypso's parentage differs by source. Homer (Odyssey 1.52, 7.245) and Hyginus (Fabulae, Preface and 125) make her a daughter of Atlas, and Hyginus names Pleione as her mother. Hesiod (Theogony 359) lists a Calypso among the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys, as does the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (422), and Apollodorus (Library 1.2.7) lists one among the Nereids. None of the catalogues identifies its Calypso with the nymph of Ogygia.
- The length of Odysseus's stay differs by source: seven years in Homer (Odyssey 7.259), five in Apollodorus (Epitome 7.24), one year in Hyginus (Fabulae 125).
- Homer gives Calypso no children by Odysseus. Hesiod (Theogony 1017-1018) gives two sons, Nausithous and Nausinous; Apollodorus (Epitome 7.24) gives one, Latinus.
- Hyginus (Fabulae 125) sets Calypso's home on Aeaea, which the Odyssey gives to Circe; Homer calls her island Ogygia (Odyssey 7.244).
- Only Hyginus (Fabulae 243) says Calypso killed herself for love of Odysseus. Homer says nothing of her after the departure.
- The Odyssey is cited from A. T. Murray's translation, which Perseus serves in paragraph-sized sections; line numbers were checked against the Greek text on Perseus. Hyginus is cited from Mary Grant's translation, which is not in the site's line-checked registry.
Sources
- Homer, Odyssey 1.13-15
- Homer, Odyssey 1.50-54
- Homer, Odyssey 4.555-560
- Homer, Odyssey 5.1-42
- Homer, Odyssey 5.55-75
- Homer, Odyssey 5.116-144
- Homer, Odyssey 5.160-191
- Homer, Odyssey 5.203-224
- Homer, Odyssey 5.228-261
- Homer, Odyssey 5.262-281
- Homer, Odyssey 7.244-266
- Hesiod, Theogony 359
- Hesiod, Theogony 1017-1018
- Homeric Hymn to Demeter 422
- Apollodorus, Library 1.2.7
- Apollodorus, Epitome 7.24
- Hyginus, Fabulae, Preface
- Hyginus, Fabulae 125
- Hyginus, Fabulae 243
- Homer, Odyssey 6.127-141