Hermes and Calypso
Hermes visits Calypso demanding the release of Odysseus.
Athena
We first encounter Odysseus on the island of Ogygia, where the beautiful nymph Calypso has held him captive for seven years. He sleeps with Calypso each night and cries for his home of Ithaca each day. He's heartbroken and desperate to return to his wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus.
If you'll remember, we began this epic on Mount Olympus where I pleaded with my father, Zeus, to help Odysseus home.Zeus has agreed and has told his son Hermes, the messenger god, to announce to the nymph Calypso our decree. The exile must return.
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So Zeus decreed and [Hermes] obeyed at once. Quickly under his feet he fastened the supple sandals, ever-glowing gold, that wing him over the waves and boundless earth with the rush of gusting winds. He seized the wand that enchants the eyes of men whenever Hermes wants, or wakes us up from sleep.
That wand in his grip, the powerful giant-killer, swooping down from Pieria, down the high clear air, plunged to the sea and skimmed the waves like a tern that down the deadly gulfs of the barren salt swells glides and dives for fish, dipping its beating wings in bursts of spray —
so Hermes skimmed the crests on endless crests. But once he gained that island worlds apart, up from the deep-blue sea he climbed to dry land and strode on till he reached the spacious cave where the nymph with lovely braids had made her home, and he found her there inside ...
Athena
If this were a blockbuster film, the story might start here. I'd make my speech on Mount Olympus and Zeus would agree to help Odysseus.The opening credits would roll as Hermes descended from the sky, skimming the waves like a tern toward Calypso's island.Then the music would fade as we cut to this next scene: Calypso in her cave, singing her song and weaving at her loom.
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A great fire blazed on the hearth and the smell of cedar cleanly split and sweetwood burning bright wafted a cloud of fragrance down the island. Deep inside she sang, the goddess Calypso, lifting her breathtaking voice as she glided back and forth before her loom, her golden shuttle weaving.
Thick, luxuriant woods grew round the cave, alders and black poplars, pungent cypress too, and there birds roosted, folding their long wings, owls and hawks and the spread-beaked ravens of the sea, black skimmers who make their living off the waves. And round the mouth of the cavern trailed a vine laden with clusters, bursting with ripe grapes.
Four springs in a row, bubbling clear and cold, running side-by-side, took channels left and right. Soft meadows spreading round were starred with violets, lush with beds of parsley. Why, even a deathless god who came upon that place would gaze in wonder, heart entranced with pleasure. Hermes the guide, the mighty giant-killer, stood there, spellbound...
Athena
This episode used the Robert Fagles translation. He has a knack for capturing Homer's cinematic quality. In the next episode, we'll read Emily Wilson, known for her great dialogue. Then we'll return to Samuel Butler, our mainstay.