The Desire To Live In An Utopian World

940 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Greek Odyssey character development

Involuntarily, humans want, or in some cases need, to live in an utopian world. Calypso, a nymph and a goddess in Greek mythological times, was lucky enough to live in one of these perfect societies, even though it was short-lived. An author states in her online article, “She is a Goddess with several functions, a complex character, and as an individual she represents the dual nature of the feminine as both light and dark in a subtle, integrated/harmonious/in accordance way” (LeVan, par. 2). Her life was made complete by means of Odysseus, a mortal who washed onto the island and later became her prisoner. Calypso’s utopian world of godliness, control, order, and power was shattered due to Athena and Zeus commanding Odysseus be freed. When Athena and Zeus ordered Calypso to free Odysseus from imprisonment, they ruined her utopian life-style.

Odysseus-how did he ever meet Calypso in the first place? His ship was destroyed by a storm sent by the gods. None of his men survived the ship-wreck. He was forced, for survival sake, to swim until he found land, and he founded no other than the island of Calypso: Ogygia.

Calypso and Odysseus developed a deep friendship. Eventually, they fell in love and had two children. In an article on the Greek goddess, it states, “Calypso received Odysseus on her island, entertained him, became his mistress, and bore him two children, Nausinous (cunning sailor) and Nauisithous (in the service of the sea goddess)” (Mercatante 157). Although this was going well for Calypso, a simple offer to Odysseus, along with his response, changed their lives forever.

Calypso offered the gift of immortality and a permanent stay on her island to Odysseus, if he agreed to stay with her. Odysseus rejected the offer, a...

... middle of paper ...

... to lose her sense of control, power, and order. There were many mistakes she made that caused Athena and Zeus to upset her utopia. Gods and goddesses were not meant to fall in love, let alone have children. To offer immortality to a mortal is against everything Odysseus was ever taught. Humans are born to die and the gods were not supposed to alter this. Odysseus had come to realize loving a goddess was wrong for many reasons and he had never really stopped loving his first wife and children. Calypso took this as an insult and lost control and imprisoned an innocent man. Athena and Zeus had to punish her by allowing Odysseus to be set free, because it was the right thing to do. Ultimately, Calypso’s temporary loss of power, control, and order taught her a valuable lesson: That a mortal’s sense of purpose and loving is centered around the fact that no man is immortal.

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Jacob And Odysseus In Homer's Odyssey

    620 Words  | 2 Pages

    Because of his resourcefulness, he is able to thrive away from his homeland. He is able to use his cunning ways to avoid trouble. Odysseus loves his wife Penelope and never ceases to find her. In book V, Calypso offers her hand in marriage to Odysseus, however, he declines because of his love for Penelope. Then, Calypso offers immortality if he stays but still, he refuses. “Well, I wish you luck all the same. If you knew what troubles you will have before you get to Ithaca, you would stay here and keep this house with me, and be immortal, however much you might want to see your wife whom you long for day in and day out.” (The Odyssey Pg.

    Read More

  • Comparing Home In Enrique's Journey And The Odyssey

    817 Words  | 2 Pages

    He eventually went back home after twenty years of leaving. However, he had many adventures in between in his journey. At one point he was trapped- willingly- in an island with Calypso. They were together for nearly seven years. During the last few years, Odysseus had a change of heart and decided that he wanted to leave. When Calypso was ordered to let him go, he confessed, “Yet it is true, each day I long for home, long for the sight of home.” ( Homer, 893). This quotes shows that Odysseus doesn’t just want to leave the Calypso’s island, yet he want to go home. WHen he said “home”, he was talking about his wife, Penelope, and his son Telemachus. Odysseus shows the definition of nostos. He is away from home and he is looking forward to going back. He wants to go back to the comfort of his wife and child. He misses them and believes he will feel safe back at his home. His focus on his family and home give him courage to take the risky actions of traveling through the sea while the God, Poseidon hates

    Read More

  • Dishonesty In The Odyssey Essay

    1167 Words  | 3 Pages

    For seven years, Odysseus is held captive by the goddess Calypso. The young goddess “desired me and detained me in her hall. But in my heart, I never gave consent” (Homer 372). This quote suggests that although Calypso may have believed she was loved by Odysseus, he never really cared for her. If Odysseus would have stayed faithful to his wife, Calypso would have killed him. Thus, he is able to protect himself by lying to her. Another point in the epic where Odysseus' dishonesty impacts his success is with the suitors. After arriving at his homeland, Odysseus disguises himself to protect himself from being harmed: “Odysseus enters his home as a beggar, and the suitors mock and abuse him” (Homer 402). When Odysseus appears to be a beggar, the suitors think nothing of him. They disrespect him, his family, and his home. Had they know Odysseus was back, they would have treated him much differently. Because of the way they acted towards him, it can be suggested that they would be willing to do anything to take control of his kingdom. He is then able to find out more about them and their motives without getting

    Read More

  • Odysseus the Hero

    1574 Words  | 4 Pages

    Through temptation and torture, Odysseus never forgets that he must put others’ needs before his own desires. Like a hero, Odysseus has to sacrifice the options that benefit him in order to benefit his others. Specifically, Odysseus accepted the fact that he laid with Kirke in order to free his men from her spell. Though it went against all of his ethics and unfaithful to Penelope, Odysseus’s main objective was to return home with all of his crew alive. He illustrates his true loyalty to Penelope when he declines Kalypso’s offer of immortality. Odysseus immediately responded and refused Kalypso’s offer: “My lady goddess…come (Book V, 223-233).” Many individuals would not decline immortality, but he did not ponder over the thought of living for eternity. Odysseus made this decision based on his ethics and because of true love. Odysseus also makes ethical decisions to save people’s lives. For instance, ...

    Read More

  • Greek Hospitality in The Odyssey

    937 Words  | 2 Pages

    Learning the Greek rituals and after practicing them for many years, Odysseus, Odysseus' shipmates, and Telemachus became very reliant Greek tradition, especially that of treating all guests with great hospitality. At many times Odysseus would not have made it back to his wife and kingdom if it was not for the Greek tradition, that he relied on. After being at sea for seventeen days on a raft he had constructed, Odysseus spotted land. Poseidon then brought about a terrible storm, which wrecked his raft. After two days of battling waves that brought him near death, Odysseus was finally helped by a sea nymph onto the shore of Scheria. Once reaching the shore he kissed the earth, crawled under some olive trees, and fell asleep. Later, Princess Nausicca and her young friends went to the shore of Scheria to wash their clothes. Playin...

    Read More

  • A Comparison Of Callypso And Calypso's Hymn To Demeter

    1292 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, Calypso’s “love” is more like sexual desire. Calypso holds Odysseus on her island for sever year, and “in the night, true, [Odysseus] would sleep with her in the arching cave - he had no choice - unwilling lover alongside lover all too willing…” (Odyssey 5, 170-172). Calypso is a selfish goddess who wants to dominate Odysseus without considering Odysseus’s feeling. The fact that Calypso sleeps with Odysseus every night demonstrates that she treats Odysseus more like as sex captive than a real lover. Even though she claims, “ I welcomed him warmly, cherished him, even vowed the make the man immortal, ageless, all his days” (Odyssey 5,150-151), the hospitality that she shows here is just a tool to help her possess Odyssey. By making Odyssey ageless and immortal, Calypso can hold Odyssey and satisfy her possessive obsessions forever. Calypso’s sexual desire can be further proved in her angry speech. She says, “ Hard-hearted you are, you gods! You unrivaled lords of jealousy-scandalized when goddesses sleep with mortals, openly, even when one has made the man her husband” (Odyssey 5,130-133). Calypso is angry because female gods and male gods are treated unequally about the affairs with mortals. She asks Odysseus to become her husband because she wants to achieve sexual equality. However, at the end, Calypso releases Odyssey since she is afraid of the punishment from Zeus (Odyssey 5, 153). The fact that Calypso easily submits to Zeus’s

    Read More

  • The Nature of Women Portrayed by Circe and Calypso in The Odyssey

    660 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... Odysseus' experience with Calypso reflects his strength and diligence, though he cries all day everyday. It is quite ironic. Calypso seems to represent womanly jealousy. She knows he has a wife waiting in Ithaca for him, yet she continues to retain him for her own selfish happiness. She seems to be a little unsure if she is greater in beauty than Penelope when she assures Odysseus that she exceeds Penelope by far in that area. It seems that she knew what his reply would be and merely wanted to hear it from his mouth.

    Read More

  • Comparing Odysseus And Penelope In Homer's Odyssey

    784 Words  | 2 Pages

    Odysseus and Penelope play the roles of two lovers’ that are separated. Without Odysseus, Penelope hopes for “a gentle death with no mourning and craving my dear husband”. Penelope’s want for death instead of marrying a suitor with no Odysseus reveals her dedication to their love. In tapped by Calypso starving to see Penelope, Odysseus hopes “every day to get back home even if some god breaks me apart”. The fact that he is so set to witness wife and to be at home with her, the lack concern for the hazards desire to be reunited with his love. Penelope, affected by her empty surroundings of no companion, holds the stubbornness of a lover. Her easily affected environment filled with suitor’s causes her to speak rash words, confirming the amorous trait in her. Odysseus’s only hope to see his wife acknowledges his personality of a

    Read More

  • Feminism In The Odyssey And The Color Purple

    1181 Words  | 3 Pages

    She is always spoken of respectfully and is remembered for her heroic deeds. She is not degraded like many of the other women Odysseus sees in the underworld. Everyone worships her and speaks about her achievements with great admiration; she is truly admired, but because she is a goddess. Athena has control over men that most women in The Odyssey do not. Women 's lives depend on what men think of them, on the other hand, men 's lives depend on Athena 's opinion of them. Athena is "Zeus ' virgin daughter" and no one has used her in that way. She is too important to be used as being an enjoyment for men; they depend on her for their own welfare. Another woman that plays a big role in this epic is Calypso. Calypso a nymph, a child of Zeus, and lives on an island in the middle of the ocean. One day Odysseus is sent to her by the god of the sea, Poseidon, because Poseidon was mad at Odysseus for blinding his son, the Cyclops. It is on this island that another woman is used as a sexual toy and is not thought of for her own achievements, but rather for her beauty, and the fact that she is the daughter of Zeus. Men in The Odyssey only value women who they can use for physical needs and wealth, such as the women in the underworld that Odysseus encounters, and Penelope. Homer shows us how men in The Odyssey consider women less important than men. The readers rarely hear of women throughout the book. When they do, they are shown

    Read More

  • Odysseus’ Search for Purpose in Homer's Odyssey

    1418 Words  | 3 Pages

    The overarching theme of The Odyssey is the belief that man cannot escape the destiny which has been preordained for him by the gods. Destiny plays a vital role in the survival of Odysseus throughout his adventures. As Odysseus languishes on the island of Calypso, Hermes commands her to free Odysseus in order for the will of Zeus to be carried out, "This is the man whom Zeus now bids you send away, and quickly too, for it is not ordained that he shall perish far from friends; it is his lot to see his friends once more and reach his high roofed house and native land" (47). It is evident that Zeus does not want his predetermined plans for Odysseus to be altered by any being, mortal or god, and will not allow anything to stand in the way of the destiny he has set out for Odysseus.

    Read More

  • The Role of the Gods in Homer's The Odyssey

    870 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... those phaeacians who have helped Odysseus to return home. And for Calypso, she tried to offer Odysseus the immortal life and promising him to be his eternal wife, but Odysseus’s love for his wife Penelope pushes him to fight for his return

    Read More

  • The Role of the Gods in the Odyssey

    1194 Words  | 3 Pages

    middle of paper ... ... In Homer’s Odyssey, both Odysseus and his son Telemachus embark on long, difficult journeys; Odysseus trying to return from Troy to his home in Ithaca, escaping Calypso and the island of Ogygia, and Telemachus from Ithaca to Pylos and Sparta in search of his lost father. While The Odyssey tells of the courage both men demonstrate during their respective travels, their quests are the results of the intentions and desires of gods. Odysseus is trapped in exile on Ogygia by the will of Poseidon, whose anger Odysseus attracts when he blinds the Cyclops Polyphemus, son of Poseidon, and by the love of Calypso, who wishes to make Odysseus her husband.

    Read More

  • The Glory of Greece Vs. the Glory of Rome

    966 Words  | 2 Pages

    There have been speculations against The Odyssey as a quest because of Odysseus' willingness to be delayed. Yet, there is plenty of evidence proving that Odysseus' struggle is a true quest, as is reflected in is his role on the island of Calypso. In book five, "Homer" uses words like "imprisonment" and "misfortune" to describe Odysseus' time on the island of Calypso. Not to mention the fact that when Odysseus was finally released, he delivers a speech to Calypso in which he acknowledges her beauty but states, "Nevertheless I long to reach my home and see the day of my return. It is my never-failing wish" (Book IV l. 216-221), confirming that the deterrents of Odysseus are not of his own choosing.

    Read More

  • The Odyssey

    1228 Words  | 3 Pages

    While mortals do not unjustly complain about their fates, they fail to acknowledge that they are also responsible for their ill fate, as mortals themselves, possess a sizable degree of control. There is little doubt that Odysseus and his crew are unlucky, but had it not been for their brash decisions they would have reached Ithaca much sooner. After Od...

    Read More

  • Essay On Free Will In The Odyssey

    793 Words  | 2 Pages

    If Odysseus chose to do something differently, the gods would not have intervened and trapped him. This is a very prominent example of how fate is not necessarily out of one’s control in Greek mythology. Homer leans towards the fact that despite the gods having the ability to change things, we have a large role in our lives as well. But once Zeus lightened up and commanded Calypso to release Odysseus to go home, she tries to convince him to stay with her by offering immortality. Odysseus declined and left. The gods might have known he would never stay on the island but Odysseus still came up with the answer by

    Read More

More about The Desire To Live In An Utopian World

Open Document