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In The Odyssey Book 5, Calypso explicitly likens herself to Demeter. She complains that while the male gods themselves are allowed to have mortal lovers, they hate seeing Goddesses like her and Demeter have affairs with mortals(Odyssey 5.128-60). However, Demeter in the Hymn to Demeter in fact more closely resembles Penelope than she resembles Calypso because both Penelope and Demeter love their family members and choose to challenge the authority in order to achieve family reunion, while Calypso submits to Zeus’s will and finally gives up having a family. In The Odyssey and Hymn to Demeter, both Penelope and Demeter love and miss their family members. When Demeter hears her daughter Persephone’s cry, “a sharp grief took hold of Demeter in …show more content…
Demeter cares about her daughter. When she notices that Persephone is missing, she panics and immediately looks for her daughter everywhere on the earth. “For nine days, then, over the earth queenly Deo, roamed about, holding blazing torches in her hands, and she never tasted ambrosia or the sweet drink,nectar, as she grieved, nor did she wash her skin with water” (Hymn to Demeter, 47-50). Demeter is so grieved that she even forgets to eat and drink. The only thing she engages in is to find her daughter. Demeter’s tireless searching reflects a mother’s love and worry for her child. We can also find similar evidence that shows Penelope’s love to her husband in The Odyssey. At Odysseus’s house, when the people are listening a song about Troy War (Odyssey 1,379-362), Penelope cries out, “ Break off this …show more content…
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
In “Calypso” by Suzanne Vega, Calypso is described as described as selfish, deceptive, and lonely. Vega characterizes Calypso as selfish. “And though he pulled away—I kept him here for years—I let him go” Odysseus pulled away from her over the years on the island, but that now she is going to let him go. As Vega continues labels Calypso as deceptive. “But he’ll know their ways now—I will stand upon the shore –with a clean heart” Calypso is saying Odysseus will be wiser for having known Calypso and that Calypso was lying about having a clean heart. Finally, she illustrates in our mind that Calypso is lonely. “And the sky will burn—it’s a lonely time ahead—I don’t ask him to return—I let him go—I let him go” Calypso starts being lonely again
While with Calypso Odysseus relies upon the gods to decide whether he shall return home or if he is fated to stay with the nymph goddess. Though Odysseus is powerful amongst mortal men his attempts to free himself from Calypso’s island prove to be in vain. Instead, Odysseus must wait, for "…in the gods’ lap it lies to say if he shall come and wreak revenge in his halls…" (6). Odysseus must bow to the gods’ wishes and it is Athena, rather then Odysseus himself, who convinces mighty Zeus to free Odysseus and set him upon his journey home. Athena pleads Odysseus’ cause to the gods upon Olympus and beseeches her father begging that "…if it now please the blessed gods that wise Odysseus shall return to his own home…" (2) then she will aid him in this journey. Were it not for Athena’s intervention, Odysseus might never have returned to his native land and seen his dear Ithica once more.
Throughout the epic poem of The Odyssey readers are exposed to the man that captures the interest of many, Odysseus. Odysseus is portrayed as a ‘godlike’ man as well being deemed a warrior of his own class, beyond all men in mind and in comparison, the Hugh Heffner of his time. He is everything men aspire to be in many ways as well as being profoundly in touch with his emotions when it comes to women. Odysseus shows this in many different ways from tears for his wife Penelope to the heartbreak for his long-dead mother, Antikleia.
The gods and goddesses oftenly intervened in getting Odysseus home. Matthew Bolton points in a article to Great Neck Publishing that Athena petitions to Zeus in setting Odysseus free from the island nymph goddess Calypso. Calypso has been holding Odysseus captivated for marriage. She goes so far as to offer him immortality and ageless-ness. When Hermes is sent to deliver Zeus' order to Calypso over the release of Odysseus, Calypso retell the tragedic tales of the lovers: Dawn, Orion, Artemis, Demeter and Iasion. Dawn's lover, Orion, was attacked by Artemis in Ortygie with gentle arrows and left for dead. Demeter gave into her desire and made love to Iasion in the three ploughed fields, and Zeus struck him dead with a blinding thunderbolt. She supply the tools to Odyssesus such as a boring-tool, dowels, gunwales, and sheets for a mast. Odysseus design the retst of his raft through his own engineering. Calypso bathed and dressed him on the fifth day. She provided the following provisions in two skins: one bottle of wine, larger bottle of water, leather sack of grain and quantities of meats. She does call up a gentle breeze to push Odysseus on his raft away from the island. According to Bolton, Odysseus and his mean earlier encounter Aeolus, who given them a bagful of vexed winds to journey home. His men thought the bag contained treasures a...
Odysseus, meanwhile, was shipwrecked on his journey home from Troy. He is trapped on the island of the beautiful goddess Calypso. ...
In books one and five of Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus’s relationship with Calypso is very complicated, for Calypso is holding Odysseus captive and has no plans on letting him go; however, when Hermes tells Calypso to let Odysseus leave, Calypso is against it but eventually comes around to it. While the Council of the Gods are debating whether or not to free Odysseus, Athena says,”Atlas’ daughter it is who holds Odysseus captive, luckless man.” This shows how Calypso uses Odysseus for her pleasures, despite Odysseus’s urge to go home. Later, in book 5, the Council of the Gods meet again on the topic of Odysseus’s release. They decide it is time for Odysseus to return home, so they send Hermes to tell Calypso to free Odysseus and Calypso is very mad.
Calypso is presented in Book V as a nymph or goddess that holds Odysseus captive for seven years. Calypso holds Odysseus in hopes of marrying him; even though he is married to the Penelope and longing for to return to his home land. The beautiful goddess provides for Odysseus throughout his seven years on her Island; however, we began to see many characteristics of Calypso in Book V. Calypso is a symbol of temptation due to her many sensory enjoyments and sexual being.
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
Throughout the Odyssey, there are many relationships that represent love between two people. These relationships show loyalty, compassion, and the wanting to be near one another. Two of these kinds of relationships are between Odysseus and Telemakhos, and Odysseus and Penelope.
‘Demeter’ is a poem about the story of Demeter. "Demeter was the goddess of harvest and Persephone was the goddess of springtime. Hades, the lord of the underworld, kidnapped Persephone. Hades fell in love with Persephone and asked Zeus to help him kidnap her so she could become his bride. The crops started to wilt and humans couldn't grow crops anymore. However Zeus told Hermes to bring back Persephone and to make sure she didn't eat any food from the Underworld. Hermes fetched Persephone. But before she left, Hades convinced her to eat 6 pomegranate seeds. Hermes made a compromise and said Persephone had to stay in the Underworld as Hades wife for six months. That's why there are seasons. In the fall and winter, Persephone goes down into the Underworld and Demeter mourns. In the summer and spring, she comes back and Demeter rejoices. " (1)
In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Demeter’s grief is demonstrated through the concepts of divinity and humanity being symbolically contrasted with a woman’s purpose and social status as a mother or daughter. While “terrible” is a word we would expect to describe grief, “brutal” is interesting due to its violent connotations (Hymn to Demeter, 90). As a “brutal grief that seized the heart” it lends itself to a comparison with the violent seizing of Persephone, echoed here in Demeter’s emotions about her daughters’ capture, and perhaps denoting that the nature of what causes grief may be reflected in how it is felt (Hymn to Demeter, 90). The words “brutal” and “seized” also portrays grief itself as uncontrollable and forceful, even to the non-human Being described as “like four goddesses” while Demeter herself is divine and yet, unrecognisable as such seems to hark back to their youth and beauty as a divine gift, while Demeter, in her grief, appears to lose divine status (Hymn to Demeter,108, 94-95, 108).
The authors portray them as unstable and grieving mothers that cannot handle ruling. This is shown with the chaos that they both created. However, the only difference that exists is that Demeter was shown more forgiveness than Clytemnestra. This is because Demeter has more power than a mere mortal. The gods were afraid of Demeter’s power; she was going to drive both mankind and mortals out of existence. On the other hand, Clytemnestra can do no harm to the gods so she was punished by fate with her own son. These women were examples as to why Greek society believed that women should not be
Women are important in life and act in many different ways, this poem portray them in the many roles they play in life. The portrayal is a generalization on all that women are capable of being and doing. Faithfulness is the quality in Odysseus that is his motivation to return to his wife who is in different ways even more faithful. Penelope represents the "best of women" in the poem. Penelope along with other characters like Nausicaa and Arete that fall under this category represents ideals for marriage. Penelope's role in the poem is the reward and prize to Odysseus' suffering but it is her virtue, which make the sufferings worthwhile. The one important role of Penelope that makes her a desirable wife aside from her beauty and faithfulness is that she anchors the kingship of Ithaka. The suitors saw that the one who married Pene...
Often times in life we search for a companion, someone to share our love and life with. Odysseus and Penelope's lasting relationship is an obvious representation of love in the Odyssey. Although Odysseus is gone for twenty years he never forgets his faithful wife in Ithaca. This love helps him persevere through the many hardships that he encounters on his journey home. Penelope also exemplifies this same kind of love for Odysseus. At home in Ithaca, she stays loyal to Odysseus by unraveling his shroud and delaying her marriage to the suitors that are courting her. She always keeps the hope that her love, Odysseus, will return. Odysseus and Penelope's marriage clearly illustrates the theme of love.
In a society in which social position was vital for having a successful family, the Greek and Roman families internally struggled with one another. This constant conflict stems from the father’s desire for control and the society’s high placement of power. In the Greek myth Demeter and Persephone, Zeus’s interest for his selfish gains prompts him to “ ( give ) Persephone to the Lord of Dead to become his queen “ ( Rosenberg Demeter 96). Zeus does not ask Persephone nor Demeter, his beloved wife, presenting that he does not show any opinions on their feelings. Although Zeus in reality just wanted to have a powerful family with the addition of Hades, his love for power overrode his love for his family and created a tension between the other members and him. In another Greek myth, Jason and the Golden Fleece, shows man’s love for supremacy through ...