Sweet Nymph And Open Sea Analysis

Book V: Sweet Nymph and Open Sea- Close Reading Passages

“‘Oh you vile gods, in jealously supernal!

You hate it when we choose to lie with men⎼

immortal flesh by some dear mortal side.

So radiant Dawn once took to bed Orion

until you easeful gods grew peevish at it,

and holy Artemis, Artemis throned in gold,

hunted him down in Delos with her arrows.

Then Dêmêtêr of tasseled tresses yielded

to Iasion, mingling and making love

in a furrow three times plowed: but Zeus found out

and killed him with a white-hot thunderbolt.

So now you grudge me, too, my mortal friend’”(84).

In this excerpt of Kalypso’s speech to Hermês in The Odyssey, Kalypso discusses the biased manner in which affairs of the gods are handled. She tells Hermês that the gods are

strict in reprimanding the goddesses and their lovers, while it is seemingly acceptable for the gods to be with mortal women. She gives multiple examples of immortal women’s lovers’ ill fates. Kalypso complains about the gods ordering the release of Odysseus and possibly hints that if she were male and he were female the situation would be much different. Her speech contains a prime example of the evident gender bias showcased in the Odyssey.
“‘O damned confusion! Can this be a ruse
to trick me from the boat for some god’s pleasure?
No I’ll not swim; with my own eyes I saw
how far the land lies that she called my shelter.
Better to do the wise thing, as I see it.
While this poor plank holds, I stay aboard;
I may ride out the pounding of the storm,
or if she cracks up, take to the water then;
I cannot think it through a better way’”(91).
In this passage, Odysseus is pondering how to go about weathering the storm after Ino gave him advice on how to get to shore by swimming. Although the goddess told him specifically how to get to safety, he thought that his opinion was more valuable. His decision to value himself over the gods shows how egotistical and self assured he is. In the end the ocean storm⎼