I think if people are gonna say Odysseus cheated they should mention Sophocles and Apollodorus as their sources and bring up Callidice and Euippe, because bringing up Circe and Calypso who SA'd him and him being forced to have children with them as him cheating perpetuates the idea that victims of sexual assault are cheaters. There are actual sources for Odysseus cheating but the Odyssey is not one of them, the Odyssey doesn't depict him cheating it depicts him getting RAPED which is entirely different like is Andromache a cheater for having children with Neoptolemus even though she was raped? No she is not. I don't see why people can't wrap their heads around the fact that maybe just maybe calling a victim a cheater is NOT okay.
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[4.9.6] After AlcmenĆŖ had brought forth the babe, fearful of Heraās jealousy she exposed it at a place which to this time is called after him the Field of Heracles.
HEYYYY PARTY PEOPLE after a few months of building file-by-file and sharing it around personally, i'm happy to finally show you guys my google drive of greco-roman / filipino mythological and related texts!
before anyone asks, yes! it even includes obscure sources ā from psuedo-apollodorus' library and philostratus' heroica, to hyginus' fabulae and psuedo-ovid's decastich arguments of the aeneid (virgil's aeneid itself too, or course). the entirety of greek drama? i've got you covered (with some latin theatre as well)! we all know homer's iliad and odyssey, they have their own folders with plenty of translations to choose from. dante's divine comedy is also there, because it is.
feedback is welcome and encouraged; can't find a text, or a translation of it? feel free to hit me up so i can look for it! have a text or translation you wanna share? hit me up so i can throw it into a library as well! libraries are a collaborative effort, please enjoy it to your heart's content. ā£ļø
Hey EPIC fans who may not have had the pleasure of actually reading the Odyssey (or who just like the idea of it but prefer the fanfic versions) and are curious about Calypsoās backstory!
Do you want to know more mythology about this goddess?
It might not be what you want to hear, but hey, this is for those of you who want to know the real deal about Calypso. I will cite my sources at the end.
First things first: who actually is Calypso?
Calypso is a character introduced in Homerās Odyssey, composed around the 8th century BC, and she doesnāt show up in any earlier mythological texts. In the story, sheās a nymph who lives on the island of Ogygia. Sheās depicted as beautiful and powerful. When Odysseus washes up on her island after being shipwrecked, she takes him in and keeps him there. She falls in love with him and, using her divine powers, keeps him captive, making him live with her for years while he longs to return home to Ithaca. She's a rapist. Let me say that again for the people in the back: Calypso rapes Odysseus. You canāt romanticize this. She literally traps him on her island, and despite his desire to leave, she wonāt let him go. She keeps him as her lover, against his will, using her divine powers to hold him captive. This isn't just a "love story" where the two are tragically torn apart by circumstances. She has no interest in letting him leave, and in fact, actively stops him from doing so, which is rape:
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Thus, having spoken, the mighty slayer of Argus went away, and the goddess, the queen nymph of great Odysseus, went to him, after hearing Zeus' message. There she found him sitting on the shore; his eyes were never dry, for tears flowed, as sweet life drained away, mourning his homecoming, for the nymph no longer pleased him. But for sure, at night he slept in the cave, forced, though unwilling, by the nymph, who had her way; and during the day, sitting on the rocks and shores, he tore at his heart with weeping and groaning, gazing at the endless sea, shedding tears.
(Translation by me.)
Let us think about what sheās doing here: Odysseus is clearly not happy to stay on her island. Homer even makes it clear that he yearns to return home. Heās crying, heās miserable, and yet, Calypso still keeps him there, for years. She uses the one thing she can offer him (comfort, beauty, and whatever else she thinks he might want) as a means of trapping him. The fact that he eventually gives in and even sleeps with her is not consent. Itās not a moment of mutual love. Itās survival under duress. Heās trying to find a way out, and sheās keeping him locked in, controlling the situation with her power and influence.
Misconceptions about Calypso:
#1: Calypso is cursed to never leave her island because of the Titanomachy, where she supported her father.
Nope. Absolutely not. This is a Percy Jackson invention, where they love to take pieces of ancient mythology and twist them into some modern version of the story that makes it feel more dramatic or ātragicā. In The Odyssey, The Theogony, or even in Bibliotheca by Apollodorus, Calypso does not have any curse placed on her because of the Titanomachy. Thereās nothing in any real ancient myth that says sheās stuck on her island because of some ancient grudge. Sheās a nymph living on her island with no restrictions on leaving. Homer doesn't mention any past conflict that would tie her to a curse. In fact, Calypso is depicted as living peacefully on her island with no mention of any curse from the gods or the Titans. Sheās simply there. Sheās not trapped by some divine punishment; she just... exists.
#2: Calypso is cursed to fall in love with any man who washes up on her island.
Again, no. This is another piece of modern fanfiction nonsense, likely a Percy Jackson concoction, that people seem to think is canonical. Calypso doesnāt have any curse that makes her fall in love with every shipwrecked man she encounters. In fact, ancient sources never suggest that Calypso is cursed at all. She doesnāt have some magical compulsion that makes her fall in love with any man who happens to stumble upon her island. The reality is far more straightforward: sheās just a nymph living on an isolated island with her fellow nymphs, and when Odysseus washes up there, she falls in love with him. But thatās her own doing. There's no divine law forcing her to fall for him, no curse. She just sees him, desires him, and takes him in. The whole curse thing is a modern layer of drama that doesnāt exist in the original myth.
The truth: Calypso just lives on the island with other nymphs.
Calypso isnāt trapped, sheās not cursed, and she doesnāt have to constantly fall in love with shipwrecked men. Sheās just a nymph who lives on her island, Ogygia, surrounded by other nymphs. Itās not a punishment, itās just where she resides. There is no grand backstory or divine interference that keeps her on that island. It is her home, and sheās just living her life until Odysseus washes up there. And letās be clear, thereās no narrative implication that this is her āpunishmentā for any past sins or mistakes. Sheās not being punished for supporting her father during the Titanomachy, nor is she cursed to fall for random men. Sheās just living until Odysseus shows up, and then, of course, the whole situation turns complicated. I donāt know why this curse business keeps getting attached to her, but itās not in any of the actual ancient sources. She is not a tragic character because of some godly revenge; sheās a character trapped by the narrative Homer constructs for her. And as much as people want to romanticize her or give her some tragic backstory, the truth is that sheās simply a nymph who had a shipwrecked man wash up on her shores. Thereās no elaborate mythological reason for her being there, and thereās no curse making her fall for him.
Calypso and her lack of mythic pedigree.
I mentioned that Calypso doesnāt show up in earlier sources, but letās dig deeper into the implications of that. Homer introduced Calypso in his Odyssey, but prior to that, there is no record of her in any mythological cycle. Calypso is Homerās original character in the truest sense of the term. Homer needed a figure who could keep Odysseus stranded on his island for a prolonged period of time, and so he invented a goddess who could hold him there, ensnare him, and prevent him from moving forward. But unlike many other mythological characters who were integrated into the larger mythos and had complex roles within Greek religious traditions, Calypso is just an invention. A tool for the plot of the Odyssey who has no independent existence outside of Homerās work.
Calypsoās entire mythological existence is built around The Odyssey, and that's it. Seriously, if you look at her in any real source, whether itās Homer, Hesiod, or anyone else, thereās nothing else about her. No temples, no shrines, no altars, no cult following. Thereās not a single piece of evidence that suggests people were lighting incense or singing her praises. She doesnāt even show up in any meaningful way in other myths. She literally doesnāt exist outside of The Odyssey. The one myth she does have is about Odysseus. Thatās it. Thatās her whole narrative. People like to reimagine it in a million different ways, with reinterpretations of whether it was consensual or not, whether they had kids together or didnāt, and thereās even weird fanfic-like stuff about their so-called āromance.ā
So, Calypso is Homerās OC?
Yes.
Yes, she absolutely is.
Sheās a goddess who exists only for the purpose of holding Odysseus back, and once that role is fulfilled, she fades away into obscurity. She doesnāt have the depth of other mythological figures because she was never meant to. Sheās just a plot device in a grand epic.
But hey, if you like her as a tragic romantic figure, I guess thatās your prerogative. Just donāt forget that itās all modern reinterpretation and not based in the actual myths.
SOURCES:
Homer, The Odyssey - Greek Epic C8th B.C.
Hesiod, Theogony - Greek Epic C8th - 7th B.C.
Hesiod, Catalogues of Women Fragments - Greek Epic C8th - 7th B.C.
(some of these are a bit dark, but they are my personal ideas, no need to agree with them)
If we put all the sources together we see that Penelope has seven brothers and one sister. We know for sure that her father is Icarius, but not all authors agree on who her mother is.
I imagine that Icarius had a first wife, the naiad Periboea (from whom were born Penelope, Perileus, Thoas, Damasippus, Imeusmius and Aletes), but that then she left the palace to return to her river and that Icarius remarried, this time with Polycaste (mother of Iftime, Aliseus and Leucadius).
But how did Icarius and Periboea meet? Icarius is wounded during a hunting trip, and runs to the river to drink. There he sees some naiads and begs them to help him, because naiads are famous for healing wounds. Periboea comes forward: she has enormous eyes, diaphanous skin and does not speak the human language. She touches Icarius' wound and he heals. Icarius falls in love with her and decides to take her with him to the palace of Sparta: he has decided that she will be the mother of his children.
But nymphs cannot stay away from their element, their source of life, for long. Periboea is stunned by dry land, walking is not natural for her, dressing is not natural, all those smells and noises are not natural. Over time she becomes more and more restless and subject to violent fits of anger. She gives birth to one child after another but when she takes them in her hands she smells only the human odor and does not understand what to do with them. Her skin begins to gray, to dry out.
One night, when Penelope is about eight years old, she is awakened by the sounds of a commotion and terrible hissing. That night Periboea runs away. The next morning Icarius seems tired, but also partly relieved. The naiad was becoming more and more difficult to handle and he was afraid that she might even hurt their children. An excuse is invented on why their mother will have to stay away for a while and the children do not ask questions. Penelope knows that she will never see her again.
She didn't have a real relationship with her mother, but she still struggles to get used to her stepmother's presence. Where Periboea was cold and silent, Policasta is sunny and talkative. She hopes she can learn to love her.
At her first menstrual cycle, Icarius decides to send her to live with his brother Tindareus. Tindareus has many daughters of her age (Timandra, Filonoe, Phoebe, Helen and Clytemnestra) and two sons (Castor and Pollux), and Penelope will be able to learn a lot from them. However, the two families had already seen each other assiduously and the cousins āāhad always been very close. The girls go swimming together, learn the tasks of princesses and above all tell each other many secrets. Little by little they wait for the day when they will be ready for marriage.
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I decided to make a post on this since I kinda forgot to make a separate one from the master-list, but I wanted to share that I've made a free library of resources to use!
Which includes:
ā¢ The Theogony, Works and Days, The Shield
ā¢ The Odyssey and Illiad
ā¢ The Homeric and Orphic Hymns
ā¢ The Library by Apollodorus
ā¢ Hellenic Polytheism: Household Worship
and many more books / plays (Euripides, Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Sophocles), secondary resources on Dionysus, etc.
also, you can message me to add some books and resources, I'll try to add it to the best of my ability.
While searching for Neoptolemus, I found this, and it was so funny omgosh Greek mythology goes wild with variations like it was It's like: wasn't it the other way around? š¤£lol
From Apollonius Library e.6.14:
And whenĀ OrestesĀ went mad,Ā NeoptolemusĀ carried off his wifeĀ Hermione, who had previously been betrothed to him inĀ Troy; and for that reason he was slain byĀ OrestesĀ atĀ Delphi.
