Loneliness In The Odyssey

Words: 251
Pages: 2

In the section “Calypso, the Sweet Nymph” from Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey and Suzanne Vega’s poem “Calypso”, it is revealed that loneliness can motivate one to make selfish decisions which ultimately hurt relationships and others around them. This is also true for Calypso, a beautiful goddess, who traps Odysseus, the hero of the Trojan War, on her island for seven years. Because Calypso lives alone on an island, she is extremely lonesome and longs for someone to love so when “[she] watched [Odysseus] struggle with the sea” after Poseidon destroys his boat, she “brought him into [her island]” (Vega 7, 8). Calypso enjoys Odysseus’s company and has good intentions for saving him at first but later becomes selfishly attached to Odysseus