Calypso (mythology)

"Now he's left to pine on an island, wracked with grief" (Odyssey V): Calypso and Odysseus, by Arnold Böcklin, 1883.

Calypso (Greek: Καλυψώ, Kālupsō; English translation: "I will conceal"), was a nymph and a daughter of Atlas who lived on the island of Ogygia in Greek mythology. Her name has also been listed among the list of the Nereids, which would make her a daughter of Nereus. The latter classification in accord with her islands' proximity and association with the sea, as opposed to inland water.

The fabled Greek hero Odysseus was imprisoned on her island, Ogygia (believed to be the modern day Gozo), for seven years. She desired to make him her immortal husband. Athena asked Zeus to spare Odysseus of his torment on the island, as he wanted to go to his homeland and see his beloved wife. Zeus sent Hermes, the messenger of the gods, to tell Calypso to release Odysseus. As Zeus was the Lord of the gods, she was unable to refuse him, although she did not wish to let him go. Odysseus eventually returned to his homeland of Ithaca, to be with his beloved wife Penelope who had been waiting for him for twenty years.

According to Hesiod, Calypso bore Odysseus two children: Nausithous and Nausinous. The island of Gozo, part of the Maltese archipelago, has a long tradition that links it with the mythical figure of Calypso.