Hermes' Message to Calypso

The event known as Hermes' Message to Calypso is the decisive turning point that breaks Odysseus's seven-year imprisonment on Ogygia and reconnects his fate with the will of the Olympian gods. After years of stalled return, the divine council—prompted by Athena's plea—finally resolves to end Odysseus's exile, and Hermes is dispatched as the agent of that resolution. This scene not only demonstrates the hierarchy of divine power (Zeus's command overriding Calypso's desire) but also reveals the emotional and psychological state of Odysseus on the eve of his release, as well as the reluctant obedience of a goddess forced to surrender a mortal lover.

Background and Divine Council

The event originates in a council of the gods on Olympus, where Athena voices her anguish over Odysseus's prolonged suffering on the sea-girt island of Ogygia, held by the nymph Calypso, daughter of Atlas. She reminds Zeus of the sacrifices Odysseus offered before Troy and pleads for his return. Zeus responds that Poseidon's anger—kindled by Odysseus's blinding of the Cyclops Polyphemus, Poseidon's son—has prevented his homecoming, but now that Poseidon is absent among the Ethiopians, the other gods can act. Zeus declares that Odysseus shall be conveyed neither by gods nor men but must build a raft and, after twenty days of perilous voyage, reach Scheria, land of the Phaeacians, who will honor him and send him home with rich gifts. He then commands Hermes, the messenger god, to deliver this decree to Calypso.

Hermes's Journey and Arrival

Hermes immediately binds on his golden sandals, which carry him like the wind over land and sea, and takes up his wand—the instrument with which he seals men's eyes in sleep or wakes them. He flies from Olympus over Pieria, then swoops down to skim the waves like a cormorant, drenching his plumage in the spray as he crosses the sea. Upon reaching Ogygia, he leaves the water and proceeds by land to the cave where Calypso dwells. He finds her at home: a large fire burns on the hearth, fragrant with cedar and sandalwood, while Calypso herself works at her loom, singing beautifully as her golden shuttle flies through the warp. Outside the cave lies a luxuriant grove of alder, poplar, and cypress, where birds nest; a vine heavy with grapes grows about the entrance; and four springs channel water to irrigate beds of violets and lush herbs. Even a god, the narrative notes, could not help being charmed by such a spot. Odysseus, however, is not inside; he sits on the seashore as usual, gazing at the barren ocean with tears in his eyes, groaning and heartsick.

The Confrontation and Calypso's Response

Calypso recognizes Hermes immediately—for gods know one another no matter how distant their homes—and offers him hospitality, setting before him ambrosia and nectar. After he has eaten, Hermes delivers Zeus's message bluntly: Calypso must release the most ill-starred of all the heroes who fought at Troy, the man whom she alone holds prisoner. Zeus decrees that Odysseus shall not perish far from his people but shall return to his house and country and see his friends again. Calypso trembles with rage at the command. She accuses the gods of jealousy, citing precedents: how the gods destroyed Orion when Dawn loved him, and how Zeus killed Iasion with a thunderbolt for his union with Demeter. She protests that she saved Odysseus when he was alone astride a keel after Zeus destroyed his ship, that she cherished him and intended to make him immortal and ageless. Nevertheless, she acknowledges she cannot oppose Zeus's will. She agrees to release Odysseus but insists she cannot provide a ship or crew; she will only give him advice to help him reach his homeland safely. Hermes departs with a final warning that Zeus will punish her if she disobeys.

Odysseus's Condition and the Promise of Release

After Hermes leaves, Calypso goes to find Odysseus. She discovers him sitting on the beach, his eyes perpetually filled with tears, dying of sheer homesickness. Though he has been forced to share her bed at night, it is she who desires it, not he; by day he sits on the rocks and shore, weeping and crying aloud in despair, always gazing out at the sea. Calypso approaches him and announces that she will send him away of her own free will. She instructs him to cut beams and build a large raft with an upper deck, promising to stock it with bread, wine, and water, to give him clothes, and to send a fair wind to carry him home—if the gods in heaven so will it. Odysseus, suspicious, demands a solemn oath that she means him no mischief. Calypso swears by heaven, earth, and the waters of the Styx—the most solemn oath a god can take—that she intends no harm and is advising him as she would for herself. She then leads him back to her cave, where she sets food before him and, though she herself dines on ambrosia and nectar, urges him to eat. In their ensuing conversation, Calypso makes one final attempt to keep him, arguing that she is no less beautiful than Penelope and offering him immortality, but Odysseus insists that his desire to return home outweighs all else, even if further suffering awaits him at sea.

Consequences and Aftermath

With the divine command delivered and accepted, the practical preparations for Odysseus's departure begin. At dawn, Calypso provides him with a great bronze axe and a sharp adze, then leads him to the far end of the island where the largest trees grow—alder, poplar, and pine, dry and well-seasoned. Over four days, Odysseus fells twenty trees, adzes them smooth, bores holes, and fits the timbers together with bolts and rivets, building a broad raft with a deck, gunwale, mast, yard-arm, and rudder, and fencing it with wicker hurdles. On the fifth day, Calypso sends him off after washing him and giving him clean clothes, a goatskin of black wine, a larger skin of water, a wallet of provisions, and a fair, warm wind. Odysseus sails for seventeen days, navigating by the stars as Calypso had instructed, keeping the Bear to his left, until on the eighteenth day the mountains of the Phaeacian coast appear on the horizon. This event thus directly triggers the final, most dangerous leg of Odysseus's journey—the shipwreck and his arrival in Scheria—and sets the stage for his eventual return to Ithaca.