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"Goddess," replied Ulysses, "do not be angry with me about this. I am quite aware that my wife Penelope is nothing like so tall or so beautiful as yourself. She is only a woman, whereas you are an immortal. Nevertheless, I want to get home, and can think of nothing else. If some god wrecks me when I am on the sea, I will bear it and make the best of it. I have had infinite trouble both by land and sea already, so let this go with the rest."
Odyssey, Book 5; Samuel Butler translation
Book 5 Summary
The gods hold a council and Athena again advocates for Odysseus and also explains Telemachus' current situation. Zeus sends Hermes to Calypso's island to tell her to let Odysseus leave. He is to go on a voyage to the land of the Phaeacians who will then send him back to Ithaca.
Hermes visits Calypso and tells her what Zeus commanded. She is very unhappy with the decision, as she wants to make Odysseus immortal and keep him for herself, but obeys Zeus' orders.
Calypso finds Odysseus on the shoreline where he spends every day weeping and longing for home. She swears she will help Odysseus and over the course of days Calypso provides Odysseus with tools, supplies, and provisions, while he gets the raw materials. Odysseus builds a raft, loads it up, and Calypso gives him a fair wind for sailing.
Poseidon returns from his feast and is dismayed to find Odysseus sailing out at sea. He sends a storm to shipwreck Odysseus, but a sea goddess takes pity on him. He tells him to strip off all his clothes and tie her veil around his body. It will allow him to float on to shore without drowning. After he reaches land, he is to throw it back into the sea.
After a strong wave breaks apart his raft, Odysseus ties the veil around him and Athena helps Odysseus reach the land of the Phaeacians. Exhausted, Odysseus throws the sea goddess’ veil back into the sea, finds a safe place, and falls asleep.
Zeus! Will You Stop with the Spoilers Already?!
Once again, just like in the Iliad, Zeus gives away the plot:
“Mercury, you are our messenger, go therefore and tell Calypso we have decreed that poor Ulysses is to return home. He is to be convoyed neither by gods nor men, but after a perilous voyage of twenty days upon a raft he is to reach fertile Scheria, the land of the Phaeacians, who are near of kin to the gods, and will honour him as though he were one of ourselves. They will send him in a ship to his own country, and will give him bronze and gold and raiment than he would have brought back from Troy, if he had had all his prize money and had got home without disaster. This is how we have settled that he shall return to his country and his friends.”
Odyssey, Book 5; Samuel Butler translation
There you have it. Odysseus is going to get back home safe and sound. Did you ever have any doubt?
Fortunately for us, Homer is a master storyteller. Even though whole plot points were revealed beforehand in the Iliad—like Patroclus’ death at the hands of Hector and Hector’s death at the hands of Achilles—the story was still very exciting and dramatic. In fact, the foreknowledge just raised the tension.
While Zeus does not give away as much here in the Odyssey, you can be sure there will be a lot more that will happen than just what Zeus mentioned. And everything that Zeus didn’t mention is very exciting. Look forward to it!
No Escaping Fate
Oh fate, we meet again.
If you read my entries on the Iliad, or my book Revenge and its Discontents: My Journey through the Iliad, you’ll know I talked about fate a lot. I even came up with a crazy conspiracy theory that the true purpose of the Trojan War was to reduce the amount of offspring of the gods in the world (see my post on Book 20).
I was hoping I would have a bit of a break on the subject, but who am I kidding? This is the ancient Greeks we’re talking about.
In the Iliad, fate was some sort of law that stood above everything and the gods were the enforcers of that law. It was heavily implied that the mortals, or perhaps specifically those who had a divine ancestor, could defy fate if the gods didn’t prevent them from doing so.
In the Odyssey, fate appears to be much the same way. When Poseidon comes back from his feasting with the Ethiopians (like the gods did at the beginning of the Iliad), he sees Odysseus has left Calypso’s island and is sailing in his makeshift raft. This is his reaction:
“Good heavens, so the gods have been changing their minds about Ulysses while I was away in Ethiopia, and now he is close to the land of the Phaeacians, where it is decreed that he shall escape from the calamities that have befallen him. Still, he shall have plenty of hardship yet before he has done with it.”
Odyssey, Book 5; Samuel Butler translation
Poseidon then sends a storm that destroys Odysseus’ raft. He is only saved from drowning by a sea goddess’ gift and is able to make to the land of the Phaeacians because of Athena using the winds to guide his course.
But, did you notice what Poseidon said? He can’t go against fate by keeping Odysseus from going home. However, he’s not barred from making Odysseus’ life miserable in the meantime, and he intends to do exactly that.
It’s the equivalent of a legal loophole. Poseidon is one of the enforcers of fate, and thus must let Odysseus get home to his family and friends, but there’s nothing that says he can’t do other things in the meantime.
I continue to be astonished at the Homeric worldview.
This was something only implied in the Iliad. For example, Troy was fated to be sacked by the Achaeans, but not until ten years of war had passed. In the meantime, the gods made it difficult for both the Trojans and Achaeans—by choosing sides, interfering in battles and other matters, deception, etc.
On another note, Poseidon has replaced Athena and Hera (from the Iliad)as the divine antagonist of the story. Who needs the devil when you have Poseidon ready and willing to put you through hell?
The Aloofness of the Gods
Just like the Iliad, we see in the Odyssey a compare and contrast between the gods and the mortals:
Athena has to call another counsel because the gods have still not done anything to help with Odysseus’ plight—not to mention Telemachus is now in danger because the suitors are planning an ambush.
Poseidon is out enjoying a feast in the faraway lands of the Ethiopians—all the while Odysseus is suffering away from home (thanks mostly to Poseidon)
The goddess Calypso is in her cave singing songs and working on her loom—meanwhile, Odysseus is sitting on the shore weeping and longing for his home. Every night Calypso forces Odysseus to bed with her and every day she lets him go back to the shore while she goes about doing whatever she wants.
Homer continues to drive home the point that the gods live on a different wavelength compared to the mortals.
I suppose the longer you live, the more willing you are to be idle.
Odysseus Has to Help Himself
Odysseus is allowed to leave Calypso’s island, but he has to do the work himself. Calypso provides him with the tools and linen he needs to make a raft, but he has to cut down the trees and make it. In addition, Odysseus is told his voyage is going to be a perilous one.
It’s a test of Odysseus’ resolve. How much does he want to get home? Bad enough to cut down his own trees, craft his own makeshift raft that would normally be suicide to take into open waters, and brave even more dangers than he’s already experienced?
Odysseus’ resolve is firm. He’s willing to do whatever is necessary to get back to his wife and son.
It’s quite an example. How badly do you want something? How much work are you willing to put in to get it? Are you even willing to start from scratch, from step one? Are you willing to do it even though you have an idea of how much hardship awaits you?
Would you be willing to turn down the opportunity of a lifetime to get what you want?
Would You Accept Calypso’s Offer?
Odysseus turned down an offer that most men today would have either accepted or found extremely difficult to turn down (myself included). Calypso offered Odysseus immortality and the chance to be with her forever on her island.
Think about what that would mean:
You would join the ranks of the gods
You would never experience death
You would never go hungry or thirsty or be exhausted
You would have all the free time you wanted and never have to work again
You would live on something like an island paradise
You would go to bed every night with a stupidly hot goddess who wants you and who will never lose her beauty and vitality
It’s the fantasy of all fantasies. Tell me that’s not a difficult offer to refuse?
Odysseus had a will of iron to turn down something like that. He could have easily taken the offer since he’s been lost at sea for ten years. Most people would reasonably expect someone to be gone forever after being lost for that long. It would have been the perfect cover story to remain “lost” forever.
However, his desire to get home far outweighed the offer he was given.
Odysseus had a meaning for life, a reason for living: his family.
That’s a powerful statement about family. The memory of his family was strong enough for Odysseus to turn down one of the most tempting offers a man can be given.
It’s no wonder the family has been held in high regard for millennia. It’s also no wonder that past and present nefarious forces try their hardest to diminish it.
That’s all for Book 5 of the Odyssey.
May your days be filled with grace.
-Andronikos
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Thumbnail: Odysseus and Calypso. I could not find anymore information on this image. The closest approximation is it’s derived from the work Calypso and Odysseus by Sir William Russell Flint, 1907. That work is in the public domain.