Calypso is a nymph, said to be the daughter of Pleione (mother of the Pleiades) and Atlas (the Titan who is forced to hold up the heavens after being on the losing side of the Titanomachy war of the gods).
Zeus was angry with Odysseus (Roman name Ulysses) after Odysseus’ starving crew ate sacred cattle on the island of Helios. Zeus drowned the crew and shipwrecked Odysseus on the isle of Ogygia, inhabited by Calypso. Her name means ‘she who conceals,’ so it is fitting that she keeps Odysseus hidden for seven years, while the whole world is looking for him. She promises him immortal life in exchange for becoming her husband. Odysseus never cedes to her proposal, all the while longing to return to Ithaca and his wife Penelope.
Throughout Homer’s Odyssey, Athena acts as a guardian angel, protecting Odysseus on his journey home. She pled with Zeus to release Odysseus from Calypso. Here we see Athena floating in the sky, protecting Odysseus, while Zeus pulls Odysseus onto a raft to send him home. Calypso apprehensively lurks in the background, watching her beloved being pulled from her clutches.
