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Calypso

Mythology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A nymph in Homer’s Odyssey who detained Odysseus on her island Ogygia for seven years, offering immortality.

Detailed Definition
Calypso, a daughter of Atlas, offered Odysseus immortality if he stayed with her on Ogygia, but he chose to return home. She represents divine allure, isolation, and the tension between eternal comfort and mortal purpose. In poetry, Calypso symbolizes the seductive pull of escape versus the call of duty and identity.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Homer’s "Odyssey," Calypso detains Odysseus on her island, representing seductive escape from duty; In Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “The Lotos-Eaters,” Calypso’s island parallels the lure of oblivion; In James Joyce’s "Ulysses" (poetic prose), Calypso symbolizes domestic entrapment; In Louise Glück’s “Calypso,” the goddess voices longing and abandonment; In W.H. Auden’s “The Sea and the Mirror,” Calypso embodies the temptation to abandon heroic quests; In modern feminist poetry, Calypso is reimagined as a complex figure of desire and agency.
Additional Notes
Calypso, the nymph who detains Odysseus on Ogygia for seven years, represents seductive delay, isolation, and the tension between desire and duty; poets use her to explore themes of temptation, stasis versus journey, and the feminine as both nurturing and obstructive—her name (from Greek “to conceal”) underscores hidden truths or the allure of oblivion.
Other Meanings of “Calypso”
Also Known As
Nymph of Ogygia Enchantress of the Sea Detainer of Odysseus
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