Calypso (nymphs)

For other uses, see Calypso (disambiguation).

In Greek mythology, Calypso (/kəˈlɪpsoʊ/; Ancient Greek: Καλυψώ Kalypso means 'she who conceals' or 'like the hidden tide'^[1])^[2] is the name of several nymphs, the most well known being:

• Calypso, the nymph who, in Homer's Odyssey, kept Odysseus with her on her island of Ogygia for seven years.^[3] Calypso, who fell deeply in love with Odysseus, was only swayed to release him after Athena convinced Zeus to send the order.^[4]

Other references to nymphs named Calypso, include:

• Calypso, one of the Oceanids, the 3,000 water nymph daughters of the Titans Oceanus and his sister-wife Tethys.^[1][5] She was, along with several of her sisters, one of the companions of Persephone when the maiden was abducted by Hades, the god of the Underworld.^[6] Her name may signify 'the sheltering cave'.^[7]
• Calypso, one of the 50 Nereids, sea-nymph daughters of the 'Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanid Doris.^[8]
• Calypso, sister of Aiopis, Antheia, Donakis, Mermesa, Nelisa and Tara.^[9]

References

1. Bane, Theresa (2013). Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. p. 197. ISBN 9780786471119.
2. Grimal, s.v. Calypso.
3. Homer, Odyssey1.14, 1.51–54 & 7.245; Apollodorus, Epitome 7.24
4. "Calypso The Nymph of Ogygia". GreekMythology.com. GreekMythology.com. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
5. Hesiod, Theogony 359.
6. Fowler, p. 13; Larson, p. 7; Homeric Hymn to Demeter (2), 2.5, 2.418–423.
7. Kerényi, Carl (1951). The Gods of the Greeks. London: Thames and Hudson. p. 41.
8. Apollodorus, 1.2.7
9. Walters, Henry Beauchamp (1905). History of Ancient Pottery: Greek, Etruscan, and Roman: Based on the Work of Samuel Birch. Vol. 2. pp. 92.

Further reading

• Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Fowler, R. L., Early Greek Mythography: Volume 2: Commentary, Oxford University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-0198147411.
• Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. ISBN 978-0-631-20102-1.
• Hesiod, Theogony, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Homer, The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. ISBN 978-0674995611. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Homeric Hymns. Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Kerényi, Carl, The Gods of the Greeks, Thames and Hudson, London, 1951.
• Larson, Jennifer, "Greek Nymphs : Myth, Cult, Lore", Oxford University Press (US). June 2001. ISBN 978-0-19-512294-7.
• Walters, Henry Beauchamp, History of Ancient Pottery, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman, Based on the Work of Samuel Birch, Volume 2, London, J. Murray, 1905.